{"id":236707,"date":"2022-09-09T21:37:36","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T19:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.groundup.org.za\/article\/mbalula-sticking-to-december-deadline-to-reopen-central-line\/"},"modified":"2022-09-09T21:37:36","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T19:37:36","slug":"mbalula-sticking-to-december-deadline-to-fully-open-cape-towns-central-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/mbalula-sticking-to-december-deadline-to-fully-open-cape-towns-central-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Mbalula sticking to December deadline to fully open Cape Town\u2019s Central Line"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Acting PRASA CEO Hishaam Emeran and acting transport Director-General Ngwako Makapea (seated) with representatives of the railway occupiers at the signing of a \u201csocial compact\u201d on Thursday. Photo: Tariro Washinyira<\/p>\n

Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula says government is sticking to its December deadline to fully open the Metrorail Cape Town Central Line and once again provide trains between Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, Philippi and Khayelitsha.<\/p>\n

At Langa train station on Thursday, he addressed leaders from informal settlements located on the railway reserve in Langa, Philippi and Khayelitsha. This was at an event to sign an agreement for their relocation.<\/p>\n

On 13 May, the communities had vowed not to move until Mbalula signed a \u201csocial compact\u201d with plans and time frames for their relocation. This was because the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) had previously made various commitments it never kept.<\/p>\n

In a statement, PRASA said: \u201cThe objective of the social compact is to create mutual communication, collaboration and decision making.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mbalula denounced criminal behaviour delaying the restoration of the line. A video widely circulated on social media recently showed armed men demanding protection fees from PRASA subcontractors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state must intervene and police must put its special forces to guard the tracks,\u201d said Mbalula.<\/p>\n

He said there were unspent funds and the new acting CEO Hishaam Emeran must \u201cspend the money\u201d to get the line open.<\/p>\n

Philip Mnisi, from Philippi, said, \u201cWe want the trains to operate again \u2026 but as community leaders, we also have a duty to secure relocation places for our people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said communities around the areas where PRASA intended to relocate the railway line occupiers were against them moving in. He blamed racial tensions between coloured and black people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pray the minister will help to get the issue resolved. These people still have the apartheid mentality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Housing Development Agency (HDA) regional manager Mbulelo Ncedana said they were still to consult with the receiving communities, which can only happen after the City of Cape Town consents to the development and completes internal processes and various public engagements.<\/p>\n

\u201cLanga railway occupiers will be moving to Philippi \u2026 We anticipate to conclude land procurement for the people of Philippi and Khayelitsha before the end of the year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Once the busiest line, the Central Line was completely closed in October 2019. In February 2021, it started operating<\/a> again but only a far as Langa.In July, a partial service <\/a>restarted on the Pinelands to Bellville via Langa, Bontheuwel and Belhar.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Source: GroundUp<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acting PRASA CEO Hishaam Emeran and acting transport Director-General Ngwako Makapea (seated) with representatives of the railway occupiers at the signing of a \u201csocial compact\u201d on Thursday. Photo: Tariro Washinyira Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula says government is sticking to its December deadline to fully open the Metrorail Cape Town Central Line and once again […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":236708,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9928],"tags":[28001],"class_list":{"0":"post-236707","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-groundup","8":"tag-groundup","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/mbalula-sticking-to-december-deadline-to-fully-open-cape-towns-central-line.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}