Advocacy groups, Unite Behind and the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) have lambasted the decision by the Minister of Transport Blade Nzimande to host an imbizo in Khayelitsha to discuss the endless challenges facing public transport.
They argued that these imbizos were politically motivated and not intended to address the problems facing commuters.
They described this move as a waste of money – money they said that should be used cautiously to address these well-known problems that face Metrorail. They said they want government to declare the rail issue a national disaster.
These two groups held a media briefing at their offices in Khayelitsha at Isivivana centre to voice their views and concerns last Tuesday.
The planned imbizo has been scheduled for Saturday September 29 and aims to deal with public transport crises particularly those dogging Metrorail/ Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) in the Western Cape and growing conflicts in the taxi industry.
Zukiswa Qezo of SJC questioned the timing of the imbizo, saying it was just a ploy to use for campaign for the next elections.
Ms Nqezo said they were also concerned that this imbizo was going to be held in Khayelitsha as it was not a central point and it was not the only area affected by the issues of trains. She said that they had written a memorandum of grievances to the minister and were waiting for feedback.
Ms Nqezo said CCTV cameras at Site C station have not been working for months and people had become soft targets for criminals. She said the lack of security personnel on trains had been a major issue. She said these were some of the well-documented problems facing the rail sector and questioned why an imbizo should be held to discuss issues known by the government and public. Furthermore, she said they wanted the City of Cape Town and national government to put their differences and political ideologies aside and put the needs of the commuters first.