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The closure of the Vereeniging Train Station is a depressing reminder of the incompetence of Government and the lack of political will to serve the needs of the majority of South Africans.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is deeply concerned at the rate of deterioration residents’ area facing. This, despite the cheap electioneering tactics of sudden sporadic service delivery to garner support in the face of the upcoming election.
The closure comes as a result of poor financial, technical and operational management by PRASA and Transnet, but will have a direct impact on thousands of South African families reliant on affordable transport to get them to and from work.
The people of the Vaal, particularly in the Vereeniging, Sebokeng, Sharpeville and Evaton areas are no strangers to an uncaring government, with much of this area having originally been populated by the Apartheid Government’s forced removals in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.
Large industries in the area kept many people employed, but many still had to travel to Johannesburg or the East Rand for work. With the ongoing de-industrialisation of the Vaal Area, exacerbated by local government failure in Emfuleni, more and more skilled and semi-skilled workers have come to rely on the trains. Passenger volumes in 2019 were reportedly at an all-time peak.
PRASA’s failure to manage their assets during COVID 19 lockdowns led to large scale vandalism and theft, leaving commuters stranded. This has now had a seemingly permanent impact on the people of the Vaal, with approximately 80 staff from the Vereeniging Station and Depot now fearing for their livelihoods, and thousands of commuters now reliant on more expensive means of travel to get to work, further impacting their cost of living in an already high-inflation environment.
In the short term, the Democratic Alliance calls for clear communication with the affected families and commuters, as well as an undertaking that the historic Vereeniging Train Station, which dates back to the late-1800’s, will be properly secured and protected from the inevitable attempts at vandalism and theft.
Ultimately the we call for the station and the affected train routes to be re-opened urgently to ensure that the people driving our economy can get to work cheaply, safely and quickly.