New Masiphumelele taxi rank open at last

A R16-million new Masiphumele taxi rank was officially opened on Friday. This comes after the City of Cape Town and taxi operators reached an agreement.

Since completion in May, the taxi rank has not operated as taxi owners raised a number of concerns with the City. These included the number and size of vehicles the rank could accommodate and the location of the toilets and vendor stalls.

On Friday morning taxi owners, drivers and community members joined Mayco Member for Transport Felicity Purchase to cut the ribbon and officially declare the taxi rank operational.

Located on the corner of Kommetjie and Pokela Roads, it has a rooftop solar panel system for electricity generation and tanks to collect rainwater.

According to Masiphumelele Taxi Association secretary Ricky Mve, the City said it will resolve its issues in time. He said the boardroom was tiny considering there were about 80 members in the association.

Mve said the City had agreed to the taxi rank being operational 24 hours a day, which had been one of the sticking points.

Community leader Vuyo Tshongweni, who has been involved in the process since it started in 2014, said: “Even though common ground has been reached with this project, for future projects, better consultation with the community needs to be done.”

Purchase said: “Although we had some ups and downs, we managed to pull the project together, and all the snags are over, and I am very grateful for that.”

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