Taxi drivers show dissatisfaction at new rank
Duduza - Taxi drivers of Duduza have formed a united front in their #rankmustfall campaign, to show their dissatisfaction with a new rank that is currently being built on Mandela Drive.
They have vowed not to move from Extension 15, on the corner of Sonestraat and Mandela Road, where their taxis are currently placed.
“People don’t want a rank that is situated inside the location, as it becomes an inconvenience to reach, especially when getting out of the township,” says chairperson of the drivers falling under the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union, Morake Mokoena.
“They prefer the ranks to be built on the outside or edge of a township, so that it is easier for them to move in and out.
“We see and have heard that a new rank will be in place, but what is the use if it doesn’t help us or the people of this township? We don’t want it.”
Mokoena adds that although a rank was built at the corner of Nala and Lestapa streets, people don’t use it; instead, locals prefer to leave that rank and walk or take a 4+1 taxi to the corner of Ndundula and Sonnestraat roads, to get taxis moving out of the area.
A queue marshal at the unused rank, Boy Zwane, says he feels sad that this structure has gone to waste because people don’t use it.
“When this rank was first built, it used to be full, but now people don’t use it because it is situated in a place that is inconvenient for them,” he says.
“Now, in the afternoon, we move to the Dunnottar Rank to assist there, as here you won’t find people.”
Mokoena says that before building the government must first do research on what it is that people want.
“There have been ranks that have been built before in Duduza, but they were later vandalised, as people stopped using them because they were situated in locations unsatisfactory to the people – like this new rank,” he adds.
“It just becomes a waste of resources and money if people are not going to be asked what they want.
“As taxi drivers we also don’t approve of it, will not move and if they don’t address our concerns we will not vote.”
Nigel Taxi Association secretary Pitso Mofokeng says that when they held a meeting on September 19, 2013, it was agreed that the general membership of the association didn’t want the new taxi rank where it is being built but wanted it in Extension 15, at the corner of Sonestraat and Mandela Road.
