Pretoria - The multimillion-rand Greenview railway station in Mamelodi is in a state of ruin, with no sign that construction will be completed any time soon.
Residents of the nearby Phomolong informal settlement said they detested the incomplete station because of the danger it posed to the community.
The construction of the station by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) dates back to 2011 at a cost of R102 million. However, the station has been stripped bare.
The roof, door frames, aluminium windows and other fittings at the facility have been taken.
The vandals, suspected to be nyaope addicts and scrap metal dealers, also took cables and uprooted the rail tracks, turning it into a place of prostitution and drug deals.
Even a drive into the station is a painful experience as residents have piled up stones, tyres and wood to make paths along the road.
The once beautiful facility is also used as a gambling spot.
A dump site has also formed not far from what was the main building, from which hangs a high steel infrastructure that is also being vandalised.
A resident said: “Criminal activities at the site have become normal, and residents using the train station as a thoroughfare are always at risk.”
Most residents in the overcrowded settlement did not appreciate the costly station, whose upgrade was part of Prasa’s overall strategic objective of positioning passenger rail as the backbone for public transport.
Prasa’s project manager of strategic infrastructure, Buhlebenkosi Maphosa, said land issues had affected the completion of the station, but were being attended to and negotiations were at an advanced stage.
The construction of Greenview station had so far cost more than R102m, he said, adding: “The project stopped in October 2018 after the then appointed contractor cited community unrest. The train has not been stopping at the Greenview station because it is not complete. The occupation certificate has not been issued by the City of Tshwane in this regard.”
In 2011 Prasa invested R373m in the doubling of the 4.5km railway line between Eerste Fabrieke and Greenview. Then chief executive Lucky Montana said the upgrades would boost the capacity of the Mamelodi Gardens and Pienaarspoort stations from 20 000 passengers a day to more than 60 000.
The new station would include four new platforms, and it would be improved to provide free and safe pedestrian rail crossings, while ticketing systems would be placed on the platforms.
Vandalism and arson have cost Prasa almost a billion rand in damaged infrastructure between 2017 and 2019 – during a time when Prasa had contracted out its security services.
The agency failed to appoint new security contractors in April last year and then cancelled contracts in November, resulting in a number of court cases.
Pretoria News