Rea Vaya station vandalised

 The City of Johannesburg said that the entire glass facets of the station and the surrounding fence were damaged during the protest.

“This is the fifth time that the station has been vandalised since it opened in 2013 as one of the 13 stations of Phase 1B route that operates from Thokoza Park through Noordgesig, New Canada, Bosmont, Auckland Park and Parktown to the Joburg CBD,” said the City of Johannesburg in a released statement.

 The City said that after the station was badly damaged in August 2017 during a service delivery protest it had to be closed.  Repairs at a cost of R3.6 million were almost complete and the station was due for re-opening in July 2019.

 “This unfortunate incident of lawlessness and disorder has once again deprived local residents, particularly, workers, students, scholars and patients at Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Charlotte Maxeke hospitals access to this affordable service,” said MMC Nonhlanhla Makhuba, MMC for Transport in the City of Johannesburg.

 “The City condemns the violence, vandalism and burning of public infrastructure such as Rea Vaya stations which is aimed at giving service to the public,” MMC Makhuba added.

MMC Makhuba called upon the police to ensure that the responsible people face the full might of the law and urged community members to find amicable solutions to their service delivery issues and concerns.

Passengers who were using the Bosmont Station in the past will continue to use the Rea Vaya Industria West Station. The current travel plan of Rea Vaya F6 and F7 buses will continue to connect the trunk route at the Industria West station.

 The City apologises to passengers for the delays caused by bus diversions on Sunday due to the community service delivery protest. In consideration of the safety of passengers and drivers, buses T3, C6 and F7 were diverted until the end of service at 7pm.