Stealing coal from passing trains - 'It's risky but we have no choice'

[schumi]

Fana* and Thabo* are coal hunters. Every day they climb on to the goods trains transporting coal along the Brakpan-Springs route to fill their sacks with stolen coal.

They risk a fall from the train or arrest by the security guards who patrol the railway line, but they say they have little choice.

Some of the coal they take home to their families, and some they sell in townships and informal settlements.

The two friends know the exact train schedule and prefer working at night, or in the late afternoon after the security guards who patrol the railway lines during the day have gone home. They used to climb on to the trains during the day, but of late railway security has tightened.

They can fill five or six sacks each during a night, they say.

GroundUp watched Fana and Thabo climbing on to a goods train that had just stopped. After collecting coal they threw the bags off the train and jumped off. Before long the two were halfway up a bridge on their way to hide the coal. By the time they came back to the railway line, the train had moved on and they could wait for the next one.

About 5.45pm Fana and Thabo started walking slowly on the side of the railway lines along the Springs-Brakpan route. One carried a backpack with empty sacks in it. Their clothes and faces were dirty from black coal dust. They picked up bits and pieces of coal which had fallen from goods trains. They use the coal to light a fire during the night while they wait for goods trains to pass.

More at : https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/so...-no-choice-stealing-coal-from-passing-trains/

 

[Jopie Fourie]

Not a bad income for someone in a struggling economy and failed state! Good luck with the business and take care jumping off those trains!