Patriotic Press

The government, in the persons Jacob Zuma, President and Cde. Gwede Mantashe, the Secretary Five Star General of the heroic and self-sacrificing revolutionary party, the ANC, and has asked that the media and business be more patriotic in their response to party and governmental affairs. This column is a response to the President’s and Cde. Gwede’s eminently reasonable requests.

This week, the unveiling of the new rail locomotive fleet that has been purchased from Spain took place.

In a deal that was such a bargain for the The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) that its terms have been kept confidential so as not to undermine the suppliers pricing structure, it was revealed that R600m has been paid to Vossloh España for 13 locomotives intended for use on the longer routes in the country.

This is just the start of a process whereby the government in its export driven vision, will export jobs to Spain in a deal worth R3,5bn over the length of the confidential and hugely beneficial contract.

The Afro 4000 Locomotives are bigger and better than the racist Apartheid regime ones they replaced. Contrary to the opinions expressed in the un-patriotic media, http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/transport/2015/07/05/imported-locomotives-unsuitable-for-sas-railway-lines these taller models will present no complications with the existing overhead power lines on the routes they travel because electrical power will not be switched on during train journeys. Eskom, in a ground breaking technological breakthrough, has agreed to accurately schedule their maintenance and load-shedding so as to ensure safe rail travel for our valuable customer and the crews of our train sets.

In a far sighted view of the rail transport infrastructure, the CEO of PRASA said that although the locomotives were taller than what was considered standard for South African conditions, the possible problems arising in this regard are being minimized by a managed programme of track removal and theft which will ultimately result in a considerable reduction in the overall height of the locomotives.

The first stretch of railway line so modernized is between Johannesburg and Nigel. This bold programme was mentioned by the BBC http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-28311240 when last year, more than ten kilometers of track was removed and sold to scrap metal merchants to defray the considerable cutting and transport costs incurred by freelance metal prospectors.

In a further far-sighted innovation by PRASA, the world famous Blue Train is being enlarged so as to take advantage of demand for accommodation by the rich capitalist foreigners who are now prevented from owning land and property in South Africa. Foreigners will be encouraged to spend their holidays on the Blue Train instead of buying wine farms in temporarily DA controlled Franschhoek.

Visitors can instead view and enjoy the rest of the country, which is wisely governed by the ANC. The new visa regulations promulgated will have the effect of reducing the number of loud and undisciplined foreign children riding on the Blue Train and spoiling the tranquility of this superb South African experience.