In the wake of the six fires that have damaged a number of Metrorail carriages and have caused over R30-million in damages, the Democratic Alliance (DA) is pushing for something to be done.
The DA has called on Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, to assemble a task team to investigate, and deal with, the cause of the recent spate of train fires plaguing Metrorail.
This comes after yet another train pulled into a Metrorail station on Thursday morning with several of its carriages ablaze. In a statement issued by Metrorail, there were no injuries reported.
“The DA in the Western Cape is calling on the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, to immediately appoint a task team that will investigate the root cause of the train fires,” the party said.
“This is the third train fire in Retreat station this year, and the sixth train fire in the Western Cape in the past six weeks,” said Nceba Hinana, the DA’s provincial spokesperson for transport and public works said to IOL.
Nceba added that additional CCTV cameras must be implemented at Metrorail stations without any further delay, as this would be a step in the right direction in identifying exactly how the fires are started.
“I am in the process of writing to Metrorail’s regional manager in the Western Cape, Richard Walker, asking that he updates the Standing Committee on Transport and Public Works in the Western Cape on what the predominate cause of the train fires is and what Metrorail in the Western Cape is doing to address these fires,” Nceba said.
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