"THOUSANDS of commuters stuck in Cape Town's congested traffic are victims of crime and to a large extent corruption," says the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"It has become clear the traffic situation worsens when Metrorail system is in trouble and it is becoming clearer by the day that money which should have been spent on maintenance, security and modernisation has been consumed by crime and corruption," said Janine Myburgh, President of the Chamber.

Business is also a victim because unreliable public transport resulted in late arrival at work, a loss of productivity and stressed-out staff.

"One cannot forgive the torching of trains which is totally unacceptable, it only make the situation worse. One can, however, understand the anger and frustration of commuters torching the trains, though it is in no way the solution," says Myburgh.

The release of leaked e-mails had shed light on Transnet and PRASA's strange deals and revealed that "middlemen" milked billions of rands out of funds destined to buy locomotives.

"This is corruption of the worst kind and the people of Cape Town are feeling the pain. We even had a chief engineer with fake qualifications involved in the ordering of the Spanish locomotives that proved to be unsuitable for our narrow rail tracks," adds Myburgh.

Myburgh said there was room for sympathy for Metrorail management. They had not been given the resources to run a good service.