The long unsettled dispute at the Tonota Bus Rank is still far from over as bus operators still await the Minister of Roads and Transport, Frank Ramsden’s invention.
The brewing concern is that the Member of Parliament for Tonota South and Assistant Speaker of Parliament, Pono Moatlhodi, who owns a transport business, together with two other bus operators, allegedly continues to ignore the transport regulations and the Department of Transport has stayed mum on the issue.
The Telegraph is informed that since the establishment of the Tonota Bus Rank, there has been turbulence between the local taxi operators and some bus operators, the bone of contention being that of unfair practices by bus owners, including Moatlhodi.
“We registered our queries with the Minister of Transport and he said he would resolve the matter but we are still waiting for his feedback,” said a taxi man in the center of the turmoil.
One of the main issues at hand is that Moatlhodi has a transport company named Ponoris and he owns a bus that transports people into town from Tonota but instead of his bus waiting for passengers at the rank, the bus allegedly competes for passengers with local taxi operators in the village, which is prohibited by the Department of Transport.
Some of the transport operators told The Telegraph that when they try to tell Moatlhodi about the problem, he ignores their pleas and is always arrogant.
The transport operators are also pointing a blaming finger at the Department of Transport for failing to deal with their complaints.
Reached for comment on the matter Moatlhodi refused to comment to the Telegraph, saying that if anyone wanted to challenge him, they should meet him in court. He added that he was ready to involve his lawyer in the matter.
“I will not talk about this matter unless if these people drag me to court and I will have involved my lawyers,” Moatlhodi said.
The Telegraph failed to reach the Department of Transport at the time of going to press as their phones rang unanswered.
