Transnet is considering deploying armed guards on goods trains after a train driver was murdered, CEO Brian Molefe said.
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Transnet is considering deploying armed guards on goods trains after a train driver was murdered this week, CEO Brian Molefe said in Limpopo on Tuesday.
He was speaking after visiting 47-year-old Nare Mashamaite's family in Polokwane to offer his condolences.
She was strangled in Makhado on Monday while investigating a mechanical fault on the train with an assistant. The assistant fled and was unharmed.
“We are seriously considering deploying armed guards on trains operating in the night; we have to protect our drivers better than we did,” said Molefe.
He said the crime had shocked the whole company and its staff.
The company was also evaluating how it could help Mashamaite's family.
Earlier, the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) expressed its shock at the murder.
“It is always sad when a worker dies while doing their duty,” Fedusa deputy general secretary Krister Janse van Rensburg said in a statement.
“We are shocked at what seems to be a brutal death suffered by this female train driver. This kind of thing should never happen.”
The United Transport and Allied Trade Union and SA Railways and Harbour Workers' Union general secretary Steve Harris also sent condolences to Mashamaite's family.
“We cannot accept that our members are exposed to such adverse circumstances where thugs, murderers and the like freely roam Transnet premises,” he said.
Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) spokesman Sibongiseni Henna urged all train operators to provide sufficient security for their staff to prevent another “inhuman” act.
“The RSR will be investigating this incident. We call on law enforcement agencies to redouble their efforts in bringing the culprit/s to book,” he said. - Sapa