Statement by Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis

Two contractors of the Passenger Railway Agency of South Africa (PRASA) have been shot and wounded while repairing cables on the Central Line in Cape Town near Kalksteenfontein.

The two injured workers are in hospital. According to PRASA, the motive for the shooting was the theft of copper cables which were being repaired by the contractors. The repairs are part of an ongoing process to get the Central Line train service back up and running.

I want to make it clear that the City of Cape Town will not tolerate this kind of criminality. We cannot continue to live in a society in which the lives of those performing essential public service are threatened by gangsters and criminals.

If the central line is fixed it will provide affordable public transport to millions of Capetonians; this is essential in the current economic climate in which the cost of living is skyrocketing and unemployment is at record levels. Even as we work to devolve the management passenger rail to the Metro, we are committed to helping wherever we can to get the current system up and running as soon as we can.

We cannot allow the majority to suffer because of the appalling behaviour of a few and this is why we are offering a reward of R5000 to anyone that can supply us with information that leads to the arrest of the two perpetrators.

Early reports by the South African Police Service (SAPS) state that the two perpetrators were dropped off in Kalksteenfontein in a Black VW Polo.

Anyone with information can contact the City on 0800 11 00 77.

Source: City Of Cape Town