Cape Town - The Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has remained tight-lipped on the deaths of an employee and a contractor who are believed to have been electrocuted while conducting testing and commissioning of refurbished motor coaches at the Salt River Depot.
The incident occurred on February 27, but a reliable source claimed the railway agency was trying to “cover up” the cause of the deaths as it appeared to be an act of “negligence” in failing to comply with safety protocols.
Metrorail spokesperson Zinobulali Mihi would only say: “We are not in a position to respond to your media enquiry pending finalisation of the investigation.”
The Department of Employment and Labour confirmed that its probe into the incident was still ongoing while police were also awaiting a post-mortem report.
Department spokesperson Teboho Thejane said: “The incident was investigated as prescribed in Section 24 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Act 85 of 1993 ... The incident (was) categorised as a fatal incident ...
“Prasa is a passenger railway agency – the Prasa rolling stock depot in Salt River is responsible for the maintenance, commissioning and testing of trains.
“According to our preliminary investigation it is alleged that three employees were working inside a coach, busy with commissioning and testing when they got electrocuted inside the working environment. The third employee was the first to respond to the incident. She called for help. The coach was immediately disconnected from power and first aid was administered to the two injured employees while waiting for the paramedics,” said Thejane.
While the findings of their investigation are still outstanding, Thejane confirmed the two had died on the scene after they were found “unconscious and unresponsive”.
“Our inspectorate are currently finalising the investigative approach; as soon as they have finalised the investigation they will have their findings, thereafter a section 31 investigation as per the OHSA will follow,” said Thejane.
Police said an inquest was opened for investigation and the Woodstock detective branch confirmed they were still “awaiting post-mortem report”.
“There are no new developments to report at this stage,” said police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk.
While the United National Transport Union (UNTU) would only comment after the investigation, Cosatu provincial secretary Malvern de Bruyn said they learnt of the incident with shock.
“As Cosatu, we are calling for an extensive investigation into what happened and whoever is at fault (must) be brought to book. If there was any negligence from the side of the employer, then we demand that the law should take its course and they be held criminally liable for what had happened.
We want a thorough investigation and we will follow this matter closely and ensure that our people are looked after (at places of employment),” he said.
South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) spokesperson Amanda Tshemese said: “The safety of our members and workers comes first.
It is one of the main issues that the organisation always raises when meeting or negotiating with the employer. It is indeed very disturbing.
“Recently, two of our members and workers were hit and killed by a train in Mpumalanga. Now it tells us that the employer doesn’t care about the safety of its employees.
“We issued a statement calling for a thorough investigation on this matter. We want to get to the bottom of this tragedy. Whoever is responsible must face the law.
People died here; there should be an explanation to this. The families and us as a union must find closure and those implicated in the report must account.”
Cape Times