Cape Times writes that acts of vandalism on infrastructure during protests and theft are costing the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) millions of rand and at times threaten to cripple the service.
The agency revealed on Tuesday that during April and May alone it incurred about R206 million in damages resulting from acts of vandalism only. Three provinces that are mostly reliant on rail transport accounted for most of the losses, i.e. Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. Prasa’s acting group CE, Nkosinathi Khena, said some vandalism occurred during service delivery protests unrelated toPrasa. However, he admitted that some of the destructive actions exhibited by commuters during service delays could have been prevented if the agency had established better methods of communication well in advance. Khena said incidents of violence and destruction of property also threatened the safety of their employees. “Our drivers are now demanding security, it’s not safe for them anymore,” he stated.
- Read this report by Aziz Hartley in full at Cape Times
- See too, Prasa: 20 trains torched between April & May, costing over R200m, at EWN
- And also, Commuter 'thrown from train' near Brackenfell station badly hurt, at Cape Times
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page