Toilet blues for local taxi commuters
Hoping to answer nature's call before you board a taxi is not an easy task at certain local taxi ranks, such as in Reiger Park.
This is because the toilets at the ranks are generally in a deplorable condition and commuters find them difficult to use.
The Advertiser has recently discovered that some of the taxi ranks in Boksburg have no proper working toilet facilities.
The toilets are unusable, smell bad and are full of filth.
Commuters, mostly women who travel regularly between the Reiger Park Taxi Rank and East Rand Mall, complained bitterly about the disgusting state of the toilets in Reiger Park.
No taps or bidets in sight and the cubicles lack toilet bowls, urinals and cisterns.
The toilet facilities are filled with household waste and faeces, and the walls are covered in mould.
There is no water supply, and some cubicles are now being used as accommodation and storerooms for someone’s belongings.
Commuters who want to relieve themselves at the taxi rank end up going to the Reiger Park Police Station, opposite the rank, to use its toilets, only to find them locked sometimes, or, worse, they may be denied access.
Others, especially men, apparently use the sidewalks to urinate, causing the area to smell completely unbearable.
One taxi driver, who declined to give his name, said the toilets have been like that for years.
“It is extremely disappointing that our clients have to suffer because of poor management. Maybe your intervention will force officials to wake up and take action,” he said.
The Reiger Park Taxi Rank is not the only one without proper toilet facilities.
The Oos-Rand Taxi Rank does not have facilities either, and that has raised some concerns. Commuters are forced to use the nearby bushes or the toilets at the railway station, next to the taxi rank.
The Advertiser was told that the situation is better at the Boksburg Taxi Rank, because someone cleans the toilets on a daily basis.
However, on inspection, even these toilets were found to be in a very poor state.
Several passengers complained that the condition of the toilet facility is below hygienic standards, adding that chances are that you will need to hold your breath because of the foul odour the toilets emit.
The Advertiser is still waiting for comment from the metro. – @FanieFLK
