The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
BULAWAYO residents have threatened to take matters into their own hands to deal with an illegal bus rank that has cropped up near Eveline High School just on the edges of the Central Business District.
The illegal bus rank — that is located at the corner of Samuel Parirenyatwa and Leopold Takawira Avenue — has been operating for a couple of months, causing a nuisance in the area and further compromising the learning environment of students at the school. Long-distance buses plying the Masvingo route have in recent months been using the place, and have also encroached to the Centenary park.
Bulawayo residents have since started an online campaign, rallying people to “take matters in their own hands” after noting the failure of the responsible authorities to deal with the matter.
Mr Dumisani Nyongolo Nkomo, who has been vocal regarding the operations of the illegal bus rank said there were a lot of ills within the site, noting that there was a need for all stakeholders to come together to address the matter or risk being witnesses to the decay of the city.
“Schoolchildren are in danger, there is litter, there is defecation, there is a danger that there might be accidents here and we are saying that as residents of Bulawayo, we must put this to an end. The city council has to act decisively, police must act decisively.
We have seen cars being clamped in the city when they have done nothing, city council must act decisively to put this to an end or else we as residents of Bulawayo we will take it upon ourselves to stop this chaos, to stop this carnage, to stop this assault on the City of Kings which is being reduced to a monumental dustbin,” said Mr Nkomo.
He said there was a need for everyone to realise the effect the illegal bus rank was having on the city as a whole.
However, the city’s deputy mayor, Councillor Mlandu Ncube revealed that the local authority was in the process of negotiating with their partner in the city’s parking management system, Tendy Three Investments (TTI) to see whether they could take over policing of the area.
“It is honestly a sad scenario which should never have been allowed to continue but the truth of the matter is that it is a decay that grew because council did not have the manpower and resources to effectively clamp and deter those illegal bus operators.
However, we are now in the process of negotiating with Tendy Three Investments to assist us in that regard as we have realised that they have the capacity. Therefore, on the completion of these negotiations, TTI, working with council officials will now be manning that point and we hope this will finally bring to an end the practice,” said the Deputy Mayor.
In February this year the local authority revealed that since the beginning of the year they had issued 634 tickets and impounded 21 vehicles for operating at the illegal rank.
