At a recent meeting of the Gauteng Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Roads and Transport, the DA raised this issue with the CEO of the Gautrain Management Agency, Jack van der Merwe.
According to DA Roads and Transport committee member, Justus de Goede MPL, the committee was informed that the security guard agency used to patrol Gautrain stations was specifically not mandated to operate outside these precincts and that the matter would have to be raised with the relevant metro police forces and SAPS.
“Increased profitability of the Gautrain service depends on commuter confidence in the reliability, security and safety of the system – without it, this entity will continue to rely heavily on the substantial subsidy it receives from the Gauteng Provincial Government,” says De Goede.
Given the importance of the Gautrain to the province, the DA will request Gauteng Transport MEC, Ismail Vadi, to as a matter of urgency deploy additional security personnel within at least a one-block radius to all stations, to ensure the safety of commuters.
According to Van der Merwe, discussions to have visible policing around the Gautrain stations with the relevant Metro Police forces and SAPS in the Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg areas, have reached final stages.
“In the Tshwane area, the logistics have been finalised and the pilot is scheduled to begin in mid-October.” – @IschkeBoksburg
