Train derailment: DA requests investigation into PRASA
20 August 2015
The DA will today write to Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Transport, Dikeledi Magadzi, to request that she summon the board of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (PRASA) to explain why PRASA is operating trains without the requisite safety permits.
The DA will also be writing to the Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, to call on her department to launch a full-scale investigation into the train derailment, and to provide Parliament with a full report on the matter.
It has already emerged that the new Afro 4000 long-distance train, which derailed in the Northern Cape this week, was not given proper clearance by the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR).
The regulator, in fact, only granted “test” clearance certificates to the trains, whereas, in order to carry passengers, they should have “operational” certificates. An operational certificate is only granted when the RSR is completely convinced that the locomotive is safe.
While there is no clarity on what caused the accident – which took place close to Modder River and in which several people were injured – it is cause for great concern that these trains were carrying passengers without the necessary clearance.
Besides the obvious safety hazards of allowing passengers on trains without the necessary clearance, it is clear that there has been serious miscommunication between PRASA and the RSR.
The Afro 4000 locomotives – of which there are 13 – have been controversial from the outset as it has recently emerged that they are the incorrect height for the country’s rail lines and, according to PRASA’s own engineers, prone to derailment.
PRASA needs to explain to the committee why these locomotives were operational without a proper safety permit, thus putting people’s lives at serious risk.
We trust that both the Minister and the Portfolio Committee on Transport will treat this matter with the seriousness it deserves, so that South Africans can rest assured that our country’s transport facilities are safe to use.
Statement issued by Chris Hunsinger MP, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Transport, August 20 2015
