No more gospel on the tracks, as new Prasa rules raise the ire of train traders and preachers

6 Dec 2022

While the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) and the Department of Transport forge ahead with efforts to recover train corridors following the collapse of the rail network, Prasa has instituted new train rules — which have not met with universal approval.

The most contested of Prasa’s new rules are the prohibition of trading and preaching aboard the new trains. Trading and preaching on trains have been a part of commuters’ lives for decades. Many informal traders who had hoped that the return of train services would revive their businesses were left disappointed by the new rules.

Other prohibited activities include gambling, vandalism, abusing Prasa personnel and playing in and blocking the passageways.

Gauteng Prasa spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng said: “The new trains are structured differently and do not have closed coaches.

“For safety reasons one can at any given time see and move through other coaches while onboard… Our conditions of carriage stipulate no smoking, no trading, no churches, no gambling... These activities have demonstrated over the years that they inconvenience many commuters and limit free movement inside the train. Trading is permissible only at demarcated areas at stations and not onboard.”

Trading on board trains

Informal traders believe they should be allowed to trade on trains because they too contribute to revenue.

“The new rules are simply unfair. I bought a monthly train ticket for about R165 every month. Why is it difficult for Prasa to create a different ticket regime for traders? That way we will also be contributing to its revenue,” said Sifiso Hadebe, a Sebokeng resident who used to sell on the trains.

The Soweto Business Forum (SBF) has a different take on the issue of trading aboard the new trains. Palesa Kambule, the deputy president of the SBF, told Daily Maverick that the SBF was advocating for the registration of small businesses and traders. She said many of the traders were operating informally.

“When trains were not operating, many families went to bed hungry. In the same breath, as SBF, we felt that after Covid-19 things should change. We realised that many businesses in Soweto were informal businesses yet they are generating a lot of revenue. This revenue is money which is not recorded because the business owners do not own bank accounts,” said Kambule.

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The SBF also highlighted the issue of crime in the trains, which it said occurred because of trading on trains.

“On the one hand, we do want to say we agree with Prasa about the trading aboard the trains… but there was criminal activity taking place in the trains because of the trading inside the trains.

“We need to get rid of all informal trading. It’s the informal trading that is the problem, not so much the Prasa rules.”

Traders say they have no problem with the formalisation of the informal trade industry, but they lack information regarding this and that is why they sell on trains. They deny that their trading on trains leads to crime.

“I have been a victim of crime on the train myself. Criminals robbed me at gunpoint inside the train and took all my stock. As traders on the trains, we have been exposed to many criminals, and protected train commuters,” said Steven Shabangu from Orange Farm.

Shabangu lost his livelihood when train operations were halted after the vandalism and theft of Prasa assets by criminals.

Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda said: “We cannot capture the township economy because many businesses that command a healthy revenue are informal. There are people selling at the taxi ranks. One lady is making R700 in two hours, but the point is that such businesses must be formalised so that when we talk of the township economy, we know what we mean.

“We might have to work with Prasa to help the informal traders see that when stands are made available, they are much better than trading aboard the trains.”

Preaching

On the prohibition on preaching on trains, South African Conference of Churches (SACC) spokesperson Mzwandile Molo said: “The practice of sharing the word of God in this mode of public transport or indeed in any other public location, is not confined to ordained ministers of a church.

“Evangelists (as they are sometimes referred to) are often individuals whose faith drives them to share the Gospel with others, in the fulfilment of Mark 16:15, which says, ‘And he said to them, go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

“Chapter 2 of the Constitution, which contains the Bill of Rights, says that everyone has the right to freedom of religion, belief and opinion. The expression of this freedom comes in different forms — from a musician on the side of the road performing gospel hymns, to an individual who wears a rosary around their neck, to a person preaching the word of God on a train.”

Sandile Majola, who used to preach on trains said: “Why has Prasa taken such a hard line against the church? Every preacher that I knew on the trains paid for their train trips.

“As long as this expression by the preachers is not harmful or aggressive and does not infringe on the human rights of any other individual, surely one should be allowed to exercise the freedom of religious expression, within the boundaries outlined by the space they have chosen to occupy.” DM

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Trading on board trains

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