Limpopo Mirror 1 April 2022

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ISSN 2409-6784

29

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1 April 2022 Year 32 Vol: 29

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Another R6m for taxi rank

Close to R300 million already spent on Thohoyandou’s “love nest for learners and hideout for criminals” By Elmon Tshikhudo Yet another R6 million will be pumped into the Thohoyandou Taxi Rank to try and complete the project, which has cost the taxpayers close to R300 million over the past two decades. For many years the incomplete taxi rank has been described as nothing more than a “love nest for learners and a hideout for criminals”.

Two centenarians from the Elim area celebrated their recent birthdays with 27 other elderly residents, their families and friends during a special joint event organised by Elim Hlanganani for the Aged last Friday at the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Waterval. In the photo are Ms Mary Basket and her 104-year-old mother, Ms Mukondeleli Mbangambanga (seated). Ms Mbangambanga of Tshuhari village near Elim turned 104 on 3 March this year and still leads a strong and busy life. She says that Home Affairs had made a mistake on her identity document and that her correct age was in fact 115 years. Photo: Thembi Siaga.

The “new” Thohoyandou Taxi Rank next to Eskom was supposed to be completed 11 years ago, but the rank has not been operational. The construction of this intermodal project, which included the taxi rank as well as a retail and office block, commenced in June 2011 at a cost of R256 million. When it was to be opened after completion in 2013, the engineers apparently discovered that it had structural defects (such as cracks) and was declared not safe for use. A further R25.2 million was incurred by the department for the rectification of the defects. Last year, the Limpopo MEC for Transport, Mavhungu Lerule Ramakhanya, announced that the rank would

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be functional by October (2021), but commuters kept on waiting for something to happen. The facility, which was supposed to be a sign of hope, as the whole purpose was to encourage economic growth and investment in the area, as well as create job opportunities and, of course, improve access to public transport, remained a white elephant. Residents were surprised when they heard that a further R6 million has now been budgeted for the completion of the project. With so much money already pumped into this project (without any functioning purpose as yet), many are beginning to wonder whether the project has not become a Stokvel, where those in power continue to milk government coffers for their own gain. Among the first to react on learning about the further R6 million was the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo, who has been following the progress of the project with keen interest. “We are deeply disappointed that a further R6 million has been budgeted for the completion of this taxi rank facility. This is despite the project being severely over budget and behind schedule. We have written a letter to the MEC for

Transport and Community Safety, Ms Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya, wherein we requested details of the new completion date of the facility and to determine what steps have been taken against officials involved in this project. We will closely monitor the progress around it to ensure that there are no more unnecessary delays with this long overdue project,” said Ms Katlego Phala, spokesperson for the DA in Limpopo. Mr Solomon Shandukani of SANTACO Vhembe said they were tired of empty promises about the opening of the new rank. “We are now so used to the situation at hand. We had hoped that it would be opened years ago, but we will wait and see what happens,” he said. The Department of Transport and Community Safety’s spokesperson, Mr Mike Maringa, said that the defects had been fixed a long time ago, but then they had realised that a problem of water existed. “The R6 million is for touch-ups. We are only waiting for an occupational certificate that was delayed because of contractual disputes. The project was on a tender and we cannot take action against them,” he said.


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