Rail regulator takes on Prasa over fatal Pretoria crash
Acting CEO says entity 'continued to demonstrate the highest levels of lethargy and disregard for rail safety in its operations'
The Rail Safety Regulator (RSR) has criticised SA’s passenger rail entity Prasa following a collision between two Metrorail trains at the Mountainview station, north of Pretoria, in which four people died and more than 200 were injured. The RSR’s acting CEO, Tshepo Kgare, said on Thursday that Prasa “continued to demonstrate the highest levels of lethargy and disregard for rail safety in its operations”, and that it contravened its own standard operating procedures as well as the directives issued to it by the regulator. The regulator issued several safety contravention notices to Prasa in recent years. In October 2018, it suspended Prasa’s safety permit following a collision in Kempton Park in which 320 people were injured. Prasa challenged the suspension in court, but an out-of-court settlement was reached, and the suspension was lifted. This avoided a countrywide shutdown of SA’s passenger rail system. Kgare said the RSR had consistently highlighted the risks inherent to prolonge...
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