Illegal taxi rank is dirty, smelly
Residents appeal to municipality to provide bins and toilets
AN illegal, noisy and dirty taxi rank has driven Austerville residents to plead with the ethekwini Municipality to intervene.
The minibus taxi rank is situated on vacant land on the corner of Lansdowne and Duranta roads in Wentworth, south of Durban.
The area is strewn with litter, largely from the vendors who operate there. Residents complain there are no bins or ablution facilities, which means they are exposed to taxi drivers urinating publicly and, at times, on the residents’ fences.
Residents said they were never consulted about the rank, which started operating four years ago.
At first, minibus taxi operators, who ferry pupils to local schools, used it as a waiting area during the day while the pupils were in school, but it has now become a fully operational taxi rank.
One livid resident, Brono O’reilly, said their main concern was the dirt and the smell.
“We are calling for urgent intervention from the city’s health and transport departments to enforce the nuisance by-laws,” he said.
“We have tried several times to approach (the city), but nothing good came out of that.
“In 2014, two municipal officials did an inspection of the rank and, when we told them about the noise and the danger to the pupils, they told us that the place would never be turned into a taxi rank. They told us it was merely a ‘temporary’ arrangement. It’s over two years later and the problem is still with us,” he said.
O’reilly emphasised that they had no problem with the taxi rank being located near their homes, but said proper toilets and bins should be provided.
“The vendors may have legal trading licences, but it has become a nightmare for me and my household,” he said.
“Apart from the loud music from the taxis, which affects a number of households, the empty potato chip packets, sweet packets and all sorts of other papers are constantly blown into our garden.”
Another resident, Viasen Moodley, said due to the lack of proper entrances and exits to the rank, the taxis were blocking traffic in the road.
“It is a busy road and there should be proper lanes to accommodate the taxi rank. Our homes have been affected by this situation and we are appealing to the municipality to do something about it,” said Moodley.
The city’s spokesperson, Tozi Mthethwa, said the taxi operators’ use of the land was illegal as it had not been designated as a rank by the ethekwini Transport Authority.
“In terms of the Public Transport by-laws, it is illegal to rank in an area that has not been designated as a rank,” she said.
She said there were no plans to provide bins or ablution facilities and the municipality, through the ward councillor, the transport authority, metro police and the Parks, Recreation and Culture Department, were in consultation with the affected role players.