President calls for Prasa action
Transport Minister Nzimande told to urgently intervene over crisis at national rail agency
TRADE unions in the transport and rail sector have hailed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s directive to Transport Minister Blade Nzimande to urgently shake up the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa).
Ramaphosa issued the directive to Nzimande yesterday, after he had spent more than three hours on a Metrorail train travelling from Mabopane to Pretoria on Monday.
The president made the announcement following his meeting with Nzimande on Tuesday, in which they discussed the deterioration of infrastructure and unacceptable delays of train services, which often resulted in commuters arriving late for work, school and other commitments. Passenger and driver safety also received attention. Presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko said Ramaphosa had stressed the need for a safe, reliable and integrated public transport system to support the country’s economic development aspirations.
“While appreciating that Prasa is implementing one of the largest urban rail modernisation programmes in the world, the agency’s failure to implement its turnaround plans and, in the process, pay due attention to critical rail operational functions is a cause for concern.
“The president has directed immediate action to strengthen governance by stabilising the leadership cohort at board level and filling critical vacancies, including that of the group chief executive,” Diko said.
She said Ramaphosa has also called for practical and urgent action to bridge the gap between the turnaround strategies developed and their day-to-day implementation.
The president had also directed that a capable and skilled team of specialists should be established to conduct due diligence on the rail network to determine the extent of the challenges.
“Urgent action is required to accelerate the implementation of the R172 billion modernisation programme meant to eliminate challenges occasioned by aged infrastructure,” Diko said.
Nzimande was expected to make announcements in due course on the delivery of these commitments and other actions to be undertaken to restore service performance at Prasa.
The SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) and the United National Trade Union (Untu) have welcomed the move.
Satawu spokesperson Zanele Sabela said the move was urgent as workers had already reported concerns about the lack of information on the implementation of the new modernisation programme to deal with ageing infrastructure.
“The president is right in saying the minister must appoint a Prasa board and a permanent group chief executive with a clear mandate. The previous group chief executive was given a 12-month contract – that is hardly enough time for one to wrap his or her mind around the challenges facing the agency,” Sabela said.
Untu general secretary Steve Harris said they welcomed the “belated directive”, saying they had been calling for Ramaphosa’s intervention since 2017.
Harris said his union had told Ramaphosa that Prasa was in crisis and that its infrastructure was falling apart.
“They do not have spares for the outdated rolling stock, and cable theft is a major problem as it prevents signals from operating. Manual authorisation is the only operating system currently working in most rail networks.
“The shortage of train sets and trained staff has created a further crisis. We believe that Ramaphosa should declare a state of emergency for the rail industry, specifically passenger rail. We suggest that he should bring in the army as a short-term solution to curb crime by protecting train platforms and infrastructure,” Harris added.
He said the problem with the new train sets that were still in the building phase was that they could not be operated using the current infrastructure.
“We believe that Prasa and Transnet should fall under the same ministry,” Harris added.