Question NW2490 to the Minister of Transport
17 July 2023 - NW2490
Tito, Ms LF to ask the Minister of Transport
What are the full details of the measures that her department has put in place to (a) protect and (b) replace guard rails that are being stolen and targeted by steel recyclers?
Reply:
a) In May 2023, PRASA completed Phase three of the procurement of security guards to protect identified high security risk areas and hotspots, an intervention, which has resulted in a noticeable decline in the theft of guard rails and overall crime incidents.(e,g) 4670 in 2017-2018 and 958 in 2022-2023.
PRASA also: (i) conducts regular joint crime operations, with the law enforcement agencies led by the South African Police Service (SAPS) targeting steel recyclers, an initiative, which is starting to yield positive results, (ii) is exploring alternative engineering solutions to reinforce vulnerable items along the railway network and (iii) attends the quarterly National Non Ferrous Metal Crime Combatting Committee (NFMCCC) and the National Rail Crime Combatting Forum (NRCCF) with the SAPS, to discuss national crime pattern analysis, crime threat analysis and formulate action plans.
b) Stolen guard rails/other assets are replaced almost immediately.