Prasa paid out R103m to those hurt due to open doors
TRANSPORT Minister Blade Nzimande has said the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has paid R103 million in compensation to people injured as a result of open coach doors in moving trains since March 2018.
Nzimande revealed the compensation in a written response to a parliamentary question by the DA’s Manny de Freitas, who asked about the number of persons injured and those who died as a result of open coach doors in moving trains.
Nzimande said five fatalities and 138 incidents of injuries were reported since March 2018.
He said R103 018 772 was paid out in compensation to the victims during the period.
“Commuter injury claims take a long period to finalise and settle.
“To that extent claims incurred in a specific month are not settled in that month.”
The minister also said Prasa had not reneged on its legal duty to ensure doors were closed.
“Prasa as an operator is committed to passenger and operational safety. When the driver picks up the train at the staging yard, he or she ensures that the doors are tested and functional.
“We therefore make sure that malfunctioning doors are repaired before the train leaves the staging yard.”
Nzimande said passengers have a tendency of blocking the doors and causing them to malfunction.
Meanwhile, Nzimande said his department planned to address the backlog in issuing driving licences by not later than this month following delays caused by a labour dispute.
“In January 2019, there was a backlog of 250 000 cards, which was addressed on February 8.
“As at March 7, there was a backlog of 194 000 cards caused by a delay in the delivery of material.
“This backlog will be addressed by April 15,” he said in a written reply to parliamentary questions from the DA’s Chris Hunsinger.
Nzimande said the delay in the delivery of driving licence cards was caused by the system upgrade on the production machine and the labour dispute lodged by the employees in the production of driving licence cards.
“The production team worked overtime to address the backlog,” Nzimande said.
He also confirmed instances where members of the public had to return to redo their fingerprints, photos and eye tests.
“The department has been working on a recovery tool to retrieve the missing images (fingerprints, photos and eye-tests)... In those instances where we have not been able to, members of the public have been requested to return to the centres to redo their applications,” Nzimande said.
Nzimande also said the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) had opened a case of extortion and sabotage in connection with the missing fingerprints, photos and eye-tests.
“The office of the Directorate for Priority Investigation upon their investigation issued a “nolle prosecui”, citing among others lack of evidence as the reason for withdrawal,” Nzimande said.
Prasa is committed to passenger and operational safety
Blade Nzimande
MINITER OF TRANSPORT