Cape Town - A shocking video of alleged extortion gang members shooting at the Central railway line in Heideveld emerged just as SAPS and Prasa gear up to tackle down the ongoing extortion.
The video shows two men, with balaclavas covering their faces, wielding assault rifles saying the sub contractors were lucky to not be at the site at the Heideveld railway station on Monday.
The video started circulating shortly after the construction was officially halted at the Bonteheuwel site until further notice.
Prasa spokesperson Zino Mihi, confirmed both their sites in Heideveld and Bonteheuwel were targeted on Monday and engagements between SAPS, Prasa and the local council took place Tuesday.
"It's an ongoing issue affecting most of our sites along the Central line," she said.
Weekend Argus reported that the reconstruction of the Central railway line in Bonteheuwel has be halted until the security system has been beefed up along line between Cape Town and Netreg station.
Vernon Visagie, the chairperson for the Heideveld CPF said the alarming incidents could have been prevented if Prasa had involved community structures.
"We as the CPF known the ins and out of our communities but Prasa chose to sideline us and work with the City, hence the situation. He said it's mostly people from outside the affected communities who want to benefit from the project.
"They are dealing with people who are determined to get what they want, which is the control over the appointment of the subcontractors and we know they won't stop at nothing and our hands are tied, as we are not part of the project.
"The incidents are alarming and bad for our communities, we want a proactive approach to stop these and progress with the developments," he said.
Local councillor, Angus McKenzie, said what transpired in the video was unacceptable and stakeholders were continuing working towards finding solutions.
Ricardo Mackenzie, the chairperson of the DA's Western Cape Standing Committee on Transport said: “In my capacity, I will again invite Prasa to discuss their security plans to protect infrastructure projects. My constituents in Mitchells Plain have been waiting for years for rail services to be fixed. The lack of an effective security plan will cause severe delays and commuters will continue to lose their hard-earned cash in transport fees.”
Yesterday Mihi, said: "Extortion at our sites has been ongoing and it won't be tolerated. There's been similar incidents since July and Prasa continues to engage with the relevant stakeholders and a further communication will be made once decisions have been finalised."
SAPS is investigating an inquiry case and police spokesperson Captain FC Fredericks said: "SAPS Bishop Lavis opened an inquiry regarding the intimidation yesterday as the contractor didn't want to open a case. Investigations continues.”