JOHANNESBURG – The United National Transport Union said vandalism of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s infrastructure was reaching crisis proportions and threatening the 14,000 people employed there.
On Friday, the union said Prasa terminated private security contracts that employed 3,100 personnel around the country with no back-up plan.The union said train stations and rail-lines were being vandalised since Prasa terminated the contracts of private security companies at the end of last month. Spokesperson Sonja Carstens said: “Damaging the infrastructure, rail covers being stolen and stations being vandalised completely.”“Obviously, they said the private security companies were terminated because they were appointed irregularly – we have no problem but we do believe that Prasa should have had alternative thereof before terminating the existing contracts or the police be deployed.”
Untu warns that if the rail service can’t be relied on, its members will lose jobs and the economy will eventually be crippled.