DA urges rail safety overhaul after Paarl train derailment

18 September 2024

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned by the railway incident that occurred in Paarl last night in the Western Cape.

Early this morning the DA Spokesperson on Transport Dr Chris Hunsinger MP and Deputy Spokesperson Thamsanqa Mabhena MP visited the crash site and received a briefing from Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) Regional Manager and the Rail Incident Commander from Transnet.

As much as we are saddened about the incident, we are comforted that no fatalities were reported and that of the 25 injuries only a few are seriously injured and are being treated at 3 hospitals.

We would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to emergency services for their rapid response and ensuring that no lives were lost. We also commend teams from both PRASA, Transnet and Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) for working throughout the night to recover the scene.

Although no preliminary report has been made available, and no conclusive evidence exists on what may have caused the derailment, we reiterate our informed position that South Africa's rail network is currently facing significant challenges, particularly in terms of outdated signalling infrastructure. The need to modernise and overhaul the manual rail signalling systems is quite urgent.

Manual signalling systems are not only inefficient but also pose serious safety risks, contributing to delays, miscommunications, and potential accidents.

The DA further calls on both Transnet and PRASA to do everything in their power to recover the Cape Town Wellington rail line.

The DA will be waiting with keen interest the report from the RSR upon conclusion and will engage with this report in a robust and detailed manner, given the fact that we went to see for ourselves at the incident site.

We expect nothing but full transparency and reporting once all investigations are concluded.

Issued by Chris Hunsinger and Thamsanqa Mabhena, 18 September 2024