Cyril Ramaphosa Gets Stuck On The Train

President Ramaphosa chatting with frustrated commuters after a train stuck while in its way. South Africa's President Cyril Ra...

President Ramaphosa chatting with frustrated commuters after a train stuck while in its way.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa may have hoped that joining the morning commute together with ordinary citizens would mark him out as a man of the people ahead of elections in May. That plan has either backfired or worked after the frustration of the people. He and other passengers were stuck on a train on a four hours journey that should have taken 45 minutes. "It is unacceptable," President Ramaphosa said after the train reached its destination. He said the national rail operator, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), had to act to improve the situation "otherwise the heads will roll.


Train delay is a daily frustration for millions of South Africa's railway users and some have lost jobs because of late arrivals at work, says the BBC's Milton Nkosi in Johannesburg. Angered commuters have even set trains alight, our reporter adds. The delay to the train the president caught in Gauteng province was caused by another train that had to stop after its driver was hit by a stone which had been thrown at him, a Prasa spokesman said. He also blamed "ongoing and sustained attack on our rail infrastructure by… thugs". President Ramaphosa earlier put on a brave face, seen here smiling inside the train carriage:

Mr Ramaphosa was hoping to canvass votes for the governing African National Congress (ANC) which he leads after replacing Jacob Zuma last year.