A Morningside resident, who wished to remain anonymous due to the nature of her complaint, described parked taxis on Grayston Drive as a ‘makeshift taxi rank that is blocking traffic and is very hazardous’.
Metro police spokesperson, Edna Mamonyane, said that if the taxis on Grayston Drive are blocking the traffic, then it is not a taxi rank. “Taxi ranks are specifically positioned so that they do not cause traffic obstructions,” said Mamonyane.
“I will alert the commander in that area to send a unit to investigate the matter. There is construction around the Sandton area and so the individuals without cars do need to use taxis. We, therefore, do need these taxis in the area as these workers need to use public transport to get home and we cannot expect them to walk kilometres to find a taxi. We will, however, have to find out why the taxis are in this specific place. It is not that simple to move all of these taxis to another location. Metro needs to look at all the issues and decide how best the problem can be solved,” explained Mamonyane.
She further highlighted that one needs to be mindful of the fact that careful thought needs to be put into where the taxis can be relocated to. She further said that an investigation needs to be done to establish whether these taxis had to move to this place on Grayston Drive as a result of construction in the Sandton area which may have rendered the previous taxi rank unusable.
Mamonyane is urging drivers to consider the need that these taxis fulfill in the Sandton area.
A Sandton Chronicle journalist drove past this queue of taxis on 13, 14 and 15 April and noted that the taxis do protrude onto Grayston Drive. One taxi had blocked the slip road which led onto Grayston Drive and hooting from frustrated drivers could be heard.
