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After spending R17m on a feasibility study for the construction of the Moloto Rail Corridor, government has nothing to show for it.
For nearly 20 years now, government has been talking about the project that would benefit thousands of people who use the notorious Moloto Road and reduce accidents on the stretch of road that links Tshwane and the area of Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
Now, a group of about 100 concerned residents have taken their fight for the trains to the seat of government at the Union Buildings in Pretoria where they have been camping on the lawns and is now in the third week of the protest.
They say the communities they represent have lost loved ones on the stretch of road.
The protesters have been sleeping in a white medium-sized tent, erected on the western side of the Union Buildings lawns since September 11 as they demand that President Cyril Ramaphosa must meet them virtually.
The Moloto Rail Concerned Residents said they had tried all avenues to get government to deliver the project. They said the had spent their own money and traveled to Cape Town in March 2016 for an oral presentation to parliament's portfolio committee on transport, detailing their plight.
Moloto Road has claimed the lives of hundreds of people over the years.
The group's chairperson Sam Masango said they didn't come to the Union Buildings unannounced as they had been communicating with Ramaphosa's office in letters, trying to secure a virtual meeting with him on the matter which Masango described as "personal, emotive and making us angry".
"Moloto Road is defined as a killer road but people have been made to rely solely on Putco which has been killing our people, but Putco still enjoys a monopoly when it comes to transporting people from the former KwaNdebele to Pretoria," Masango said.
"We are here to liberate ourselves from this poverty which government itself is creating so that people are forever dependent on it," Masango said. .
Today marks exactly 14 days since the group started camping at the Union Buildings. Yesterday, while the country celebrated Heritage Day, the residents went about their daily activities, including stocking up on food.
A few of them arrived carrying bags of oranges and apples as everyone else continued with their activities. Most members of the group are unemployed while a handful of them have part-time jobs and relied on donations to survive while at the Union Buildings.
A few items could be seen in the tent, mainly foam mattresses and blankets while there was also a gas stove and two big pots for cooking. They hang their laundry to dry on the Union Buildings' perimeter fence, north of the camp.
The project was first announced by the late former transport minister Dullah Omar during Thabo Mbeki's tenure as president. The feasibility study was completed in October 2014 and found that the project was feasible.
The activist group was started in 2013 and was initially called the Transport Steering Committee. They have over the years led protests against Putco, called for the upgrading pf the Moloto Road and the prioritization of the rail project.
Putco spokesperson Matlakala Motloung said: "As Putco we value communities and passengers that have supported our business over the years. We can never take the passengers from KwaMhlanga for granted. "
She said Putco had introduced 50-70 new buses in the past three years serving the community of the three municipalities along the Moloto corridor.
"We have three subcontractors operating a total of 62 buses along the Moloto corridor. We spend around R10m per annum in support of small businesses in Mpumalanga/KwaMhlanga area," Motloung said.
Ntombi Khumalo said: "We are here for a just cause, and one which will benefit many people in (former) KwaNdebele, this rail project is stuck at the last stage which is implementation. We feel that government is not affording us proper attention."
The Moloto Road from east Pretoria to Marble Hall in Limpopo is undergoing a multibillion rand upgrade which has seen additional lanes added in some parts.
There were delays in upgrading some of the most dangerous parts of the route because the Gauteng government took long to hand sections of the road under its jurisdiction to the SA National Roads Agency LTD (Sanral). The province handed over their section to Sanral only late last year.
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