Africa-Press – Botswana. Small businesses have joined efforts to turn Molepolole Bus Rank into a business and service hub. After lying ideal for almost a decade, the Molepolole Bus Rank was reopened for use in December 2025.
However, small businesses and the local transport operators are still in doubt that the infrastructure will boost their businesses due to a number of shortcomings, primarily shortage of customers.
Their fear is that the bus rank was located in isolation, far from the village centre where people flock to source household amenities and other services from government departments.
In an effort to push for government to establish offices at the bus rank offering daily services, some hawkers are on the verge of registering an association; the Molepolole Bus Rank Association, primarily to advocate for the bus rank to be turned into a business and essential services hub.
The chairperson of the proposed association, Mr Godfrey Ramokhaneng, a cobbler operating from one of the stalls, is among the few small business owner who, despite challenges, have remained at the bus rank since its establishment.
“Eight days after the bus rank was reopened we met as bus rank vendors to form an association that will serve as a mouthpiece for all vendors around the bus rank,” said Mr Ramokhaneng.
He said the association would serve as a mouth piece for the small businesses, public transport operators and all others including government offices doing business at the bus rank.
Mr Ramokhaneng said the aim of forming an association was to revive commercial activity at the bus rank, which had previously been forced to shut down after businesses and public transport operators abandoned it due to low patronage linked to its isolation location.
He said apart from a small number of commuters to nearby areas, there were no businesses or services in its surrounding to attract movement of people that could ultimately turn into customers for their businesses.
Mr Ramokhaneng said the only way to inject life at the bus rank was to associate, join hands as businesses, collaborate with all other private, government and council stakeholders.
He said businesses that were currently operational at the bus rank, included street vendors and public transport operators.
He said the association would also be a burden reliever to the council in terms of cost sharing especially on matters that included the maintenance of the premises and other billings.
Mr Ramokhaneng said the association would encourage businesses at the bus rank to play a part in its maintenance adding that the Public Private Partnership model must be engaged to establish businesses such as a shopping mall to boost life at the bus rank.
He said through an association it would be easy to convince and lure service providers to establish offices or hold public activities at the bus rank.
He added that working together would also assist businesses in sharing ideas and business experiences that would help them sustain and grow. One of the vendors at the bus rank, Ms Tinge Kgosiesele was equally convinced that the bus rank in its current status was not conducive to sustain small businesses.
“For a small business to thrive it must be strategically located along side major businesses such as a shopping complex, where it would easily be located by customers.”
Kgosiesele said her stall had been operating at the bus rank since 2018, but at one point was forced to relocate to where the makeshift bus rank was located in pursuit of customers.
However, she was hopeful that the association would bring life to the bus rank. Ms Agnes Seroojane said the initial opening of the bus rank had brought hope to their businesses as some government department such as bye-law and transport had relocated some of the their services to the bus rank.
However, Ms Seroojane said their stay was short lived as they abandoned the bus rank, derailing efforts of turning the bus rank into a business and service hub. Mr Eric Sefanyetso, one of the long distance public transporters in the Takatokwane-Molepolole road said the Molepolole bus rank was in isolate location and mostly used by long distances buses.
“We cannot refuse to utilise the facility. We are appealing to government to provide services and other social amenities that will attract the local people to take public transport to the rank. The only transport currently utilising bus rank are long distance transporters,” he said.
Mr Sefanyetso said local taxis were limited at the bus rank as they only target the few passengers who were arriving at the bus rank.
He said the movement at the bus rank was only of the few that were travelling to various destinations, while the locals had no business of going to the bus rank as all the services and other businesses of their daily interest were located far from the bus rank.
Meanwhile, Kweneng District Council Chairman, Mr Ontefetse Rankhibidu said efforts were ongoing to resuscitate life a the bus rank. Mr Rankhibidu said negotiations with some council and government departments and other service providers were ongoing and they promised that they would provide service points at the bus rank.
He added that the idea was for other offices to permanently establish at the bus rank, a move that would sustain small businesses and other activities.
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