In response to parliamentary questions, provincial Minister of Transport and Public Works, Bonginkosi Madikizela, reveals that his department has developed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with PRASA. This presents the Western Cape’s clear intention to support the crippled rail agency in its efforts to restore services, including the Central Line.
I will therefore invited both the provincial department and PRASA to brief the standing committee on full details of the MOA and implementation of necessary measures for the Central Line Recovery Programme.
We understand that the MOA includes provincial support to PRASA in establishing an interim bus service between Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and Langa, and an interim hybrid service of electric trains between Langa and Cape Town. Through the development of this MOA, PRASA stated its willingness to work with transport and community stakeholders in the corridor.
The provincial department has further developed an Operational, Business and Implementation Plan for this service, and is now at the stage of engaging PRASA on the best way forward with this initiative.
Furthermore, the security wall between Netreg and Bonteheuwel railway stations was built as a national pilot project in an effort to standardise walling along PRASA-owned corridors. While the construction of the wall has been brought to a halt, this is due to improvements identified which will be incorporated following evaluation of tenders for construction and quality monitoring.
We previously indicated that only 40 of the 88 trainsets in the Western Cape are operational. It is further noted that whilst vandalism and theft of railway infrastructure is a serious criminal offence (Criminal Matters Amendment Act, 2015) the number of such crimes increases year-on-year.
We welcome the efforts by the Western Cape Government to support PRASA, and it remains the priority of the DA in the Western Cape that all forms of public transport remain safe, cost-effective, and efficient.
