- Khayelitsha commuters say trains are delayed on Mondays, and yesterday they waited 30 minutes at Nolungile station before taking taxis.
- Passengers say Prasa has not told them whether the delays are planned or a fault, and has not yet responded.
Nolukholo Mdingi pays R220 a month for a train ticket because the train is cheaper than a taxi. On Mondays, she pays for a taxi as well.
Mdingi, 40, takes the train from Khayelitsha to Cape Town almost every day to get to work. She and other commuters say it is delayed every Monday. Yesterday, they waited 30 minutes at Nolungile station in Khayelitsha before leaving to take taxis. They do not know how long the delay lasted.
“I have found myself paying more because when the train stops in the middle of the route I am forced to borrow money for a taxi,” she said.
Passengers say they do not know whether the Monday delays are planned or a fault, because Prasa has not told them anything.
“Prasa needs to inform us in time that the trains won’t operate normally on Mondays so that we can prepare ourselves by borrowing money. Now we are surprised every time,” Mdingi said.
Luyolo Tede, 47, said passengers are paying twice for the same trip.
“We pay twice for the same trip: once for a train ticket we cannot rely on and again for a taxi when the train stalls on Mondays. For low-income workers like me, this means extra costs that we cannot afford, and we are forced to borrow money to get to work,” Tede said.
He said some passengers get to work late, and lose money because they are paid for the hours they work.
“If a train stops in the middle of nowhere, we have to walk to get a taxi, and sometimes it is not close by. Some are even dismissed. Prasa must solve this issue because it is affecting us badly,” Tede said.
At first, he thought it was a one-off.
“I thought it was something that would be solved quickly, but now I have realised that it is happening every Monday and Prasa is not saying anything about this,” he said.
Scrolla.Africa contacted Prasa for comment. Raymond Maseko said he was out of town for rail business and would only be at the office on Thursday. When asked whether anyone else could respond, he said the communications manager was on leave.
