A commission of inquiry should be set up to assess the state of rail transport in Gauteng, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party said on Wednesday.
They said such a commission should come up with proposals for overhauling the entire rail system.
The call comes after the torching of coaches by angry commuters at various railway stations in Gauteng last week.
In a statement in Johannesburg, the two organisations condemned this violence, but said it is the government’s responsibility to investigate and address the reasons that led its people to such extreme acts.
”While as a democratic country we do not condone public violence, there is still a responsibility for a democratically elected government to investigate and address the real reasons that led its people to such extreme acts,” the statement read.
”This is the lesson the French government has learned. It is not only utilising the police to bring calm and peace, but is also addressing the underlying causes.”
The organisations said to their knowledge the trains serving the working class and poor communities in Gauteng were put into service more than 50 years ago.
They said the control infrastructure that manages the train system is old and that the coaches and control system for trains in the province are seriously run down.
The public corporations involved are profit-driven rather than providing citizens with safe, cheap and efficient transport, the statement read.
Gauteng’s rail transport system has been called ”a ticking time bomb” by the United Association of South Africa (Uasa), a trade union.
Uasa blamed the South African Rail Commuter Corporation, which it said is not supplying the money for maintenance on infrastructure and trains. — Sapa