Cape Town – The Presidency has reportedly dismissed Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis’s warning of declaring an intergovernmental dispute if President Cyril Ramaphosa fails to respond to the request for establishing a collaborative working committee on rail devolution by the end of August.
According to GroundUp, the need for a properly functioning train service in Cape Town was underlined by last week’s deadly taxi strike in which five people were killed and Golden Arrow buses, private vehicles and public infrastructure were torched, while commuters were stranded and unable to get home or to work.
The strike “demonstrated the urgent need for a safe, affordable passenger rail system”, said Hill-Lewis.
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He urged Ramaphosa to convene the “joint working committee on passenger rail devolution”, emphasising the importance of a functional rail network for the city’s transportation.
However, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said that the Presidency doesn’t respond to threats and prefers to address matters through constructive processes.
“We would rather deal with matters through processes in a constructive manner. The mayor can exercise his prerogative as he sees fit, and we will respond accordingly through due process,” News24 quoted Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya as saying.
The City has been seeking to take over rail management, but the central government’s stance on devolution has been inconsistent, with the transport minister saying that there were no plans to devolve rail to the city, the report said.
Picture: Twitter/@PresidencyZA
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Compiled Betha Madhomu
