President Cyril Ramaphosa stepped in to prevent Eskom cutting the electricity supply to commuter train lines due to unpaid bills by the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), according to a Timeslive report.
Trains provide the greatest amount of transport to commuters in the urban areas of Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. According to Prasa, it transports more than 2.5 million people every day.
Neither Prasa nor Eskom would confirm what amount was owed to Eskom, though it is thought to be about R250m. Prasa chair Khanyisile Kweyama said on Thursday that Prasa had now made the payment and ‘the matter is resolved’.
Ramaphosa and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan were alerted to the pending cut-off by Western Cape premier Alan Winde, who said he was advised by Eskom ‘as a courtesy’ that it intended to cut the power to one of the city’s lines within two hours.
Winde said the notice was very short and it ‘was also not a good thing to happen for the image of SA while the president’s investment conference was under way’.
Cape Town’s road system is under enormous strain due to the crisis at Prasa: thousands of commuters have moved to bus and taxi transport. The Western Cape government is drafting a bill intended to give it oversight powers over Prasa, which ordinarily reports to the national transport ministry.
Falling passenger numbers due to frequent cancellations of services have continued to weigh on Prasa this year.
Meanwhile, a Treasury forensic report into 216 contracts at Prasa found that only 13 were above board. Commuter lobby group #UniteBehind described a report by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane into Prasa as a whitewash. #UniteBehind has announced its intention to take Mkhwebane to court for her failure to investigate Prasa properly.
Where the money came from to pay Prasa’s debt is unclear.