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SowetanLive reports that the pillaging of railway infrastructure continues unabated at various non-operational train stations in Gauteng, despite the reopening of several routes since the easing of the hard lockdown last year.
The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has estimated that it could take up to three years for normal train operations to return to full capacity nationally because of the levels of damage to the infrastructure. Sowetan visited some of the vandalised stations it reported on last year and found that the situation had gone from bad to worse. At Germiston station, the two coaches parked there since March last year have been stripped bare. Looters have now started digging holes on the platform to remove cables running underground. At Cleveland station there were no security guards and overgrown grass has covered the platforms. At Doornfontein station the situation is now worse. Not only is the fence next to the platform removed, but thieves have also started removing the roof of the station. The damage to railway infrastructure began when Prasa terminated its security contract after it was flagged by the auditor-general to be irregular. With no security guards on site, thieves helped themselves to anything they could lay their hands on. In September, transport minister Fikile Mbalula introduced 3,100 protection officers to stop the vandalism and theft. By then, the damage of rail infrastructure was estimated at R4bn. Prasa spokesperson Bane Ndlovu said the security guards were unable to be everywhere at once and therefore were posted according to areas identified through crime patterns and analysis.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Penwell Dlamini and view photos at SowetanLive
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