VIDEO: Mayor officially launches Centurion taxi rank construction
“We would like to see the community of Centurion who will be commuting to and from the area taking care of this facility.”
Even though construction work has already started, a new state-of-the-art Centurion taxi rank was officially launched during a groundbreaking ceremony by the Tshwane mayor on Wednesday.
In addition to mayor Stevens Mokgalapa, the ceremony was also attended by MMCs, metro officials and Redefine properties representatives.
The new rank will be located on the corner of South Street and Hendrik Verwoerd Drive.
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The mayor told Rekord the new taxi rank, which should be operating by the end of the year, belonged to the community.
“We would like to see the community of Centurion who will be commuting to and from the area taking care of this facility,” he said.
“I also want the taxi industry to take care of the facility because in the end the facility belongs to the people of Centurion.”
Mokgalapa applauded the private sector for dedicating R12-million to the construction of the new rank which would cover approximately 10 000 square-meters and accommodate 55 taxis.
“The facility will ensure we have a proper, integrated public transport system in the area,” he said.
“It will have stalls for informal traders and ablution facilities.
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“I want to thank our private partners, our roads and transport department and the local taxi operators for making this possible.”
Local ward councillor Peter Sutton said it was estimated thousands of commuters would use the rank on a daily basis.
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“The motivation for the project has always been to give these commuters a world-class facility,” he said.
“It has always been about restoring the dignity of the people who use the rank.”
Sutton said there had been some challenges during the initial planning phases.
“It has not been easy and there has been a lot of other factors at work.
“But next year the people of Centurion will have a facility we can all be proud of.”
The Tshwane metro, together with Redefine properties which owns the Centurion Mall, earlier this year announced the construction of the new taxi rank.
The rank would feature offices for local taxi associations, 22 informal kiosks for traders as well as public toilets.
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