Late trains delay president

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa’s charm offensive in the hotly contested province of Gauteng ahead of the elections was derailed for hours in a train from Mabopane to Pretoria CBD yesterday. Ramaphosa vowed that his more than three-hour trip has made it more urgent for him and his party to deal with the transport needs of South Africans, especially the poor.

Ramaphosa and Gauteng Premier David Makhura personally witnessed the troubles of train delays endured by commuters in the country. Both also saw how these trains were overcrowded and how some of the commuters risked their lives illegally crossing railway lines.

Ramaphosa was supposed to spend just under an hour – at least 45 minutes in that train – but spent more than two hours in it.

The delay denied Ramaphosa a chance to gauge the number of people using trains to the Pretoria CBD, which would have allowed the ANC especially and its Tshwane region to know where to invest its election machinery.

Ramaphosa and Makhura also missed the opportunity to canvass the support of commuters travelling in other directions while connecting from Pretoria Station. But at least, some of those were offered ANC T-shirts ahead of boarding the trains for different destinations.

While inside the delayed train, Ramaphosa witnessed some illegal acts. He promised to demand answers from senior officials of Prasa.

Initially, Ramaphosa was due to board the train at Mabopane Station at about 6.30am, but eventually boarded at 07.30 – only to personally experience the frustration thousands of the commuters suffered on a daily basis.

After his trip, Ramaphosa said he was grateful he had experienced the troubles people experience in these trains and promised that the ANC was going to act on the poor transport system very soon.