[imagesource:anthonymolyneaux]

Much like the fires that keep on cropping up around Cape Town and surrounding areas, the train fires that have caused hundreds of millions of rands in damages invite similar suspicions.

Last October, for example, three trains were set alight in a single day as part of a coordinated attack. If it wasn’t already clear that there were some shady dealings behind the scenes (the problem has been going on for years), there was now no disputing that.

Having had a fleet of more than 90 trains operating in Cape Town back in 2015, Metrorail’s number, following the attack mentioned above, was now just 44.

This graphic, via TimesLIVE, paints a worrying picture:

TimesLIVE also sent two journalists, Aron Hyman and Anthony Molyneaux, out to investigate and do a little digging.

What they found should raise your ire:

A bitter dispute between the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) and two unions is believed to be behind most of the arson attacks that have destroyed 60% of commuter trains.

However, this is not news to the parastatal, which has twice fired workers from its protection services department after they embarked on violent strikes that coincided with attacks on the rail network.

In both cases, the dismissed workers were reinstated. No criminal complaints were laid, and even though 214 carriages have been set alight since 2013, no-one has been convicted of arson.

When the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, or there is no punishment, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of a deterrent.

You can read the rest of their superb investigation here, but let’s skip ahead to the video:

Just another example of unpunished criminality, which affects the lives of thousands of ordinary South Africans.

We’ll finish with a closer look at the two journalists behind the story:

[source:timeslive]