Prasa ‘has failed to beef up security’
PARLIAMENT wants the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to report on the progress of safety and security measures it promised to put in place to protect Metrorail infrastructure and commuters in the Western Cape.
This comes as the rail operator reported that more than 30 of its coaches had been destroyed, with three cases of arson in the past month.
Parliament’s portfolio committee on transport chairperson, Dikeledi Magadzi, said: “It is taking too long for Prasa to uphold the promises that they have made to the portfolio committee. They indicated that they were going to provide security at these facilities.
“Sometime last year, Prasa indicated that they were going to talk to the police and beef up their security. We don’t see at all that they have beefed up their security, and we are very disappointed,” said Magadzi.
She said the committee condemned the acts of vandalism, but would like to see more action from Prasa.
Commitment
Prasa acting group chief executive Cromet Molepo told the committee that there was a commitment from the City of Cape Town to provide 100 officers, 60 commuter safety security staff and 14 infrastructure staff. He said Prasa would also upscale its security by 1 550 officials.
Prasa also committed to working with Transnet to help with the speed regulation of trains at various stations.
Magadzi said it was concerning that Prasa had money to effect the required security but had been unable to use the funds allocated to it in the past financial year to beef up its security.
The City of Cape Town yesterday approved the training of 100 railway police who will protect the railway infrastructure that has come under attack in and around the city.
The decision stems from a railway summit that was convened by the City, Prasa and Metrorail to find ways to protect railway infrastructure and commuters.
Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for transport, Brett Herron, said both parties had contributed R48 million, which would be put towards the project.
Metrorail recently confirmed that 39 coaches had been destroyed in suspected arson attacks over the past four months, which cost the operator R51 million.
In February this year, trains were torched at two Durban stations causing damage of R9 million.
At the time, Prasa said it was introducing push-to-talk cellphones and panic buttons for train drivers, acknowledging that it needed to provide a safe working environment.
In the previous financial year, Prasa incurred R442 million in losses, which was twice as much as the previous year, due to various factors including vandalism and storm damage.