By Katlego Legodi
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has launched the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa ‘s Ministerial War Room aimed at addressing long-standing passenger safety issues that have crippled commuter trains for years.
The war room will be led by the department‘s Director-General Alec Moemi who will be assisted by a Technical Task Team.
The process is set to go live nationally on Monday with an update and progress expected at the end of December. Mbalula says the war room’s intervention will go a long way in stabilising PRASA’s operations and help achieve tangible results within the minister’s first 100 days in office.

The establishment of the war room comes after it emerged last month that PRASA could not meet all special conditions imposed by the regulator and concerns raised around fatalities and safety.
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“The continued decline of the quality of service at PRASA provides for an urgent intervention to be put in place’’ said Mbalula
The transport minister says the war room will also help target perpetrators behind the destruction of railway infrastructure. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has welcomed the establishment of a ministerial war room at the railway agency.
[WATCH] @KayaNews’ @KatlegoLegodi_ talks about the #PRASAWarRoom and the areas it will be monitoring in Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban. Katlego also touches on the practicality of this Ministerial war room #BreakfastwithDavid pic.twitter.com/rnGlAx1ImV
— Kaya 959 Talk (@KayaFMTalk) August 12, 2019
PRASA’s chief strategy officer Sipho Sithole says this will help revive the confidence lost in the railway agency. Sithole says the war room will be a game-changer that has long been needed by the railway agency.
“The war room will focus on 3 areas. Service Recovery, Safety Management and Modernisation” said Sithole.
As a build-up to the launch, the minister visited the signal cabin in Germiston and the Gauteng Nerve Centre in Tembisa, a state of the art facility that will enable PRASA to monitor the War room network.
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The Ministerial War Room will also guide and monitor and monitor interventions with the Steering Committee tasked with dealing with long term issues and sustained improved performance in 4 regions.



