Tunatazama - Community Monitors

Lack of Transport in Mafenya

By Kagiso Molefi

Mafenya community is a small village surrounded by hill near Chaneng and Robega. People from this community experience a lot of problems but their major problem is lack of transport. I interviewed four people whom are affected by this problem because they have to use public transport daily and asked to remain anonymous.

Two of the interviewees said the problem can’t be solved until the potholes on the road are fixed. The common problem is low population so people think that causes the taxi drivers to neglect Mafenya as it has no business for them. People are unhappy because this problem restricts their movement, one of the interviewees said that he works at Sun City and if he misses a taxi to Mafenya at 3h00, he has to take a taxi to Chaneng and walk to Mafenya without any luck of a taxi for local. The other interviewee is a pregnant woman and she mentioned that when she goes for her check-up at the clinic she is challenged and is forced to take school taxi’s and if a learner is left due to lack of space in the taxi he or she has to skip class because there is no alternative.

There are a lot of things that we see but don’t recognise that are problematic issues that impact our lives and environment. Issues such as lack of transport and damaged roads are not easily recognised by our head leaders though is a huge challenge and we should come up with solutions and must be added to our priority demands.

Questioner used in the conducted interviews and common answer from each interviewee:

1.Why there is lack of transport?

Because taxi drivers choose a place where there is good business, not Mafenya.

2.  Why Mafenya is not taxi drivers place choice?

Because there is low population and people can’t afford the taxi fare rate everyday.

3.Why there is low population and inability to afford taxi fares?

Because the village is comprised by the community that was relocated from Lekgoropaneng by the mine (RBPlats) and it’s a small community with high unemployment rate.

4.Why was the community relocated from their village and what causes the unemployment rate?

The community was affected by the mining activities and their houses where cracking, they are unemployed due to lack of skills and no work experience.

5.Why was the village experiencing that impact mentioned on number 4 and why there is lack of skills and work experience?

The village was near the mine and houses were about to collapse. The skills and experience issue is due to lack of opportunities and adequate training for locals.