Last night angry commuters set alight four train coaches at the Thornton Railway Station between Cape Town and Bellville.

This comes after Metrorail in Cape Town has been struggling the whole week to deliver its services after it had to suspend all train services in the region to permit urgent repair work on its trains after vandals did extensive damage to it.

“Enough is enough. The South African Police Service (SAPS) owns an explanation to the country’s tax payers as to why these criminals are not being arrested for malicious damage to property and brought before the courts where they would face severe sentences if found guilty,” says Steve Harris, General Secretary of the United National Transport Union (UNTU).

According to him the SAPS can no longer hide behind the excuse that it is the responsibility of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) to guard its assets.

“This is a national crisis that is escalating with every passing day. The coaches cost millions and belong to a state-owned enterprise funded with tax payer’s money. The SAPS acted when statutes all over South Africa where being vandalised by members of the Economic Freedom Fighters in April last year. The police have a Constitutional obligation to act now,” says Harris.

The setting alight of coaches has plunged PRASA into an unprecedented and an existential crisis. The passenger railway operator cannot deliver proper services because 40% of its fleet is not in service.

During the first six months of this financial year 375 coaches where vandalized against the 250 of 2015/16

Harris says the result is that there is a shortage of train sets. PRASA can only provide 248 train sets per day against a requirement of 287. Of these 56% have short formations.

“Couple this with the increase in security incidents on assets by 16% year on year and incidents involving passengers showing an increase of 53% year on year for the first six months of 2016/17 and you will realise why Metrorail lost a quarter or 73 million of its paying passengers in the first six months of 2016/17.

“If the SAPS allow this trend to continue, PRASA will collapse. It is of national importance that the SAPS must act now,” says Harris.

Issued by UNTU