Three hundred extra security guards are being added to Metrorail trains in the province, the Western Cape government has said.
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Three hundred extra security guards are being added to Metrorail trains in the Western Cape, the Western Cape government said on Thursday.
MEC for Transport Robin Carlisle said they would join the 1 800 guards currently employed to safeguard Metrorail’s trains, rail tracks, stations and yards.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Metrorail Western Cape regional manager Mthuthuzeli Swartz, Carlisle said that the guards had been trained for three months and were now doing on-the-job “learnerships”.
After nine months, they will graduate as fully accredited security guards.
Meanwhile, Swartz said Metrorail in the province had bought 40 scramblers – all-terrain motorbikes – with part of a R4 million grant from the province.
The bikes will patrol areas next to railway lines, to curb cable theft and vandalism.
Swartz added the number of reported incidents of assault and grievous bodily harm on Metrorail trains and at stations had fallen every year during the past three years.
In 2010, there were 128 reported incidents, in 2011 there were 90 and last year there were 40 incidents.
Carlisle noted that the real number was higher, as not all cases are reported to Metrorail.
Both he and Swartz said the figures showed a general improvement in security, despite some high-profile reports of assaults on commuters.
In addition to lower crime stats, Swartz said Metrorail’s revenue had been boosted by stopping free riders.
Last year, Western Cape Metrorail received R690m in revenue, but expenses were R1.2 billion – a shortfall of R510m.
Swartz said that partly by stoppling free riders, R160m more had been collected last year than in 2011.
jan.cronje@inl.co.za
Cape Times