Mbalula described the arson attack as a “deliberate act of criminality” which was “clearly calculated to paralyse the Metrorail service in Cape Town”.
So said transport minister Fikile Mbalula in a fiery speech as he stood next to the husks of two burnt out trains at Cape Town station on Thursday.
“We are under no illusion that the recent cancellation of security contracts by Prasa is a contributing element to the heightened lawlessness,” he told reporters. By October last year, Cape Town's Metrorail train stock was reduced by 50% after 46 train sets had been burnt since the fires started in 2015.
Flanked by Metrorail regional manager Richard Walker and Prasa board chairperson Popo Molefe, Mbalula said private security companies who had their contracts terminated after Auditor-General and Public Protector reports.
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