May 20, 2004
By Thomas Thale
CITY officials will meet taxi associations on Friday in a bid to resolve the impasse over the use of the Metro Mall by taxis.
The rank has been out of bounds for taxis since Monday, with the Metro Trading Company, which runs the Metro Mall, saying that the taxi associations had accumulated rental arrears amounting to R1-million.
Hapless commuters have been adversely affected by the lockout, as they struggled to locate taxis travelling to their destinations.
Metro Mall is the largest and best-equipped transport hub in the city. The taxi associations are refusing to pay for the use of the mall, which, they argue, is a public facility.
Deputy director of transportation management in the City, Alfred Sam, said the meeting on Friday would seek to find common ground between the parties, but maintained that the council would not compromise on the policy of charging rent for the use of its facilities. "I can't say the principle will be withdrawn, but we'll approach the meeting with an open mind," said Sam.
Although Dumisani Mntambo, spokesman for the Metro Mall Taxi Association, an umbrella body for all taxis operating from the mall, expressed the hope that the meeting would address the concerns of taxi operators, he also raised new grievances about the mall. "What is happening is bad for commuters. They expect us to pay, but the ventilation system is not working properly and is bad for commuters suffering from asthma."
The association wanted a say in the management of the mall. "We want to become partners in the ownership of the Metro Mall," Mntambo said.
Although Mntambo insisted that taxi associations were united in their resolve not to pay rent to use the Metro Mall, by Thursday cracks were beginning to show as one association broke ranks.
Nhlanhla Ndovela, operations manager of the Metro Trading Company said that at least one association had made some payment. "Nanduwe representatives paid R12 000 on Tuesday. They still owe R60 000 in unpaid rent."
In the meantime, taxi operators have had to use a makeshift rank just outside the mall.
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