Metrorail services in and around Cape Town are yet to fully recover from theft and vandalism that happened during the Covid lockdown period when trains stopped running.
Already long before the pandemic, the service was crumbling. GroundUp had been documenting Metrorail’s steady demise since 2013.
The Central Line, which was the busiest and served commuters from the poorest areas on the Cape Flats, closed for three years, from October 2019 to March this year. Now partially reopened, 14 stations remain without any train services, including Chris Hani, Khayelitsha, Philippi, Heideveld, Bonteheuwel, Mitchell’s Plain and Lentegeur. Trains sprint from Nyanga, but are not stopping at all stations due to “extensive damage”, according to Metrorail spokesperson Zinobulali Mihi. Skipped stations include Bonteheuwel, Heideveld, and Netreg.
Mihi said that Bonteheuwel and Heideveld stations “are still under construction”. The Netreg station has not been refurbished because “the structure of the building has been compromised”. The stations will be restored as portion of the Central Line recovery project currently underway.
Another one of Cape Town’s active lines, the Northern Line, partially resumed services again in March 2022. In January this year, the line between Eerste River and Bellville resumed.
The Southern Line partially reopened in July 2020, running from Cape Town to Retreat. It was reopened fully in January 2022.
Other parts of Cape Metrorail still closed include the lines running from Strand, from Stellenbosch, and from Worcester to Wellington.
There is a train running from Malmesbury to Cape Town via the Monte Vista line.
Mihi said that contracts for Strand and the Muldersvlei (Stellenbosch) line were awarded this month “to recover the electrification network” and that work is underway.
On Tuesday Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts will conduct an inspection of the Central Line.
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Frenzy
Van der Merwe is approached by SANRAL one day who want to build a new highway through his donkey farm. Van is really concerned with how his donkeys can get from one side of the farm to the other without having to cross the highway and risk being injured or killed. He is promised that they will build bridges the highway so that his donkeys can cross under the highway. Van agrees and gives them the go-ahead.
The highway is built and a year later the same rep goes to the farm to go see how Van and his donkeys are. He eventually finds Van under one of these bridges chipping away at the roof of the tunnel with a hammer and chisel.
\”Mnr Van de Merwe, what are you doing damaging the highway bridge?\”
Poppin Loot
Biltong – seasoned strips of dried meat. Similar to beef jerky (but much tastier!), this is the spicy, cured snack eaten at rugby matches. It is usually made from beef, game and even ostrich.