Between 2013 and 2019, South Africa's Metrorail commuter rail system was systematically destroyed by a coordinated arson campaign. Over 214 carriages were set alight and 1,500+ coaches were vandalised, costing the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) between R636 million and R643 million in direct losses. The destruction was concentrated in Cape Town's Western Cape network, where the commuter rail system was effectively annihilated.
THE SCALE OF DESTRUCTION: PRASA's national fleet dropped from 288 train sets in 2013/14 to 200 by 2017/18. In Cape Town specifically, operational trains fell from 90+ in 2015 to just 44 by October 2018. Year-by-year arson: 69 coaches burnt in 2016, 41 in 2017, 65 in 2018 — the Western Cape accounted for 56 of the 65 arson incidents in 2018.
CAPE TOWN'S CENTRAL LINE: The Central Line — serving Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, and other working-class communities — was effectively shut down in 2019 due to sustained vandalism, arson, and cable theft. Hundreds of thousands of daily commuters lost their primary mode of affordable transport. The line only reopened in May 2025, six years later.
THE CORRUPTION CONNECTION: The arson campaign cannot be understood in isolation from PRASA's broader corruption crisis. Under Lucky Montana's CEO tenure (2008-2015), PRASA's procurement was systematically captured. The R3.5 billion Swifambo locomotive deal produced trains too tall for SA infrastructure. The R5.6 billion Siyangena security contract enriched connected parties while security collapsed. When arson destroyed the fleet, there was no replacement stock available because the procurement budget had been looted. The arson was the match; corruption was the fuel.
WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE: The arson was linked to multiple actors: organised crime syndicates profiting from land invasions along rail corridors, scrap metal dealers benefiting from infrastructure theft, and suspected taxi industry interests seeking to eliminate rail competition. Some arson was linked to labour disputes. Despite the scale, no major convictions have been secured. Police investigations were hampered by lack of resources and, in some cases, suspected complicity.
THE HUMAN COST: The destruction of Metrorail disproportionately affected the poor. Working-class commuters who relied on affordable rail were forced onto expensive and dangerous minibus taxis. Travel costs increased by 300-400% for affected commuters. Workers lost jobs because they could no longer afford to commute. The economic impact on Cape Town alone was estimated in the billions.
PARTIAL RECOVERY: By 2025, Metrorail annual ridership recovered to 77 million passengers — a 670% improvement over the preceding 5 years but still well below pre-destruction levels. In December 2025, the Cape Town City Council approved a Rail Business Plan to devolve Metrorail management from PRASA, acknowledging that the national agency had failed the city.