An amended Service Level Plan between the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) and the City of Cape Town was finally signed off on 21 February. The original plan, which the Cape Town mayor announced had been signed by PRASA on 5 December, was found to have no start date.
The Service Level Plan is the first step toward the City taking a management role in commuter rail in Cape Town, in line with national policy and the Land Transport Act of 2009. But it has been years in the making. After delays on PRASA’s side, Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis in 2023 threatened to declare an intergovernmental dispute, and commuter activist organisation #UniteBehind instituted legal action to compel the parties to sign an agreement.
On 5 December last year, the same day the City adopted its Rail Feasibility Study in Council, Hill-Lewis announced the Service Level Plan had been signed by PRASA. Following the announcement, #UniteBehind requested a copy of the Plan from the City, but got no response.
This is detailed in a letter dated 7 February from #UniteBehind attorneys to the City, demanding the plan be supplied by 11 February. The City then provided an amended Service Level Plan, explaining that amendments had to be made due to errors or omissions in the original plan.
The main omission was a date for the Plan’s commencement.
The letter from the City attorneys to #UniteBehind states the City had sent a letter to PRASA on 17 January, pointing out that the start date for the Plan had been left blank. The City suggested amendments, including that the start date be “the date of signature of the last signing party”.
According to the City’s response to #UniteBehind, PRASA has since made the suggested amendments, with the amended Plan having been signed by PRASA Group CEO Hishaam Emeran on 24 January.
City Mayco member for Urban Mobility Rob Quintas said the City manager, Lungelo Mbandazayo, had signed the Plan on 21 February, and “planning” was now “underway” to implement it.
By Steve Kretzmann, GroundUp
