Bare bones of contention

CENTURY-OLD BUILDING: IMPORTANT PIECE OF SA INFRASTRUCTURE UNGUARDED, PICKED APART

With just a skeleton left of Benoni station, it has become a haven for criminals.

It only took five years from the last train rolling out of the Benoni railway station to reduce the century-old structure to rubble. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has been promising for four years to fix the station and restore commuter rail services in the East Rand.

But all there is to show for it are crumbling, windowless walls, stripped roofs, and weeds and bushes reclaiming the platforms and rails.

Prasa has blamed Covid for the ruin.

“Benoni station was badly vandalised during the Covid lockdown when no trains were operating,” said spokesperson Andiswa Makanda. Nobody guarded the property. “A decision was taken by the board at that time to cancel all security contracts,” she added.

The consequences of not protecting taxpayer assets are shocking.

Entire metal staircases were stolen from a pedestrian bridge that crosses the railway line, roofing was carted away, along with doors, knobs and cables.

Anything that could be taken is gone.

The Democratic Alliance’s Mike Waters said: “It is an indictment of the government’s ability to manage taxpayer infrastructure. In what universe is it conceivable that you’d cancel a security contract which protects assets that belong to the nation?”

Waters said the previous Prasa board should be held accountable and billed for the restoration of the station.

And Benoni station is not just run-down, it is a haven for criminal activity.

Cable thieves find it particularly attractive to collect and burn their loot there. Signs of it are everywhere, and stockpiles of tyres, burnt to create enough heat to melt the stolen cables, are everywhere.

Anyone can hide out here, said Waters, because no sane person would venture into the ruin.

Makanda said Prasa eventually installed a measure of security.

“Given the current state of the Benoni station and the high cost of security, a decision was taken to post protection services [there] while intensified security resources are focused on newly recovered and restored services to prevent future theft and vandalism.”

When The Citizen visited Benoni station, it was clear what Makanda meant. Two guards had set up camp in one of the few remaining areas with a roof, facing the street.

Said Waters: “In the meantime, the looting continues trackside and every fortnight or so, the tyres burn.” The guards denied seeing or knowing of any criminal activity. “This is despite clear evidence of it,” said Waters.

Pictures: Hein Kaiser WEED-INFESTED WRECK. If paint was valuable it would also have been stripped. Everything else was looted from Benoni station. The century-old building lies in ruins.

REDUCED TO A SHELL. After standing for a century, this is all that’s left of the original façade of one of Gauteng’s historic stations.

PATTERN OF NEGLECT. Criss-cross shadows are cast where a roof used to be. It’s taken less than five years to destroy Benoni station.

NO-ONE HELD LIABLE. Mike Waters from the Democratic Alliance says there has been no accountability for the state of the station.