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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo is deeply disappointed that a further R6 million has been budgeted for the completion of the Thohoyandou taxi rank facility. This is despite the project being severely over budget and behind schedule.

The DA will write a letter to the MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya, for the details of the new completion date of the facility and to determine what steps have been taken against officials involved in this project.

The intermodal taxi building structure project, which includes the taxi rank as well as a retail and office block, commenced construction in June 2011. The facility has had a plethora of issues and obstacles that have seen the project delayed and incur additional costs in remedial construction work.

The initial cost of the Thohoyandou Taxi rank project was over R256 million and the department incurred a further R25.2 million in remedial construction works carried out on the project.

The biggest issue the taxi rank construction project faced was that the building, that reached practical completion in 2013, had shown cracks and had serious structural issues. A structural assessment by an engineer revealed numerous concerns and that there was a need for remedial construction work to address the defects.

The other major issue that contributed to the delay of the opening of the taxi rank facility was that the Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety had failed to acquire approved building plans and architect drawings required for an occupation certificate. There were also issues in finding a suitable contractor for the remedial construction work, a lack of capacity of the contractor appointed to do the remedial construction as well as the contractor’s non-compliance to health and safety regulations.

Lerule-Makhanya had committed to completing the facility during the 2021/22 financial year but has failed to do so.

The facility was meant to be a sign of hope in the area on the type of infrastructure development that is possible that can encourage economic growth, investment in the area as well as create opportunities and improve access to public transport. Instead, the project is now just a reminder of an incapable and wasteful government.

The DA will closely monitor the progress around this project to ensure that there are no more unnecessary delays with this long overdue project.

Issued by DA Limpopo Spokesperson on Transport and Community Safety, Katlego Suzan Phala MPL