[LISTEN] Nzimande orders railway regulator to get house in order following deadly train crash
Transport Minister Blade Nzimande has called on the Railway Safety Regulator to do its job and take control of the country's ailing railway network.
A visibly upset Nzimande visited the train station in Mountain View after four people were killed and scores others injured following a collision between two trains.
A train was stationary when a secondary train crash from behind in Pretoria on Tuesday morning.
He vowed to hold those found negligent to account.
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"We need to find a way of dealing with the issue of the safety. Ideally, cooperative - so that the rail regulator doesn't only act when there is a problem for instance, or it doesn't act like a traffic cop. Traffic cops are something different," Nzimande said.
"Let's not fool ourselves some of the problems are not going to be dealt with overnight - it is deep going rot that has swept into Prasa itself."
He also ruled out the possibility of shutting down one of the biggest public transport networks in the country.
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"You cannot shut down Metrorail, that's a reality, despite the problems that we have. If you shut it down its millions of passengers that get affected."