Concerns greet New Lobatse bus rank mall
Tumelo Mouwane | Thursday May 18, 2017 15:08
While plans for the new mall were spoken of years ago, activities around the new project have recently geared up, with announcements made by the local authority through various media.
Lobatse Taxi Association chairperson, Thabo Modisaemang said the local authority had “gone silent” as questions mounted on the logistics of the development.
“Even though the council has not yet formally approached us on issues regarding the development of the land on which we are operating, they once talked about it, but in general terms,” he said. “We heard a mall is coming to the area which is a good development. We however have questions as to why everything has gone quiet. We don’t know where the taxis will operate during construction. We should not be misinterpreted. We are happy about the development but communication from the council is poor.”
One of the small entrepreneurs at the bus rank food court, Setshego Tsokwane said they had long heard about the impending development, but thought it was something in the long term. “To be honest the council officials once visited us in November last year and told us that a new mall is coming in the area and we might be compelled to move somewhere else.
“The officials said the decision had not been finalised and they would come back to us but they have never did,” he said. Tsokwane said entrepreneurs were surprised to hear on the radio recently that “ the mall has been approved and construction will start very soon. “The mall will be a good initiative but they never told us where we will go,” he said.
“We are waiting to hear from them to tell us where we are going. We thought the project was something further down the line, but the newspapers are reporting it as coming in a short period of time.” Tabona Sesinyi, a leather products manufacturer in the same business area said communication around the mall was sketchy.
“They told us five investors were going to build a mall here and promised to come back with a map that would indicate whether our area is affected or not. “We will be doomed if we are to leave this place. Most of us here are breadwinners and our livelihoods depend on this place.
“Anyway, building that mall will also be a waste of money for those investors because the Lobatse economy is struggling,” he said.
While the LTC public relations office could not be reached for comment, town mayor Malebogo Kruger recently told a kgotla meeting that small entrepreneurs in the area will be “assisted”.
“We know that there are people operating businesses in the area and we will have to make sure that they have support to continue running their business alongside the new development,” she said.