President Cyril Ramaphosa
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa has committed himself to improving the rail transportation industry which has been criticised in recent years for poor and inefficient service.
Ramaphosa, who visited Cape Town central train station on Tuesday morning, said: "I went onto a train in Soshanguve hoping to be in Pretoria in about 30 minutes. It took us three full hours to get to Pretoria, firstly the train arrived late and it was overcrowded and the people who were being transported were frustrated, but they also told me that, president, this is our daily experience."
Ramaphosa was in Cape Town for the launch of the new trains belonging to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa).
"I promised that we are going to make sure that our trains run on time, which I have discussed with the minister, with the chairperson of the board and with the management and that is something that is soon going to be the experience of the past, because we are going to improve rail transportation, we are going to make sure that our trains arrive on time and they are not crowded but more importantly that they are safe.
"That is what we are going to do and put into effect without any failure. Now, today, I am here in Cape Town launching this train which was made in Gauteng at the Gibela factory," the president said.