The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has reported that extensive, ongoing incidents of vandalism against, and theft of, its assets have severely impacted on services, threatened safety and cost the operator some R331-million.

The ongoing incidents of destruction of the agency’s assets – vandalism and theft of critical components of rolling stock and infrastructure – had raised fears that the agency’s new rolling stock, which it was acquiring in a R51-billion deal, would also be exposed to vandalism once these trains were in operation, PRASA acting CEO Nathi Khena said last week.

Addressing media at the PRASA offices in Braamfontein, he pleaded for the destruction to stop, as the agency implemented a recovery plan to get back on track.

Over the past four years, nearly 5 000 incidents of fire, theft, vandalism and malicious damage to property on the back of commuter backlashes and service delivery protests had crippled PRASA’s capacity to deliver the expected services and had compromised the safety of its commuters.

The Metrorail network transported in excess of two-million commuters daily in Cape Town, Gauteng, eThekwini, Port Elizabeth and East London, serving 471 railway stations.

In 2013, 2014 and 2015, there were 1 621, 2 568 and 1 773 recorded incidents of cable theft, objects on tracks and vandalism, besides others, resulting in millions of rands in damage.

During April and May alone, 20 cases of arson had cost PRASA R206-million in damages, Khena said.

In Gauteng, six trains were set alight, costing PRASA some R46-million.

Earlier this month, in Tshwane, protestors torched 19 of the agency’s Autopax buses, leading to R20-million in damage.

Further, continuous arson attacks were made on Metrorail trains in the Western Cape, owing to seemingly unreliable and inefficient services on the back of ageing infrastructure and rolling stock.

During April and May, 11 trains were set alight in the Western Cape, costing R139-million.

The ongoing vandalism and destruction of PRASA assets had significant implications not only for the business and its operations, in terms of costs, but also for performance and safety.

The bulk of the delays and inefficiencies were the result of theft of signal cables, rail equipment and other infrastructure, which, in turn, frustrated and angered commuters, who, in protest, set the assets alight or damaged them.

Around 50% to 60% of the assets returned to service after repairs – often short of two or more coaches – were once again vandalised and damaged.

PRASA said each of the 600 new trains it was acquiring from the Gibela Rail Transportation consortium cost about R131-million and warned that damage to or destruction of these assets would result in substantial losses. The first of these new trains would enter service in October.

“Every time we take ten steps forward, [the crimes, theft and vandalism] take us 20 steps backward,” said Khena, appealing for patience as the group rolled out its recovery plan, which had been presented to the PRASA chairperson and Transport Minister, before being unpacked to its stakeholders.

“There is a huge investment being made in transport, and there is a serious fear that if it continues like this, we are exposing our investment to destruction.”