After the recent announcement that load shedding was back on the table, South Africans have found themselves stocking up on candles and dusting off their gas stoves.
However, load shedding has brought added frustration this time round as Metrorail announced on Tuesday that it had been struggling to get its Cape Town substations back in service, as per IOL.
Also read: Eskom’s load shedding affects Metrorail as it suspends train services
According to News24, locals who depend on trains to get to work in Cape Town were left worried as Metrorail worked to keep the trains up and running on Wednesday, 9 March.
This comes after all Metrorail services had to be cancelled on Tuesday, 8 March due to vandalism at the Tafelbaai high voltage substation, while battling with loadshedding.
This is not the first time the substation had been targeted as it had been set alight in December 2021.
The Western Cape’s Transport MEC Daylin Mitchell said commuters spent time and money to make up for an unreliable service.
Mitchell called on Prasa and the national Department of Transport to “do what is necessary” to protect rail assets for the sake of commuters.
“It can no longer be that commuters have to pay for the continuous failures of state-owned entities,” he said.
Metrorail further added that vandalism is a major issue across the region and even though all operations have been restored, this may be an ongoing issue.
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Picture: Cape {town} Etc Gallery
