In the Eastern Cape, there has been no rail service for more than a month. Train services to East London and Gqeberha were halted on August 15 and 22, respectively.
According to Mimi Katsio, a spokesman for the province’s Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), this is because of “procurement procedures” to get new locomotives.
On January 7th, all railway services in the Eastern Cape were put on hold for a period of five months, including Metrorail and trains that ran between Kariega, Gqeberha, and East London. At the time, PRASA blamed cable theft and vandalism and said that this was “related to operational issues” on the rail network.
Following the purchase of diesel locomotives from a “external service provider,” trains were once again in operation in June. But that agreement has already ended. According to Katsio, PRASA Eastern Cape is working hard to “finalise the procurement procedures to receive locomotives” and “supply chain management systems.”
the suspension of trains in Eastern Cape
For commuters, the stoppage is terrible news. A cab will now cost them R27 to go from Gqeberha to Kariega, and it will cost R9 to travel from Mdantsane to East London by rail, R16 by bus, and R18 by taxi.
“We need to remove corruption in PRASA and government-sponsored austerity,” said Mzikazi Nkata, the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers’ (NUPSAW) deputy provincial secretary for the Eastern Cape.
“We call on the state to stop austerity and build capacity of public transport, including the important and affordable role played by trains in our public transport system.
“Trains are the answer to the unemployment and climate crisis problems that we face in South Africa … and this must be led by the public sector.”
Currently, PRASA employs 645 people throughout the province. They had been on “refresher training” during prior bans and had been reporting to work each day. According to Katsio, “Customer service staff are receiving training on new ticketing devices while railway operations employees are receiving theoretical instruction to maintain their licences to run trains when we acquire locomotives.”