The whole wine industry should provide aid for those affected by Monday’s fatal railway accident at Faure in the Western Cape, according to leading figures in the industry.
”The South African wine industry cannot hold its head high after seeing such a disaster on its doorstep,” the chairperson of the South African Wine Council, Kader Asmal, and his counterpart on the South African Wine Industry Trust, Thandi Ndlovu, said in a joint statement released on Tuesday.
Nineteen wine farm casual workers died and 17 were injured when the truck carrying them was hit by a train at a level crossing.
Asmal and Ndlovu said the incident was a tragedy not only to the affected families, but also to rural communities and the wine industry in its entirety.
”It is our responsibility as an industry as a whole to ensure that those performing their daily tasks can do so in an environment which is safe,” they said.
”We appeal to the entire wine industry to provide all forms of assistance to the families directly affected.”
Earlier on Tuesday, train operator Metrorail said a board of inquiry had been set up to investigate the accident.
”It must be noted that the accident has nothing to do with commuter rail and the state of our infrastructure. It is an accident at a level crossing on a road leading to a private property,” spokesperson Lucky Montana said in a statement.
He said the inquiry would involve the Rail Safety Regulator, which was independent of Metrorail.
Shortly after the accident, the regulator said preliminary investigations suggested that the truck driver ignored warning signals.
Montana said the crossing and all others conformed fully to statutory requirements.
He said trauma counselling had been arranged for all affected people, including the train driver, a guard and commuters who escaped unscathed.
Metrorail had also committed to assist in whatever way necessary to ensure that the deceased receive dignified burials.
Montana said Metrorail representatives would visit the farm where the deceased had been employed to provide moral and psychological support to those traumatised by the incident.
The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) said it served on the board of the regulator.
It vowed to get to the bottom of what it called ”the horrors of our rail system” and ensure a thorough investigation.
Fedusa said it had repeatedly criticised the poor infrastructure of the rail system, and recently welcomed the medium-term Budget allocation of substantial funds for the improvement of rail infrastructure.
”Rural train lines in particular need to be reassessed and, where needed, upgraded and adjusted if they are used regularly,” Fedusa general secretary Dennis George said. — Sapa