Metrorail boss slams Alan Winde's 'political stunt' over rail enforcement unit

Metrorail’s Western Cape boss has hit out at his partners in Cape Town's rail enforcement unit, launched after a spate of train fires brought the commuter rail system to its knees.

Richard Walker criticised the city of Cape Town on Wednesday for failing to close down scrap metal dealers — known as bucket shops — who buy stolen cable.

And he accused the DA of politicising the enforcement unit after the party’s premier candidate, Alan Winde, claimed the credit for its introduction.

Regional manager Walker said two alleged cable thieves were arrested on Wednesday in Bonteheuwel by Metrorail guards and a private security contractor. But they were low-level criminals.

"We are unfortunately not addressing the root cause of the illicit metal trade; we are merely filling up prisons with the hapless foot soldiers of an unchecked crime industry," said Walker.

"Arrests during the past year top 320, convictions stand at 21, yet not a single bucket shop has been closed or scrap dealer arrested.

"We call on the city to ensure compliance with trading bylaws. Merely slapping transgressors with fines is not a sustainable solution, nor does it provide a compelling disincentive."

Two cable thieves from Hanover Park received 10-year prison sentences in the Wynberg Regional Court this week, Walker said, and in the past week 15 suspects had been arrested.

Five of them were suspected of cable theft and the rest had been arrested for offences such as robbery, possessing stolen goods and malicious damage to property.

In another statement, Walker said Winde’s claim that the DA deserved credit for the rail enforcement unit was "short-sighted and disingenuous".

"The unit is a delivery method and initiative launched by the national minister of transport, Dr Blade Nzimande, with the view that all spheres of government should collaborate to secure commuters," he said.

"Many of the socio-economic issues that affect train services are directly attributable to lack of adequate services. To claim that the enforcement unit had a massive impact on crime is disingenuous, misleading and no more than an opportunistic political stunt."

While the unit had had a positive impact, he said, "it remains a force multiplier to bolster Prasa's [the Passenger Rail Agency of SA’s] security resources".

Prasa’s own guards, the police rapid rail response unit and private security contractors had an "impressive" record of 324 arrests in 12 months.

"With the addition of surveillance and forensic technology last year, cable theft and vandalism has decreased drastically in the central area," he said.

Addressing members of the rail enforcement unit on Tuesday, community safety MEC Winde said the enforcement unit was introduced in reaction to the general breakdown in security on trains.

Since its launch at the end of October 2018, the unit had made 36 arrests, confiscated 380m of cable and 800kg of signal cable and seized contraband, he said.

"For far too long, the plight of commuters has been ignored. Prasa, the department of transport and the minister ... must account for their lack of action to improve safety for commuter and drivers alike."