Prasa’s R130m loco debacle

● Despite warnings that SA’s dilapidated rail network was not ready, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) last month signed a locomotive lease deal and relaunched longdistance trains — with disastrous consequences for festive season travellers.

The locomotive deal — worth R130m and signed with a company Prasa has declined to name — was finalised just days after the agency fired its group CEO Zolani Matthews. He had allegedly been reluctant to sign the 11-month lease after its Mainline Passenger Service (MLPS) warned that the infrastructure was not ready to run the Shosholoza Meyl trains.

The trains began running on December 15, quickly clocking up 90 hours of delays during 22 trips and incurring possibly irregular and fruitless expenditure.

More than 600 commuters found themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere, in some cases for days, because of broken infrastructure caused by cable theft and vandalism.

Some reported having to endure unbearable stenches, non-flushing toilets, no running water and a lack of food on the trains. Prasa was forced to hire buses to ferry passengers to their destinations.

Shosholoza Meyl services had been suspended since 2020, when lockdowns were first introduced, amid widespread vandalism of infrastructure and destruction of railway stations.

Prasa failed this week to answer questions about which company or companies were awarded the locomotive contract and when the agreement was signed.

Instead it blamed Transnet’s infrastructure for the debacle.

A source told the Sunday Times that Prasa now wants to use the locomotives for Metro Rail commuter trains in cities, even though they were meant for long-distance use.

“In their deviation application to the National Treasury they had stated that these will be used for long distance. They are now stuck with the [locomotives] and still have to pay for them even though they can’t use them for long distances, which means there is now an irregular and fruitless expenditure,” said one source.

Several sources said David Mphelo, who was appointed as acting CEO after Matthews was suspended in November — allegedly for not disclosing that he held dual citizenship — signed off on the lease days after the board announced on December 2 that Matthews had been axed.

Asked why it had ignored warnings by the MLPS not to go ahead with the reopening of long-distance operations, Prasa said this was

part of its mandate and a social service. “Because of the demand for affordable long-distance travel, it is essential that we provide the service. A majority of long-distance passengers were burdened by the high cost of long-distance bus and taxi service,” said Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makhanda.

“The route to the Eastern Cape is mainly on Transnet lines. The trains experienced continuous cable theft and vandalism incidents on the Transnet infrastructure.

“Faulty signalling systems, as a result of theft and vandalism, caused trains to be controlled manually. It unfortunately takes time for the information to be processed before a movement can be allowed, resulting in delays. In certain areas services were restricted to single lines caused by continuous theft and vandalism of signalling and [overhead track equipment] cables.”

“Some of the causes for delays have been identified and an action plan has been developed to address these issues, including continuous engagement with Transnet. Transnet is also working on restoring the stolen and vandalised infrastructure on its networks. We have also intensified security on the lines to protect infrastructure from theft and vandalism.”

Makhanda said Prasa had followed due process in awarding the contract.

Zak Benjamin, who was travelling with his ailing mother, said they had taken a train from Klerksdorp in the North West to Cape Town.

“First, the train was three hours late. We left on Sunday and we had a couple of stops.” He said they first stopped in Kimberley for three hours and then in Orania for several hours and in Prince Albert for 13 hours.

Another source said: “They have compromised the workers’ safety throughout this period and some were even injured. In some of the incidents a headlight cover was hit by a cable and overhead cables hit the driver’s window, which needed to be replaced. Some of the trains hit hanging wires which cracked the driver’s doors and windows and damaged roofs.”

Pictures and a video of the trains, seen by the Sunday Times, confirm these reports.

Internal Prasa reports from December 16 to this month, seen by the Sunday Times, reveal a disastrous and chaotic state of affairs that forced the agency to hire 61 buses for 129 bus trips to carry 6,506 passengers to their destinations.

One of the first trains to leave Johannesburg got stuck in Kroonstad on December 16 because of cable theft. Eight buses had to be hired to take passengers to East London.

“On December 19 a train to East London was 1,146 minutes [19 hours] late and Port Elizabeth was 841 minutes late due to operational challenges,” reads part of the report.

Another train got stuck between Koppies and Rooiwal in the Free State for 12 hours on December 23 because of cable theft and sagging overhead electric power cables, forcing Prasa to hire 15 buses for 816 passengers who were travelling to the Eastern Cape.

The chaos continued until this month with trains eventually arriving at Shosholoza Meyl depots without any passengers but having incurred in total 35 hours of delays this month and 55 hours in December.

Prasa had announced that in the first six months of Shosholoza Meyl operations it would focus on employee and customer safety, bringing back customers, generating revenue and sustainability. It had announced services between Johannesburg and East London, Gqeberha, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Musina and Polokwane.