News24 reports that a year after the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) in the Western Cape took on more security resources to stem the tide of criminality on commuter trains, their data shows tangible progress.
In 365 days, security personnel responded to 258 incidents, which resulted in 347 arrests. Of the 186 cases presented to court, bail was denied in every case and 27 successful convictions were secured leading to a combined total of 171 years and 6 months in prison. Moreover, since October 2018, the spate of burning of trains had been stopped. According to Richard Walker, Prasa’s regional manager, the problems the agency and commuters faced were multifaceted and interconnected. In order to build on the province's success, there needed to be greater enforcement of legislation, traceable copper transactions, improved criminal convictions and specialist security and forensic services. Walker explained that beyond issues of petty crime aboard trains, the aspect that most afflicted rail operations, and commuters, was the issue of underground signal cable theft - which was lucrative because of its copper content. In the last 12 months alone, R22.6m worth of rail infrastructure had been stolen. On Wednesday, Prasa's security assets were bolstered when they received 19 new security vehicles.
- Read the full original of Ethan Van Diemen’s informative report on this story at News24
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