Protesters try to block Cape Town’s Central Line
The group lives on the rail reserve along Stock Road in Philippi East and is demanding that PRASA move them to permanent accommodation
People who were relocated from living on or near Cape Town’s Central Line to the settlement along Stock Road in Philippi East tried to block the Central Line with burning tyres on Tuesday. This comes as Transport Minister Barbara Creecy, her deputy and PRASA management are launching the Chris Hani to Cape Town train route on the Central Line on Thursday. Photo: Sandiso Phaliso
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy, her deputy and PRASA management are launching the Chris Hani to Cape Town train route on the Central Line on Thursday. The reopening of the route, following years of closure, has been widely welcomed.
But some people who were relocated to the settlement along Stock Road in Philippi East used the opportunity on Tuesday to try and block the railway line with burning tyres and metal. The group were moved in December 2023 to just a few metres away from where they had erected shacks on top of the railway line. The move was done in order to re-open Metrorail’s once busy routes to Chris Hani and Kapteinsklip stations.
While there is water on the PRASA-owned land, residents say portable toilets aren’t cleaned as often as they should be. They also complained about not having formal electricity. On Monday and Tuesday, some residents of the settlement protested to demand that they be moved to a permanent serviced site.
Protesters also prevented workers from Mpande Construction fixing the line to Kapteinsklip.
Protest leader Lizo Magebe said before they were moved to the Stock Road site Metrorail had told them they would only need to be there for a year before being moved to a permanent serviced site.
The Stock Road residents are expected to move to land acquired by PRASA in Philippi Wedge near Mitchells Plain along Jakes Gerwel Drive. There have been problems with PRASA’s application for this site though.
“Mpande (Construction) was supposed to fix the line to Mitchells Plain but was chased away. We cannot allow them to continue working while we suffer. We want exact time frames of when we are going to be moved to a permanent place,” said Magebe.
Another resident Sethu Magilana said residents would continue protesting and blocking the railway line to Chris Hani until their demands were met. “They have failed to provide us with electricity. We feel we are dumped here. This place is in the middle of nowhere and people with cars find it difficult to access this place,” said Magilana.
Mpande Construction and PRASA did not responded to our questions. Their comments will be added once received.
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