The Gautrain's Tshwane line is just over a week old. Huh, I should say. [Laughter.] Once again, South African commuters have had to face delayed public transport because of government's inability to address the problem of cable theft. For the second time in a month this multibillion rand train has ground to a halt due to this phenomenon. In addition, water seeping into the tunnel between Sandton and Rosebank has caused delays on the south route leg of the railway line.
Billions of rands have already been spent to launch the Gautrain yet the delays alone have cost the taxpayer a further R100 million. Government cannot expect the South African taxpayer to continue paying for preventable and unnecessary mistakes.
Cope therefore supports the call for the Public Protector to investigate the roles played by the Gauteng Premier and the transport member of the executive council, MEC, in this debacle. Spending an extra R100 million on delays that could have been prevented is completely unacceptable. The Department of Transport and the Gauteng administration should take immediate action.