Question NW181 to the Minister of Transport
16 April 2019 - NW181
Hunsinger, Dr CH to ask the Minister of Transport
(1)(a) What is the total number of arrests that were made by the Rail Enforcement Unit of the City of Cape Town (i) in each of the past five financial years and (ii) since 1 April 2018 and (b) for what crime was each individual arrested; (2) will this rail safety model be rolled out to other provinces; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. (a) (i) The Rail Enforcement unit was launched on the 27th October 2018 and has made 104 arrests since then till 31 March 2019.
(ii) See (i) above.
(b) Please refer to Annexure attached from Safety and Security Law Enforcement Services of the City of Cape Town for what crime was each individual arrested.
2. The rail enforcement unit is a jointly established and funded law enforcement pilot project for a period of 1 year between PRASA, Western Cape Department of Transport and the City of Cape Town. The agreement between the parties and the performance oversight is managed by the Rail Management Transport Task Team (RMTTT). This structure is constituted by core members that includes parties (PRASA, Western Cape Department of Transport and the City of Cape Town) to the collaborative agreement and the National Department of Transport. The RMTTT is chaired by the MEC for the Western Cape Department of Transport.
The success and effectiveness of the project will be evaluated by the RMTTT and a final decision to continue with the project will be made at the end of the 3rd quarter performance review and based on the funding availability and agreement by all three parties.
The decision to roll out of the project to other provinces is a decision that will be evaluated between PRASA and the respective local transport authorities and the provincial transport authorities based on the lessons learnt from Cape Town.