Driver stabbed, robbed in train attack

Victim’s right arm has yet to heal

A TRAIN driver must wait a month before he will know whether his right arm will heal to the extent that he will be able to work again.

Stephanus Louw, 48, was attacked by three knife-wielding suspects last month when he left his cabin at the Bellville Station to turn the train back to Kraaifontein station, said his union.

“At the moment, I can’t close my hand or use all my fingers properly. A physiotherapist is treating me twice a week and I need to see the surgeon, who operated on me to save my arm, again on March 8. Only then will I know my fate,” he said.

Louw has been a train driver for the past 26 years and is stationed at Kraaifontein.

United National Transport Union (Untu) general secretary Steve Harris said Louw’s case was an example of why the statistics of the SAPS and the Railway Safety Regulator did not reflect the reality of the situation on the trains nationwide.

Earlier this week, Nonhlanhla Dlamini, a 38-year old train driver, was left traumatised after she was stoned in her cabin by a mob of furious commuters.

She was en route from Durban to Stanger when commuters wanted her to stop in the middle of a section.

“I refused to do it, as it was not allowed and would have created a very dangerous situation for the commuters and for the train crew. I then stopped at Briardene Station. The commuters where furious. They surrounded the cabin and started stoning me. I tried to hide inside the cabin,” Dlamini, said.

Louw said the assailants had held a knife to his throat, and demanded his personal belongings.

“I gave them my bag and put my hand inside my pocket to get my cellphone out. They just stabbed me and ran off with the phone.

“According to the surgeon, I was lucky. If this stab wound was 2mm deeper, I would have lost the use of my arm completely.

“The incident was very traumatic. I did not attempt to resist and still they stabbed me. I am a husband, a father of two children and a grandfather. Every day I fear for my life,” he said.

The police and the Passenger Rail Agency of SA did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.

I did not attempt to resist and they still stabbed me Stephanus Louw Train driver

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