SA transport minister called to resign

Unions describe the railways as a time bomb

By Alistair Leithead BBC correspondent in Cape Town

The South African transport minister, Dullah Omar, is coming under increasing pressure to resign after a train crash in Cape Town which killed at least 10 people and injured 88.

The incident followed a disastrous holiday season on the country's roads.

Mr Omar has dismissed the resignation calls

More than 1,250 motorists and pedestrians have died since 1 December, an increase of 25% on last year despite a multi-million dollar road safety campaign.

Rail unions are now threatening a strike, describing the situation on the country's railways as a time bomb which has not been addressed by the government.

Campaign failure

The number of people killed on the roads in South Africa's holiday season is traditionally high, but a high increase in fatalities has led to calls from the opposition for Mr Omar to resign.

A multi-million dollar campaign was intended to reduce the number of deaths, but it has been widely seen as a failure, something the minister attributes to a shortage of traffic police.

He dismissed the calls for his resignation as cheap party politicking, but rail unions have now increased the pressure on him after the latest train crash outside Cape Town.

The general secretary of the United Transport and Allied Trade Union said the minister had failed on the roads and also on rail and he should resign for not acting on transport safety.

An inquiry's findings into a train crash last year which killed 24 people has still not been made public and the transport union has said it is considering strike action.