Video of arson suspects at Cape Town Station

[John Ashworth]

WATCH | Do you know these suspects wanted for arson at Cape Town train station?

Do you know these men?

Metrorail has released footage captured on CCTV of two of the men wanted for the fires which recently effectively crippled Cape Town’s rail network.

A reward of R100 000 is being offered for information that will lead to the conviction of those believed to be behind the arson attack.

According to Metrorail, the blaze in the early hours of Thursday, November 28, destroyed 18 train carriages worth R61m, overhead electrical wiring to the tune of R154 000 and rendered 14 of Cape Town station's 24 available platforms inoperable...

[John Ashworth]

Cape Town Prasa attack: Arrest of teens welcomed, but parties call for full investigation

Is there a ‘third force’ behind the arson attacks in Cape Town, ask a train drivers’ union and a political party. But an activist coalition is standing by its call for rail to be declared a national disaster, which could unlock funds to help investigate exactly who is behind the attacks...

[John Ashworth]

Transport union: Who sent the boys to burn Metrorail trains?

While the police were commended for their swift action in apprehending two boys in connection with a fire at the Cape Town station, the United National Transport Union (Untu) raised questions about who allegedly sent them.

Untu on Thursday said it had serious doubts that a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old were behind the attack of November 28 during which 18 carriages were gutted. The 14-year-old, a pupil at a school in Ruyterwacht, was arrested on Monday in Elsies River after a fellow learner recognised his face on an identikit.

A teacher went to his house, where the grandmother told him that her grandson said he had been threatened by a 15-year-old boy from Delft to set alight to the trains. According to the grandmother, the boy was told if he didn’t co-operate, his family would be hurt. It was the 14-year-old’s statement that put police on the trail of the second suspect in Delft...