Metrorail detains customers without tickets. Is it legal?

On Thursday 19 February, at least four people were detained for various lengths of time at Steenberg station between 7:15am and 9am. Sometimes handcuff are used to hold the gate closed, and two Metrorail employees stand guard. One of the employees explained that the commuters were found without valid tickets, and were being detained until they paid the R40 penalty, which Metrorail refers to as a “booking fee”. If they could not pay they would be handed over to the police.

A detained commuter who was held for at least an hour made several frantic phone calls on his cell phone to request assistance. In the commotion of trains coming and going, the GroundUp reporter did not see exactly how, but the man finally managed to pay the fine. In fact according to the Metrorail official on the platform, all of the detained commuters that morning managed to come up with the money before 9am, and so were not handed over to the police.

Three passengers (all of whom provided their first names only) on the platform spoke to GroundUp. Mike said that he had been caught without a ticket once. He immediately paid the penalty and so avoided detention. Nevertheless he thought it was a good way for Metrorail to deter non-payment.

Anthea said she can see it from both sides. “It’s unfair on other passengers if people don’t pay but then people are desperate to get to work and don’t have money.” She agreed though that it would be better if Metrorail improved access to stations. “At some stations they have good control over who gets on the trains but at others not,” she said.

Ethan said. “I think it’s fair to detain them. I just scrape by to pay for my ticket. It’s not like they getting hurt or anything.”

Richard Walker, regional manager of Metrorail Western Cape said, “As a responsible corporate citizen it is Metrorail’s duty to ensure that all commuters travel legally and by doing so inculcate the culture of payment for services.”

Walker said that without the assistance of automated ticket vending machines and ticket scanners, Metrorail has no option but to rely on human intervention.

“Trains targeted for action … are stopped for 10 to 15 minutes to enable employees to check the validity of tickets. Those found to be in contravention of the law, are required to wait in the station’s processing area until they have been processed. Not every station has sufficient space to conduct actions and hence [commuters] are held where space permits. Commuters are not ‘apprehended’ and only held for as long as it takes to process them. Many ‘defaulters’ offer reasons for having transgressed the law and Metrorail employees have the unenviable task to make a judgment call as to whose emergency is valid or not.”

A commuter being held inside the cage.

According to Metrorail, about 185 people are prosecuted every month for rail-related offences.

Walker said “Commuters should act responsibly. Rights without responsibilities will lead to anarchy. No one would think of boarding a bus or a plane and demand a free ride, yet we deal with that every day. We owe it to paying passengers to remove those who don’t pay their way.”

When asked what the legal basis is for holding passengers, Metrorail’s head of Marketing and Communication, Riana Scott, responded, “A significant number of Metrorail protection officials are peace officers and thereby authorised to exercise the powers attributed to peace officers. Other Metrorail employees and security officials have the same powers as ordinary citizens, authorised to make citizens arrests, banish trespassers and deny entry to premises.”

In response to Metrorail, a lawyer consulted by GroundUp (and who asked not to be named) said, ”So no express legislative authority then, and no explanation for the absence of automated access control measures. On their logic, could I set up a cage on my front stoep to detain those I see breaking the law?” He further said, “Whatever powers peace officers may have, cannot extend this far. And failure to take preventative measures like access control is what gives rise to the need to arrest.”

As to why Metrorail holds or detains non-paying commuters instead of controlling access onto platforms, Scott responded, “In the absence of appropriate automated access control measures, this stop and detrain strategy has proven the most effective use of human resources and deterrent to non-payers.”

In response, the lawyer GroundUp consulted said, “It’s like leaving my front door open and waiting for some one to enter to rob me, then arresting him.”