Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula recently said he hoped the Central Line in Cape Town would be fully operational by July. But Philippi station, a key station on the dysfunctional line, is a reminder of the issues that need to be addressed: vandalism, theft and security.

From the outside, Philippi train station in Cape Town is an example of many public transport interchanges across the nation: it's a hive of activity, with taxis everywhere and people selling everything from food to furniture. But inside the station, it is clear that it requires a massive amount of work before it can become operational again.

The station is on Cape Town's Central Line, which came to a halt in November 2019 after sustained vandalism and theft of essential infrastructure belonging to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa).

During the Covid-19 lockdown, vandalism and theft of infrastructure worsened, but another problem arose: many homeless people started living on the disused train tracks.

The rail agency and Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula are on a mission to get the Central Line running by July. During his State of the Nation Address in 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced R1.4-billion would be allocated to fixing the...