10 May 2012
The SACP is angered about the reported stampede at the Pretoria’s main Bosman train station wherein 17 people were injured.
The SACP has for years been worried and campaigning for a safe, reliable and integrated public transport system. It is not for the first time that there are problems being experienced at the Pretoria train station. These points to the inadequacies of our interventions and the risk that the working class and the poor are confronted with on a daily basis as they commute to and from work.
That we still have a public transport system that is not integrated, safe, efficient and reliable for the majority of our people is a sign of how much we have wasted money in investing in toys for the rich such as Gautrain. The rich and the upper middle class continue to enjoy a safe and luxurious mode of transport, R52 billion down the line and still counting, whilst the majority of our people are exposed to long queues, dilapidated train couches.
This incident is a further sign of the failed much talked about taxi recapitalisaton programme as well. The stampede points to a general lack of choice in the public transport system for the masses of our people.
Faced with these challenges, R20bn was spent on e-tolling which continues to be sour in the lives of ordinary people and the public is now faced with the consequences of paying for this debt. This money was not properly deployed to make life easy for our people. This is why the SACP continues to call for strategic discipline in the infrastructure spending of government. The needs of the majority must be prioritized over the whims of capital.
The SACP wishes all those who have suffered injuries a speedy recovery and call for urgent intervention by the relevant department and the Ministry to improve train commuting.
Issued by the SACP
Contact:
Malesela Maleka
SACP Spokesperson – 082 226 1802