It will be a while before we can trust Metrorail

IT’S been heartening to see the suburban trains rumbling past my house again, just like they did years ago when they were the standard form of transport in this part of the world. For many years we used the train to go to work or to school and back every day. To this day, when long-time residents of Simon’s Town or Fish Hoek refer to suburbs like Rondebosch or Claremont, they say they’re going “up the line”. That line was the lifeblood of the south.

I notice that the trains now running past my house are mostly empty. I’m not really surprised. It will take a while before people trust the Metro trains again.

As it is, there are too many carriages being sabotaged and too little protection for passengers.

There always used to be guards on the trains, who would step on to the platform at every stop, check that everybody was safely on board or disembarked, then wave a green flag or blow a whistle to tell the engine driver it was safe to move off.

Between stops the guards checked tickets, saw that everybody was safe and answered questions like, “When do we get to False Bay?” and, “Will I have time to go to the toilet at Sunny Cove?”

I don’t think the train guards were armed, but the mere fact of having somebody in a uniform and official cap watching you seemed to keep people from misbehaving. (Or were people just generally better behaved 20 years ago?)

I have said it before and I really believe that our Metrorail service could be used to transfer Cape Town into a safer, happier place. All we need is people who are prepared to fix the problems.

Unfortunately it seems there are saboteurs at work determined to make the Western Cape fail.

We should not allow them to win. If every overpaid politician in the province were to donate just enough from their salaries to pay for one train guard, many of our troubles would disappear.

The problem is that not many politicians regard themselves as over-paid.

State capture

I was pretty shocked when the stories came out that an Indian family had more or less managed to hijack our entire country. I think we will hear a great deal more on this matter soon.

I am even more shocked to read numerous news reports that seem to indicate Mr Putin and his Russian oligarchs have managed to hijack the American president, Mr Trump.

Apparently he freely admits that his financial empire runs on Russian money and that they helped him in his election campaign. Gosh, who would have thunk it? Does even the Land of the Free have a price these days? The next thing we’ll hear us that the Chinese have bought England.

Last Laugh

They say walking on the beach is the best way for men to develop their stomach muscles. There’s a simple reason for this. Every time a man sees a pretty girl in a bikini, he sucks his tummy in.