The loudspeaker at Johannesburg’s Park Station announces the arrival of train 9426 for Soweto, and commuters trample each another to catch what might be the last train for a long time.
I am forced through a narrow door with at least 15 other people. We’re all tired, sweaty and squashed as the train moves off. Many are so desperate to get home that they hang on to the steel handles on the outside of the moving train, risking a messy end.
Last week’s burning of 29 coaches by angry commuters led to the closure of the Johannesburg to Vereeniging line, putting extra pressure on the Johannesburg to Naledi line and making a difficult and dangerous commute even more miserable.
Last week’s arson attacks brought the number of such incidents this year to four. In January, five carriages were set on fire at Pretoria Station. In two separate incidents last month angry commuters in Germiston set fire to 12 coaches, causing R70million damage, while passengers in Springs were evacuated when three coaches and three trailers were set alight.
But the passengers don’t complain too much about the arsonists — they say they’re fed up with Metrorail’s poor service and don’t buy the excuses about delays being caused by cable theft. ”I don’t care about burnt coaches or stolen cables; I only care about myself and my job,” said Thabo Hlongwane. ”Ek is gatvol [I am fed up] with train delays, stoppages and a lack of security in the trains.”
The line closure means Hlongwane spends an extra R8 a day on a taxi from his home in Kliptown to Merafe Station, where he catches a train on the Naledi line, currently the only one available to Sowetans.
Hlongwane believes last week’s arson exposed Metrorail’s inefficiencies and says he hopes it will spur Metrorail into action. Like many commuters, he believes indifference to passengers and inefficiency is the reason for erratic train services. ”I’m angry at the government and Metrorail for ignoring our complaints for so many years. It’s typical of them to blame the train delays on cable theft. I don’t believe it!”
Commuters complain that train delays are a regular occurrence and that Metrorail does not deal honestly with them. ”The announcer says the train will board in five minutes and, after 10 minutes, he says the same thing — and the train still hasn’t arrived,” said one commuter. Another said she often waits for up to two hours while being assured the train will arrive ”in the next five minutes”.
Being late for work is no small matter for working people. Domestic worker Joyce Chauke says she can only afford trains, and that the last two weeks have been ”nothing but hell”. Chauke, who lives in Kliptown, says the delays have been unbearable and have cost her extra transport money she can’t afford.
At Kliptown Station no trains are running, and hawker Vusi Mabaso’s business has suffered. He sits dejectedly on the empty platform and says his only hope is that ”Metrorail will fix matters”.
Metrorail’s senior communications manager, Thandi Mlangeni, says the delays are caused by power failures, cable theft and removal of the clips that hold the tracks together. ”A team led by our protection services works on cable theft. This includes following up on potential thefts,” she said.
But, this week, Soweto police spokespeople Mbhazima Shiburi and Richard Munyai denied any knowledge of the team. ”We are only dealing with the case of arson that was opened last week. No arrests have been made,” Munyai said.
Metrorail acknowledged the power failures and stoppages, but said power failures at Metrorail’s substations are quickly attended to. ”Some of our technical problems are the result of ageing infrastructure and assets. Some of the trains we run are 30 years old,” said Mlangeni.
Cable theft: A scrappy situation
Recurrent train delays are often blamed on cable theft, as thieves steal copper wire for resale to scrap merchants. Metrorail and Eskom are the hardest hit, with thefts resulting in damage to infrastructure and often the loss of human life.
This week, the Mail & Guardian visited scrap dealers to establish just how much of a market there is for stolen cables. At UCG Scrap Dealers in Chamdor, on the West Rand, we posed as cable thieves selling copper wire stolen from Eskom power lines. We didn’t even make it to the office. A worker heard us mention copper cable and pulled us aside to cut a private deal: ”Just bring any copper metal and I will pay you R24 a kilogram.” Earlier we had spoken to a black-market dealer who told us the going rate was closer to R50 a kilogram.
Despite posters on the storeroom walls advertising Eskom’s Izinyoka (snake) campaign the worker was beaming at the prospect of making 100% profit. We squabbled over the price and the deal fell through, but it illustrated that there is still a big market for stolen cables.
All the scrap merchants we approached for comment denied dealing in metal stolen from cables. The management at UCG said the company has a policy that forbids the purchase of metal conductor cables belonging to Eskom or used by Metrorail.
”Every scrap dealer is exposed to stolen metal at some point,” said UCG director Terence Reddy. He said they haven’t bought stolen metal since the Eskom campaigns on metal theft alerted them to the problem. ”I don’t dismiss the possibility of us being exposed to stolen metal — but our policy is clear and our workers on the sites are educated about this.” He added that, if stolen cable metal was offered to his dealership, he would notify the police.
When told about the deal offered to us by one of his workers, Reddy dismissed the possibility. ”Here, I am the only person who determines the buying and the selling price.”
He believes that Eskom’s Izinyoka campaign, which depicts cable thieves as half-human, half-snake, has had a huge impact on the reduction of cable theft.
When approached for comment, Soweto area police spokesperson Captain Mbhazima Shiburi had no figures available for arrests of cable thieves. ”Presently we do not have any knowledge of what happens to the cables after being stolen, but what I know is that we do not have such cases in our area. Not that I know of.” — Monako Dibetle