Press Statement dated 21 July 2018
The United National Transport Union (UNTU) calls on Police Minister Bheki Cele to appoint a task team with the best of the countries expertise to investigative who is behind the ongoing arson attacks on Metrorail trains in Cape Town in the Western Cape.
“If the South African Police Service (SAPS) won’t take immediate action to protect the trains of the Passenger Rail Services of South Africa (Prasa), a state-owned enterprise that is like the South African Airways (SAA) funded with tax payer’s money, there will not be enough coaches left in the Western Cape to provide any service to commuters in Cape Town.
“More than a million workers in the Western Cape rely on trains to get to and from work each month. The overcrowding of trains in the Western Cape due to the shortage of train coaches are already so bad, that officials of the SAPS are not even prepared to work on the trains on the notorious Central Line in peak time as they will not be safe carrying their service pistols,” says Steve Harris, General Secretary of UNTU.
Yesterday afternoon at 15:39 six train coaches burned out after Train 3420 arrived torched on platform 15 of the Cape Town Station. The fire spread to Platform 16 when the Fire Department arrived ten minutes later.
Although the cause of the fire is still being investigated, it is clear that the coach was torch as it was approaching the station and that a substance was used to ensure that the fire will spread fast. Nobody was injured, says Harris.
This is the fifth time train coaches belonging to Prasa in the Western Cape has been torched while it was approaching stations in recent months. Harris says every time, the same modus operandi is used.
According to Harris this crisis was one of the burning issues faced by Prasa which UNTU had hoped to discuss with Transport Minister Blade Nzimande when the Union requested an urgent meeting with him after his appointment in February 2018.
Although the Minister agreed to the meeting in May 2018 when Harris met him after his budget vote, his office has yet to set a date for the meeting to take place.
“While the train coaches in the Western Cape are getting less by the day, the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR), is still only allowing the new Urban Commuter train to take passengers on the route from Pretoria to Pienaarspoort in Gauteng.
“The New Train will not be allowed to travel on the routes in the Western Cape unless the railway line is not secured to that pedestrians cannot access it. The constant arson attacks are on the verge to cause an economic disaster for workers who are depending on the train services,” says Harris.
UNTU also calls on communities and commuters to report suspects to the toll-free number of the RSR, 0800 444 888.
Issued on behalf of United National Transport Union (UNTU) by Sonja Carstens, Media and Liaison Officer