Students blame Prasa for crime at station
The Technikon Rant train station at the TUT Pretoria West campus continues to be a crime spot and students who easily commute using the station fear for their lives.
Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) students have blamed a lack of security by the Passenger Rail Agency of SA for the rape and robbery of students using the Technikon Rant train station for their daily commute to and from class.
The station is situated at the university’s Pretoria West TUT campus so its mainly used by the students.
Rekord visited the station to investigate after a 20-year-old was shot and two more students were wounded in a robbery on the same day.
Some students told Rekord that there was a lack of security at the Passenger rail agency of SA-owned (Prasa) station.
Bulelwa Madela said in the three years she had used the station, she had been robbed twice.
“I was walking alone when tsotsis robbed me of my phone, laptop and the money I was going to buy food with,” she said.
Gerry Thobane, a second year human resource student, said TUT had recently hired guards to safeguard the vicinity of the station.
“Girls were raped, students robbed and another student was shot… it happened so regularly that we got used to it,” he said
Thobane also said he wished that TUT would ensure guards it posted to the entrance to the station went inside, on to the platform.
The students said though some of the incidents were not reported, they were aware of them and that the Prasa management was doing little to assist.
Prasa spokesperson, Lillian Mofokeng said the agency was aware of the problems at that station.
She said the station had no dedicated resources such as control, security and ticket sales because it served a few commuters.
Asked if agency would deploy guard, she said it was working with the station security to find an approach to address security at the station.
She said discussions were underway with other law enforcement agencies to help.
Record asked her if renovate ablution facilities at the station after students complained some toilets were out of order, she said: “At this stage, it [the station] is still classified as a halt and [so] no plans are in place.”
Police spokesperson, Colonel Tsekiso Mofokeng said Prasa not the police, was responsible for commuter safety at train stations.
TUT spokesperson, Willa de Ruyter said the train station was a public facility but in view of the risk to the safety of university students and staff, the university would engage the agency to ensure the station was safe.
mk
Also read:
Police launch manhunt for TUT robbers
Three TUT students attacked by criminals
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