IS GAUTRAIN AND E-TOLLING REALLY FOR THE RICH?

The South African government works very hard to alleviate poverty and work to create jobs for less fortunate people, but the South African Communist Party’s general secretary, Blade Nzimande feels different about this. On Tuesday the 1^st of May, he said that the e-tolling system and the Gautrain are for the richer people of Gauteng because of the routes it takes. “The Gautrain does not go into the townships of Gauteng,” he said. However what he does not continue to ask himself is, would those people that reside in the townships make use of this mode of transport? http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Gautrain

Gautrain joburgtourism.com

There are lots of public transportation available everywhere and for everyone. The Gautrain travels from Pretoria to Johannesburg to assist workers from the different cities to get to work on time and enjoy that with luxury and comfort. At the end of the day people must understand that luxury comes with a price, hence the routes of the Gautrain follows through in this way. If it went through the townships, would they want to pay just about three times more than they pay for their taxi services and Metrorail trains?

Interior of the Gautrain
eyewitnessnews.co.za

Most of the key components of the Gautrain are women and business men, according to South African Police’s source of information on crime, a number of criminals reside in the townships of Johannesburg than the middle or higher income group. The routes of the Gautrain were also thought of and calculated to reduce the number of potential risks that we face in our societies. Already there are controversies and shooting incidents that took place on Monday in Rooihuiskraal where the bus driver of the Gautrain shuttle service was shot. To reduce such things from happening the routes that the train takes are key; as much as the general secretary of the SACP has good intentions with his motion, it was not well thought through because the implications of adding routes to the townships would:

• Reduce the safety of the passengers
• Increase crime
• Harrasment of passangers
• Proper explanation of route calculation and allocation
• Increase costs of travelling
• Theft of cables
• Inadequate and untrusted security

Befor the Gautrain can hit the townships, Mzimande must first understand the potential risks that might take place...