State of Gauteng taxi ranks ‘shocks’ top honcho

The Gauteng MEC for public transport and roads infrastructure is not happy with decaying taxi ranks in the province, Rekord East reports.

Jacob Mamabolo’s unhappiness was expressed when he called for an urgent intervention meeting with all members of mayoral committees (MMCs) for transport in the province.

Mamabolo called for the meeting following his visit to the two major taxi ranks in Bree and Noord streets in the Johannesburg CBD recently.

The MEC was “shocked” by the level of filth, stench and complete neglect of both facilities.

In July, Gauteng premier David Makhura also expressed sadness at the condition of the Marabastad and Mabopane inter-modal public transport nodes.

Makhura said he would like to see “real improvements” in these areas within 12 months.

“I have received many bitter complaints from citizens about problems in our public transport system,” said Makhura.

Mamabolo, accompanied by taxi operator representatives from Santaco and GNTA, said he believed that the arrangement where the provincial government built and handed over facilities to municipalities was not yielding the desired results.

He said a new approach was needed that would form the basis for consultations with the MMCs and other role players.

“I firmly believe that a bold, forward-looking and constructive approach is needed to resolve these issues. These facilities can be exploited to derive economic opportunities to benefit communities,” Mamabolo said.

He said taxi ranks served as major players in public transport as the minibus taxi sector carried the majority of commuters daily.

“This taxi industry is critical in the province’s public transport system as it carries 70 percent of commuters. The condition of these facilities is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated,” said Mamabolo.

He said there were various taxi ranks which proved to be safety hazards to the lives of commuters and operators.

“The condition of the ranks shows that the facilities have been neglected for years. This is demonstrated by the conditions we observed including lack of proper maintenance,” Mamabolo said.

Mamabolo indicated that in the quest to position Gauteng as a region of smart mobility and to facilitate the transformation and integration of all transport modes, these facilities needed to be maintained to “acceptable standards”.

Mamabolo said he also observed that taxi ranks generated a lot of advertising revenue, however, remained in terrible condition.

“I am concerned about where all this advertising money is going and who benefits from it. I am told that tenders for security, cleaning and maintenance are being issued, however, there are no services.

“We need a complete overhaul of the way taxi ranks are managed. The state of these facilities shows how we have neglected the taxi industry including its infrastructure,” he said.