Cape Town - Transport Minister Blade Nzimande has lambasted the City of Cape Town’s attempt to take over the passenger rail service from Metrorail after they announced the appointment of a multidisciplinary team of rail professionals to assist with “high- level business plans for taking over passenger rail in Cape Town”.

He said the move was “dishonest, opportunistic and absolute political manoeuvring that seeks to undermine the enormous efforts by the ANC government to change the rail landscape of South Africa, which has been characterised by decades of disinvestment by the apartheid regime”.

He said the City would not, by “reinventing the wheel” and interfering with the mandate of another sphere of government, succeed in bringing about accessible, reliable and cost-effective public transport for rail commuters.

“Our immediate and urgent task is to stabilise and provide a predictable Metrorail service within current capacity, measured by increased ridership, customer satisfaction and efficiency,” Nzimande said.

However Riana Scott, Metrorail spokesperson, said a Memorandum of Action (MOA) between the Passenger Rail Agency of SA and the City was signed in 2015. She said the document clearly articulates the areas and scope of the partnership between the signatories. “The objective of the MOA is to facilitate delivery of priority projects, programmes and interventions with the strategic focus to achieve integrated public transport, recognising rail as the backbone in the Western Cape,” Scott said.