Siyavuya Mzantsi
IT IS a losing battle to protect train commuters from armed robberies, Metrorail has conceded. This comes as commuter Thulani Sidzumo was recovering in hospital after being allegedly pushed out of a fast-moving train near Netreg station last week and the Cape Times reporter Dominic Adriaanse was left shaken after being robbed at knife-point by five men on his way home in Paarl.
Metrorail spokesperson Zino Mihi said: “It’s a sad state of affairs. The problem is that even if we beef up the security this continues to happen. We also have have some of our employees who help our securities during peak hours regularly, but some of these criminals are among us and they know our strategy,” she said.
Hazendal resident Darren August might not be able to walk after he was flung out of a train as he intervened when his fellow commuters were being robbed earlier in March. A Retreat resident, Sue-Ann and her husband Brent Leeuwendaal and four other commuters were robbed at gunpoint in December 2015 near Retreat train station. Police have confirmed a suspect was arrested in connection to the incident.
Recently the high court in Pretoria found Metrorail’s parent company, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) liable after commuter Kenny Mokwena had sued for damages. He had been pushed from an overcrowded train. Prasa has been ordered to pay him R348 000.
Mihi said Metrorail had protection services, the rapid rail response unit and provincial police to deal with crime on trains and stations.
“When we focus on a certain area, they go in the opposite direction. We have not ruled out the possibility of a syndicate because these people know exactly what is happening inside,” she said.
Mihi said Metrorail was faced with a big “threat” as some of its property had been damaged and several trains torched.
“You can never say you are 100 percent when it comes to safety. We recently had a meeting to discuss how we can address our witnesses. There is also an issue of a limited budget and old infrastructure,” she said.
Prasa spokesperson Victor Dlamini said the introduction of an armed unit and electronic surveillance has helped, but “it is a lot of ground to cover with finite resources”.
“The Western Cape railway lines span six municipalities. It is inevitable that crime in these communities would spill over into the railway environment,” he said.
Commuter watchdog, the Public Transport Voice, slated Metrorail for “not prioritising” the safety of its train users.
The organisation’s Zingisani Nkanjeni said Metrorail’s failure to increase safety put commuters’ lives at risk.