If the South African Police Service (SAPS) are serious about fighting the drastic increase in violent crimes at railway stations across the country, it will re-establish the Railway Police as it existed before it became part of the police in 1986.
“The only way the SAPS will prevent more people dying at our railway stations. We need dedicated Railway Police who are permanently stationed at the stations and on the train and who will priorities the combatting of any crime committed,” pleads Mr. Steve Harris, General Secretary of the United National Transport Union (UNTU).
Last week two of UNTU’s shop steward were attacked and robbed at the Salt River railway station on the old main line between Cape Town and Bellville. Mr Mandilake Qhunyana was robbed and stabbed on the train between Salt River and Woodstock station. According to Mr. Qhunyana there was no security on the train at the time. Both shop stewards where severely traumatized by the violent attacks.
They were attacked in separate incidents days after UNTU’s members learned that a male armed security guard (33) of Comwezi Security was shot in the head by two armed robbers on Monday afternoon while patrolling the central railway line between Heideveld and Nyanga near Thambo Village with a female colleague to ensure that the signalling boxes are not stolen. The robbers fled with the firearms of both security guards. The suspects are still at large.
Two weeks ago train driver Pieter Barend (Piet) Botha was shot twice in the head for his bag while waiting for a train at the Netreg-station a few kilometres away. Mr. Brian Davids, full time UNTU Executive Council Member, has warned the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) that the central line between Cape Town and Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats are getting increasingly dangerous to use and should be closed if Prasa are unable to properly secure it.
Meanwhile in Gauteng commuters travelling from Vereeniging and Westonaria via Midway to Johannesburg were left stranded on Wednesday last week due to a delay caused by a violent community protest in Kliptown, Soweto. Rocks and burning tyres were placed on railway lines and the trains were pelted with stones.
The Institute of Security Studies (ISS) earlier described the integration of the South African Railways Police in 1986 into the South African Police Services (SAPS) as an excellent example of how this lead to a neglect of local crime and the service delivery priorities. “The integration was accompanied by undertakings that with an enlarged SAPS, more attention would be given to the rail industry, its property, staff and commuters. Over the next few years quite the opposite happened, and the situation deteriorated to the extent that the rail industry had to employ private security companies. It was only in 2003 that a dedicated railway police capability was established within the SAPS,” the ISS said in a report.
Mr. Harris says dedicated railway police as a unit within the SAPS are not effective enough to combat violent crime. It is difficult to pin point the exact extend of this as no separate crime statistics are kept for railways.
“UNTU would have liked to see the SAPS announcing plans to combat the increase in violent crimes at railway stations and on railway lines. This was not even mentioned in the SAPS’s statement on Thursday where it bragged that a total 3641 police constables passed out at ceremonies held in Athlone in the Western Cape and in Pretoria in Gauteng. The SAPS promised that they will help to improve police visibility and response time attending to complaints. In die Western Cape they will specially be placed at current policing challenges to the SAPS. UNTU considers railways to be one of them,” says Mr. Harris.
According to Mr. Harris the Group CEO of Transnet, Mr. Siyabonga Gama, and the Federation of Unions (Fedusa) support his plea. Mr. Gama complained that Transnet are struggling with service delivery due to cable theft.
UNTU will now through is Federation Fedusa approach the Deputy President to arrange a meeting that includes the Ministers of Public Enterprises, Transport, Finance and the Police to meet with the Union, Transnet and Fedusa to discuss the re-establishment of the Railway Police.
For further enquiries please phone Mr. Harris on (011) 728 0120 or 082 566 5516.
Issued on behalf of UNTU by Sonja Carstens, Media and Liaison Officer. For UNTU Press Releases e-mail sonja@untu.co.za or phone 082 463 6806.
