Staggering increase in theft, vandalism, and attacks on Cape Town’s public transport system
14 February 2018
Cape Town’s public transport system is buckling under the increasing attacks on critical infrastructure and assets needed to run our bus and urban rail services.
The latest statistics from the City’s MyCiTi bus service, the Golden Arrow Bus Service (GABS), and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) confirm that the public transport system is facing an onslaught, and that very few, if any, arrests are made.
I am calling on the South African Police Service and the National Prosecuting Authority in the Western Cape to address this as a matter of urgency.
It is not an exaggeration to warn that our public transport system could collapse if criminals are allowed to keep on sabotaging and undermining our services as is currently the case.
Commuters, our local businesses and economy, as well as all other road users, are suffering the consequences and those responsible for the service disruptions and delays are getting away with it.
The following statistics give one an idea of the extent of the challenge we are facing.
The cost of damage to MyCiTi stations alone due to vandalism and protest action from July 2014 to September 2017 amounted to nearly R4 million. This does not include the damage to the MyCiTi stations at Dunoon and Usasaza over the weekend when protesters attacked the infrastructure with bricks, stones, and burning tyres in the early hours of Sunday morning, 11 February 2018. Then, two MyCiTi buses were burnt out in 2014 and 2017, and the cost to replace these buses was R4 205 000.
In addition, the cost to repair vandalised traffic signals across Cape Town, as well as the cost to replace stolen road infrastructure amounted to approximately R6,6 million for the period from July 2015 to September 2017.
According to the statistics provided by GABS, six buses were set alight between March 2016 and September 2017. The cost to replace these buses was over R12 million, and a further R529 000 was spent on replacing shattered bus windows as a result of stoning incidents along the routes where the GABS buses operate.
The latest statistics from PRASA confirm a steady and alarming increase in the number of attacks – be it related to vandalism or criminal activity – on the commuter rail service in Cape Town.
Metrorail reported a total of 668 incidents relating to vandalism and other attacks on its rolling stock in the Western Cape in the 2016/17 financial year. This reflects an increase of 533 incidents, or 400%, from the 2014/15 financial year when 135 incidents were reported. The majority of these incidents happened in Cape Town.
In addition, the number of incidents related to the vandalism and theft of other urban rail infrastructure in the Western Cape has increased from 197 in the 2014/15 financial year to 312 in the 2016/17 financial year.
Worryingly, only 26 arrests were made in connection with the 312 incidents that were reported to the South African Police Service in 2016/’17. This means that arrests were effected in only 8% of the reported incidents. This pattern repeats itself across all of the public transport services – be it the MyCiTi service, GABS, or Metrorail – and confirms that those responsible for the sabotage of public transport services in Cape Town mostly get away with it.
Issued by Brett Herron, Councillor, City of Cape Town, 14 February 2018
