Staff reporter
Bloemfontein – The community of Mangaung is set for a huge surprise if the newly appointed City Manager, Sello More has his way.
More, who was appointed late last year made headlines when he summoned all employees who did not have appointment letters and told them not to return to the municipalities, which, according to insiders was clearing ghost workers.
In recent days the city has been making inroads with transportation after the bus service was launched and the impounding of cars parked illegally.
While the above can be easily managed the elephant in Mangaung Metropolitan is the taxi rank that More says will be reopened soon after 13 years.
The taxi rank became the talk of the town when a complaint was laid against the city in which it was reported the city only used R40 million of the allocated budget.
In 2021 we asked the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) the exact amount on the rank and Africa Boso, spokesperson for AGSA said:
“The AGSA found in its audit of Magaung Metropolitan in the 2015-16 financial year that an intermodal public transport facility was completed at a cost of R351 904 408 but was not used to the conflict between the taxi industry and the municipality.”
STEP UP team took a shot left on the 18th of May 2021 and the team found two security officials and two cleaning ladies on duty.
The windows and toilets were broken, copper in the toilets had been stolen and the lifts were amongst a slew of things that were not working.
The biggest challenge was the lack of ventilation and barricades.
At our disposal are three different plans for this taxi rank and what was built is not the according the original plan at least, which explains the mess this puts the commuters in.
For this rank to be fully and well functioning, it will require commitment from all stakeholders such as taxi operators, commuters, and the municipality.
Sello More, City Manager for Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality is a man on a mission to have the rank reopened soon.
“The city wants to reopen the taxi rank as a matter of urgency.
The Taxi operators have also shown interest in having the rank reopened.”
About the structure and designs, More said:
“From our side, the Designs with the feasibility of the intermodal taxi rank have been completed. The intermodal is one of the projects we are profiling in our business plan to invite investors.”
The taxi rank was leased to operators for 30 years but More is keen on having it back.
“We will be negotiating to get it back from the taxi association to assist in the completion of the project.”
If you have news or tips please email us at news@stepupsanews.co.za or WhatsApp 0685000246
The municipality should address parking problems in the city. People who are working in the CBD, park their vehicle from 7:30 to 16:00 on parking reserved for shoppers. We don’t have parking as shoppers.
The city has drawn Red lines where they are impounding vehicles, but cannot refresh parking bays line. Can you please pass this message to municipality.