The South African activist group United Behind, protested against the Cape Town Metrorail train services on Tuesday. The coordinator Vuka Zukiswa said the purpose of the protest was due to, “dodgy tenders and corruption thatwas draining money meant to fix issues that railway commuters meet daily.” About 30 members protected outside of the Taj Hotel where the Minister of Transport Joe Maswanganyi met with the Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport. They demanded answers on how the Minster will be spending the R9bn promised to Metrorail in Western Cape.
“There is number people are dying every day; people are losing jobs, failing exams and missing classes due to transport problems. For the working class publics very important, this is our reason for campaigning,” said Zukiswa.
“We want to see the Minister of Transport, and hear him speaking in front of us on how his going to spend the money. We wrote a letter to the minster to ask him on his plan, but we have not had any response from him.”
She said that the group was very disappointed on the overall outcome of the protest, as they had not received any answers about how the money will be allocated and if there would be a public participation.
Unite Behind will be having a second protest on the 30th November at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) to central Cape Town.
She urged the public to follow Unite Behind on Facebook and Twitter for more details. VOC