Railway system on its knees due to theft, vandalism - govt
Railway operators have seen a considerable rise in crimes like theft and vandalism during the Covid-19 lockdown.
"This set off a decrease in return on investment for major operators who had to spend millions of rands to repair vandalised rail infrastructure," says Deputy Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga.
Chikunga was speaking at the release of the Railway Safety Regulator's latest safety report on Wednesday.
She said due to the current state of the railway system, many commuters have been choosing other modes of transportation.
"The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that commuters are opting for alternative transport when interrogated commuters decry the lack of security, train delays, limited train services as the main reasons."
Meanwhile, Sizakele Mzimela, CEO of Transnet Freight Rail, says that some R1.6 billion was spent on security to keep the country's railway lines open last year.
She says they received at least 300 reports of theft and vandalism in one month alone.
"We make more use of technologies, like a drone at this stage. We've had to actually increase the number of people that actually support us on the ground. That has led to a significant increase of how much security is actually costing us as an organisation."
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