More than R275 million has been spent on this ‘new’ taxi rank in Thohoyandou, Limpopo, but it is not yet open. Photo: Bernard Chiguvare
- Taxi owners and businesses in Thohoyandou, Limpopo are demanding that the provincial department of transport open the ‘new’ taxi rank.
- But the department says the building, which began in 2011 and has never been used, isn’t ready yet.
- The initial cost of the range was more than 250 million rand and subsequent repair work has already totaled more than 25 million rand, with more work to be done before it can operate.
Taxi owners and businesses in Thohoyandou, Limpopo are demanding the opening of a taxi rank, which began construction more than a decade ago.
But the provincial transport department says the range is not ready yet.
“Structural defects” have been found and more work is needed, according to Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport spokesman Tidimalo Chuene.
The department began building the taxi rank in 2011, Chuene said.
It was thought to have been completed in 2013 at an initial cost of over R250 million. Construction included commercial premises, office blocks, 65 ground-level taxi loading bays and 160 first-floor bays. But now flaws have been found.
GroundUp visited the taxi rank recently and found that the fence was in disrepair, windows were broken, lights were knocked out, and the grass around the taxi rank was overgrown.
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Alfred Mthigalala, Vhembe regional secretary of the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco), said department officials had failed to update the council on the progress of the project.
“We are currently not sure why the taxi rank is not operational.”
Mthigalala said there were only three taxi ranks in Thohoyandou and they had not been maintained and were not in good condition.
mthigalala said:
Santaco is calling the department to open this taxi stand. There are reports that at night people sleep inside the new taxi rank. Very soon the place will be vandalized and become a focus of crime.
Chuene told GroundUp that the slabs in sections of the first floor began to show cracks, an evaluation was carried out and several problems were identified.
The department then hired a structural engineer in 2014 to perform a detailed evaluation of the taxi stand, including the retail and office spaces.
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“Several structural defects were found…mainly attributed to: Overloaded pile foundations, insufficient dimensions of concrete elements, and insufficient reinforcement of concrete elements,” he said.
After assessment, the repair work was completed at a cost of more than R25 million, but Chuene said further repair and maintenance work was required.
The contractors had been paid in full because they were not responsible for the structural deficiencies, but the engineering consultant responsible for designing the structure had not been paid in full, Chuene said.
Chuene acknowledged that the department had not informed Santaco of the repairs and promised to notify the council when the range would open.
