The Tembisa tragedy has highlighted South Africa’s disastrous public transport system. Stuart Hess, Joshua Amupadhi and Justin Pearce report
Wednesday’s disaster at Tembisa station on the East Rand, which left 15 dead and at least 50 in hospital, was a bloody reminder of a deep crisis in South Africa’s public transport system.
“Some stations are like cattle stations,” said a source in the Transport Ministry, which is heading an inquiry into the disaster. “This shows the need for a reliable and decent public transport system – — something South Africa has lacked for years.
“But the government can’t continue to pump money into commuters. We need to get the system to a standard where people are prepared to pay for it.”
Metrorail representative Bintu Petsana said the company lost R118-million in unpaid commuter tickets last year and has been trying to find means to get commuters to pay for the service.
She said: “There is a resistance from some people to pay for tickets. There are those who pay and others refuse. I think that’s what caused the incident.”
Petsana said 33% of rail commuters in the Wits region evaded paying their fares. In Cape Town, the figure is as high as 40%, with a 33% evasion rate in Port Elizabeth and East London, and 25% in Pretoria.
The inquiry will consider whether the security firm, or the Rail Commuter Corporation, gave adequate warning of the ticket clampdown. It will also look at the issue of using electric batons as a deterrent, and the quality of the batons that were used.
Tembisa station is used by 17 000 people daily, and this week Metrorail embarked on a large scale ticket inspection. Metrorail has defended both the use of electric batons and its “surprise security raids” as a way of combating the problem of fare evasion.
Petsana said Metrorail started abolishing the carrying of guns by its security after complaints from commuters two years ago, and the batons used in the disaster this week were non-lethal.
Ian Olivier, managing director of security firm SSH, employed by Metrorail to police the station, was not prepared to comment, but said that security specifications are laid down by Metro. “We just carry out what they specify us to do,” he said.
Petsana said surprise raids were made on a “regular” basis and said commuters were aware of this, but did not know when raids took place.
On Monday and Tuesday, there was the same number of security officers on duty at the station as Wednesday. The transport ministry inquiry will consider the possibility that Wednesday’s tragedy was the result of a concerted protest against the security measures which have been beefed up recently, and the fares charged for a poor quality of service.
Honey Mateya, Metrorail’s acting executive communications manager, says Metrorail had monitored SSH’s operations to ensure security methods were according to their specifications.
“Metrorail is happy with the work of SSH and has renewed their contract.”
Mateya was not prepared to blame anyone in particular for the disaster, and felt the commission of inquiry should be allowed to deal with the matter.