By Dan Khumalo
We demand that the Department of Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula be held personally accountable for the Passenger Rail Agency of SA’s (Prasa) blatant disregard of the Covid-19 regulations as well as the safety of commuters and employees.
Mbalula is accountable to Prasa and the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR), the so-called watchdog of rail safety, which is allowing Prasa to operate without adhering to Constitutional Court orders about train safety.
In a video taken last week, Train 9137, seen between Reunion Station and Merebank Station on the route between Umlazi and Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, is overcrowded. Commuters are endangering their lives by hanging from the train and sitting on top of the train.
There is no physical distancing and not all the commuters are wearing masks. This video clearly shows that Prasa and the RSR are making a mockery of train safety.
Prasa is gambling with commuters’ lives. If a commuter slips and falls under the train, they will die or be mutilated.
This comes two weeks after the RSR assured the Covid-19 sub-transport committee of Nedlac that the RSR was satisfied that Prasa was implementing all the necessary steps to combat the spread of Covid-19. It said the RSR was aware that Prasa was in contempt of court orders, but believed Prasa would be able to adhere to them once the new urban commuter train, the People’s Train, was fully operational.
Dan Khumalo is the Acting General Secretary of the United National Transport Union.
The Star