South Africa’s rail network hits the buffers: corruption, COVID, cables

[John Ashworth]

South Africa’s rail network hits the buffers due to corruption, Covid and missing cables

Rail services in much of Africa have been crumbling for decades as old colonial-era equipment and a lack of investment have combined to leave services increasingly decrepit... the recent disruption caused by lockdown, the widespread theft of infrastructure, particularly cables, and the vast sums siphoned off through corruption have left South African rail on its knees...