Manual authorisations have indeed increased over the last year. In April 2019, the total manual authorisations stood at 97 816, rising to 131 020 in May 2019 and 140 631 in June 2019, while in July 2019 the total was 144 469. A decline was recorded for August and September at 104 788 and 82 792 respectively.
The main causes of manual train authorisations, as at the end of September 2019, can be attributed to the following. A total of
237 720 were as a result of theft and vandalism; 288 757 were as a result of faulty tracks; 6 279 were as a result of resignalling; and 164 573 were as a result of signalling defects. This is primarily due to challenges with the maintenance of signalling and related equipment. In some cases, this includes prolonged response time for repairs of faulty signals. A total of 6 187 were as a result of single lines working.
Manual train authorisations result in commuter trains taking longer to reach their destinations due to the 30 kilometers per hour speed restriction imposed on the affected sections of the network. Therefore, the long journey times negatively affect commuter schedules as a result of trains being cancelled, while others are delayed. The Passenger Rail Agency of SA, Prasa, has taken the following actions to address manual authorisations: Resignalling projects to address obsolete signalling equipment; procurement of spares to repair damaged and stolen signalling equipment; vandal-proofing of signalling equipment; corridor fencing, which I've already spoken about; projects to protect signalling equipment and rail infrastructure; implementation of a revised security strategy; and the deployment of modernised security technologies. Thank you.