South Africa 
South African railways "will not be privatised"

afrol News, 13 January - South Africa's Minister of Transport, Dullah Omar, promised to maintain the national railways as a parastatal company at a memorial for the 10 victims of a railway accident last week. The British lesson of less safety when services were private had been learned, he explained. 

Transport Minister Omar made his statement at a memorial service for the victims of last week's train crash in Muldersvlei in the Western Cape, where a rail passenger train had collided with a goods train, killing ten and injuring 50 passengers. This was the biggest train accident in the province in twenty years and horrible scenes from the spot have made an impression on politicians and South Africans at large.

The Minister during his speech referred to South Africa's leading trade union, COSATU, which had "warned that we should not privatise the rail services and find that private companies put profits before safety," Mr Omar outlined. "We agree," he added, "there will be no privatisation of Spoornet; there will be no privatisation of Metrorail." The privatisation of the British railways had illustrated this, the Minister held. 

- The rail services, including goods carrier Spoornet and passenger arm Metrorail, belong to the people and that will stay that way, Minister Omar promised. He also gave orders to Transnet and Metrorail to do whatever possible to improve safety on trains immediately.

The news of the impulsive promises of Minister Omar was positively received by trade unionists, which have been fighting the large-scale privatisations that mark all public sectors in South Africa. Vukani Mde, COSATU Spokesperson, today "warmly welcomed" the statement by the Transport Minister.

- We applaud his statement, Mde said, adding that the union hoped that "the whole government will now accept the Minister's and COSATU's, view that private owners cannot be trusted to prioritise the safety of passengers, nor affordability, good service and job protection." 

- They must now apply the same principle to all essential services and abandon other privatisation exercises, so that all essential services prioritise safety, efficiency, affordability and job creation and preservation, rather than profits for private interests, Mde warned. 

The COSATU spokesperson had a good reason to address the rest of the government. Minister Omar, who is in charge of national transport safety, is however not in charge of the planned privatisation of the South African railway services. He has never been noted as a keen promoter of privatisation within the government neither.

It is rather the Minister of Public Enterprises, Jeff T Radebe, who is in charge of the large privatisation efforts within the infrastructure sector. Mr Radebe, who is seen as a privatisation hardliner, has a much more powerful position with the South African government than has Mr Omar. When the shock following the Muldersvlei train accident is forgotten, he might be in a position to have overheard the Transport Minister's promises.

Minister Radebe in May 2002 announced that he intended to power ahead with privatisation of state assets that had previously been considered protected by a deal between COSATO and the government. Only one month before, the government, management and unions had reached an agreement which would keep the railways in public ownership. That didn't stop Mr Radebe, however.

Sources: Based on SA government, COSATU and afrol archives

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