The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is concerned that the Prasa rail infrastructure in Gauteng is being pillaged and the company is not doing anything to protect its assets.

The damage has been so severe that Metrorail can no longer service the commuters of Gauteng and can only operate on one line, Pienaarspoort. Even this line had its services interrupted due to cable theft.

Prasa will maintain that that their services are limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the truth is that this is a veiled excuse. The company's security, including the railway police, have failed to protect its infrastructure to the point that it can no longer operate its services in the province.

The latest example of this is the cable theft that happened on the line in Lyttleton in the early hours of Monday morning. The stolen cables, ready and cut for collection, were found by a local resident on Monday morning. He alerted Prasa who sent out an investigator.

See pictures here here  here  and here

What Prasa requires is a proactive strategy to protect its infrastructure or else its trains will never run in Gauteng again, leaving 5% of the province's commuters stranded and placing undue pressure on other modes of public transport in the province.

I call on Prasa's administrator to step in and arrest the rampant theft that will cost the company millions of rands, it does not have to repair the damage. Gauteng requires the services of this important public transport provider if it wants to restart its economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Issued by The DA