The business fraternity of Musina appealed to the town’s mayor to pay urgent attention to serious problems being caused by uncontrolled taxi vehicles in town. In an urgent letter, it warns that the totally unnecessary lack of control causes tension which has avoidable violence potential.

Mr Jason Rana of the Musina Business Association, in a letter to the mayor, states that it has become virtually impossible to conduct business from Klaff Street in Musina, due to the fact that taxis occupy all available parking spaces in front of businesses in this important street in the central business district.

“If customers cannot park, then how can we do business? At times, the taxis are parked there the entire day and we cannot load or off-load. When we call the traffic office, they do nothing. We business people are taxpayers and we are the backbone of the economy. We feel left out because we are not protected by the local municipality. Rightfully, the taxis are not allowed to park on streets. They have been provided with parking at the central taxi rank in town. Therefore, we cannot understand why this problem cannot be resolved. It is very simple.

“Problems like these can easily trigger violence, which we see occurring in other cities. You should address this problem, before it is too late. Zimbabwean car owners are always in confrontation with the taxi operators. Taxi operators block these shoppers from Zimbabwe and demand money. This is going to cause trouble very soon. Zimbabweans are fed-up of this nonsense, and so are we,” says Rana.