Western Cape‘s Minister of Transport and Public Works Bonginkosi Madikizela and Minister for Community Safety Albert Fritz have strongly castigated the burning of a train carriage at Retreat train station.
This comes after a train carriage was set ablaze at Retreat train station in Cape Town last night at around 10pm.
The fire was extinguished after midnight and no injuries were reported.
Minister Madikizela said in a statement to the media:
“Next week Wednesday, 22 January I will be meeting with Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula once again to find a solution to this on-going saga. I committed myself to work with Minister Mbalula and Prasa to deal with the challenges facing our rail system. It is always a concern that passengers especially school children, who have just returned to school, have to be inconvenienced by challenges facing the rail system.”
Minister Madikizela commended the City’s Fire Rescue Service and Metrorail response teams for their swift response to the fire.
He added that he was disturbed by the frequency of these fires that endangered the lives of commuters lives and increased congestion on the roads as commuters have to use taxis and buses.
Minister Fritz said:
“I call on anyone with information regarding this particular fire to come forward and report such to their local police station or by calling 08600 10111. The destruction of the Western Cape’s transport infrastructure can no longer be tolerated as it is a threat to the wellbeing and livelihoods of our residents.”
Cape Town is notorious for train arson and since 2015 more than 200 train carriages have been torched, crippling Cape Town’s rail service.