JOHANNESBURG - ZIMBABWE-BOUND buses barred from using a rank just outside Central Park Station in Braamfontein by the City of Johannesburg five months ago, have returned to the area in open defiance.The operators face eviction again, if the tone of the City of Johannesburg’s director of communications Gabu Tugwana is anything to go by. “I am not aware that the Zimbabwe bus operators are back, and this is a surprise to me,” said Tugwana.
In a survey, several Zimbabwe bus drivers, passengers and conductors colluded that ferrying passengers from Braamfontein was ideal and more convenient than Faraday downtown Johannesburg, where the operators were relocated to. “Outside Park Station is more strategic, and convenient to all travellers from as far as Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Swaziland and Lesotho.
“Forcing us to go to Faraday will be directly unleashing people to criminals,” said Brian Chabwinja, an employee with a cross border bus. Reginald Chimombe of Chigubu Bus Service, which plies Harare-Johannesburg route, said the city council should allow the Zimbabwe cross bus operators to use the terminus in Braamfontein. “It’s always advisable for the city of Johannesburg to offer us with one permanent bus terminus without confusing us.
“But our appeal is to be allowed to operate from Braamfontein where there is both rail and road transport traffic,” said Chimombe. Patrick Makurumure, a cross border vendor, said Faraday was not an ideal place for business, citing rampant crime even during the day. “People are robbed during the day, and sometimes forced to board any buses taking their destination.
“Some of the buses are not road worthy, but once you are in Faraday, you are forced by the touts of the buses that fail to get clients. We need protection from both SAPS and Metro Police,” said Makurumure.
Post published in: News