Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula at the Pretoria Station on 15 March 2021. Picture: Jacques Nelles
Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula says the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is hard at work in repairing and rehabilitating damaged rail infrastructure.
Mbalula delivered his keynote address in Pretoria on Monday, where he launched the 2022 October Transport Month campaign.
The launch also saw the resumption of the commuter rail corridor between Pienaarspoort and Pretoria following approval by the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR).
Speaking during the media briefing, Mbalula indicated that the Department of Transport would “put rail at the centre stage” for this year’s campaign.
The minister said Prasa was on track in rebuilding and recovering the commuter rail corridors “one by one”, with Gauteng being allocated R2.7 billion to recover three of its railway lines.
“Our work of recovering rail services is ongoing in all the rail corridors in the country. This includes lines such as the Naledi to Johannesburg. Work is being accelerated to achieve the limited electrified train service in the area,” Mbalula said on Monday.
“We know our people have been very much patient. They can’t afford taxi fares [and some] can’t effect exorbitant fees on other modes of transport,” he added.
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He said eight stations – including New Canada, Orlando and Kliptown among others – were currently being revamped in preparation for service resumption.
Mbalula said work was also currently underway to recover rail services on the central line in Cape Town.
“This entails the relocation of the illegal settlements that are currently on the rail track and reserve. We have currently signed a social compact with all the parties involved and affected by the situation on the central line,” he continued.
The minister previously said challenges relating to the relocation of illegal settlements on the Cape Town central line would affect Prasa’s ability to return to full service the railway line before 2023.
He also revealed that it would cost Prasa approximately R4 billion to fix its infrastructure.
Mbalula further said his department would visit KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) this week, to assess the progress on rehabilitating rail and road infrastructure destroyed by the floods in April.
“This will include rail and road infrastructure because people say we went to KwaZulu-Natal, [made promises] and left them.
“So we will go back to KwaZulu-Natal to again give a report and showcase the work that has been done to recover the infrastructure that has collapsed,” he added.
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More than 400 people died in the floods that wreaked havoc and damaged critical infrastructure in the province – including Bayhead Road, which is a strategic route for the movement of cargo to the Port of Durban.
The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) allocated R3.1 billion to infrastructure repair projects in KZN, while the provincial government reprioritised its budget and allocated R2.6 billion.
Meanwhile, Mbalula also spoke of Operation Valazonke, a pothole repair project launched in August.
The minister acknowledged that “there is potholes everywhere” and needed to be repaired.
“Potholes cannot be fixed on roads that their lifespan has expired. This includes road rehabilitation… that is the priority.
“So we have Operation Valazonke that has been launched and will be operational over the next six months. In those six months, we will come back and make an assessment of how far have we gone,” he said.
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