Article initially revealed on GroundUp by James Stent
- Activist group #UniteBehind has issued a letter of demand to the President and Minister of Transport to demand fast motion on commuter rail.
- They are calling for PRASA’s board to be sacked and for the rail company to be positioned beneath judicial administration or enterprise rescue till metros or provinces can take over.
- But current feedback from a minister and ANC coverage chief counsel that the federal government doesn’t need to hand over the passenger rail company, opposite to revealed coverage and laws.
Commuter activist group #UniteBehind has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula to dissolve the board of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), appoint a brand new board and transfer passenger rail to the metros and provinces. But current feedback from one other minister counsel that the social gathering will resist makes an attempt to shift management of commuter rail.
Rail points
In a 24 January letter of demand addressed to the President and Minister of Transport, #UniteBehind calls for that:
- the Minister of Transport dissolve the present PRASA board and appoint a reliable new board;
- PRASA be positioned beneath judicial administration or enterprise rescue;
- unbiased engineers be appointed to resolve the Siyangena matter (pending since 2020); and
- plans be made with municipalities which have commuter rail infrastructure to be sure that the service is handed over as quickly as attainable, in Cape Town and Gauteng specifically.
#UniteBehind set a deadline of 14 February. If these calls for should not met by then, the group intends to go to courtroom.
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Devolution of commuter rail transport has been official authorities coverage because the publication of the 1996 National Transport Policy White Paper. This coverage has been confirmed in subsequent White Papers, together with the latest one from 2022, and in regulation, with the National Land Transport Act of 2009 saying that commuter rail needs to be situated ”within the acceptable sphere of presidency”.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has been asking Mbalula to move on duty for commuter rail within the metropolis. The City of Cape Town already accomplished a marketing strategy in 2018 and is at present creating a feasibility research for the takeover of commuter rail. The Gauteng Provincial authorities has additionally indicated a want to take over from the crisis-riddled PRASA.
But remarks by Mmamoloko Kubayi, Minister of Human Settlements and head of the ANC’s financial transformation subcommittee, revealed within the Sunday World final week, counsel that, opposite to coverage paperwork and laws, the federal government’s stance is to resist devolution.
PRASA hand over
“We can’t give it to metros. On policy we would not agree, and we have not made these proposals, and this will not change,” mentioned Kubayi to the Sunday World.
On Monday, Hill-Lewis launched an announcement calling on the President to make clear whether or not Kubayi’s feedback had been, in reality, authorities coverage.
“We are ready to re-establish a viable rail service in the best interests of commuters, and we are ready to work with national government at any time to achieve this. The fact is rail has collapsed nationally. PRASA now only transports 3% of the passengers it did a decade ago nationally. PRASA is now bankrupt, with billions lost to corrupt deals, including trains too big for the tracks. Change is long overdue,” wrote Hill-Lewis.
He mentioned his newest correspondence with Mbalula indicated that the minister’s division was creating a “Devolution Strategy”, to be accomplished in 2024.
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