Kliptown Train Station not promising to operate anytime soon
The station has only been closed for four months but it looks like it was abandoned for years.
It only took four months for criminals to strip Kliptown Train Station, Commuters to feel the pinch in their pockets once trains are allowed to operate again as they will not be able to access the cheapest mode of transport anytime soon.
Nearby business and those hustlers who make a living out of selling to commuters will also not have any customers. The station has only been closed for four months but it looks like it was abandoned for years.
Democratic Alliance (DA) Shadow MEC Thamsanqa Mabhena embarked on an oversight visit in the demolished station. The walkabout was joined by Councillors Vasco Da Gama and PR councilor of Ward 24 and 25 Gary Ramaru.
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Mabhena said they were there to assess the state of readiness of the station should operations resume at level two and one. He explained that by the looks of things Kliptown station will not be amongst the stations that will resume operation due to its current state.
“The station has been stripped and anything that resembles a metal, cabling and steel has been stolen,” he said.
He alleged that the ongoing court battles between PRASA and PRASA security tenders’ wars, which resulted in the withdrawal of all security personnel in many of the stations is what resulted in the vandalism of many stations.
Mabhena expressed grave concern on Kliptown station being stripped off all its assets in broad daylight. He recalled that the station had undergone renovations last year.
“The withdrawal of security personnel by PRASA at the start of this hard lockdown has worsened matters, what once was a beacon of affordable citizens mode of mobility now resembles an abandoned old dilapidated building all in just a space of four months,” stated the shadow MEC of transport.
He called on PRASA to barricade the station, as it has become a danger to the community of Kliptown, Dlamini, and Pimville because there are exposed live electrical wires all over the place and the station can be used by criminals for different criminal activities.
“We call on the Minister of Transport to immediately instruct his Administrator to attend to the serious nature of vandalism of PRASA infrastructure across the country and inform the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS), which is coordinating all security and law enforcement operations throughout the country, of these heinous crimes from that a coordinated and collaborative plan to address this, should immediately be launched,” concluded Mabhena.
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