Despite warnings that SA’s dilapidated rail network was not ready,  the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) last month signed a locomotive lease deal and relaunched long-distance trains —  with disastrous consequences for festive season travellers. 

The locomotive deal — worth R130m signed with a company Prasa has declined to name — was finalised just days after the agency fired its group CEO Zolani Matthews. He had allegedly been reluctant to sign the 11-month lease after its Mainline Passenger Service (MLPS) warned that the infrastructure was not ready to run the Shosholoza Meyl trains...