Baleina ‘Edith’ Kunonga died after being hit by a train on Saturday.
- Baleina Kunonga, a partially blind woman, died after she was struck by a train on Saturday morning in Cape Town.
- He had developed cataracts in his eyes, which had gotten progressively worse over the years.
- Prasa said that an investigation into the incident is underway.
A partially blind Cape Town woman died in the early hours of Saturday morning after she was struck by a train.
Baleina Kunonga, 63, was the breadwinner for her family, regularly passing Heathfield train station to get to where she needed to be to sell her dusters and brooms for a living.
Pastor Charles White of Eternal Flame Church, where Kunonga regularly attended services, said when he received the call to say she had been hit, he rushed to the scene, which is right in front of the church building.
“She was running to work because she wanted to come back early to clean the church with the other parishioners. She was a very hard-working woman and loved by many of us because she was a lovely person. She walked the streets every day to sell what she could. She didn’t deserve die like this,” White told News24.
According to White, Kunonga, known to the entire community as “Edith”, had developed cataracts on her eyes that had left her partially blind.
“She has been waiting for the last two years to have them removed, but every time she had to have surgery, the state hospital postponed the surgery. We kept trying to get them to look at her eyes because every week her eyesight was getting weaker and progressively worse. White said.
Baleina Kunonga, partially blind, sold dusters and brooms for a living.
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White said Kunonga’s death could have been prevented if the South African Passenger Railway Agency (Prasa) had intervened when he tried numerous times to get them to put up fences to help prevent deadly incidents like this from happening to people.
‘Hands-off’ implemented
“I am so frustrated that it is taking so long to put up protective fencing. Phone calls, emails and a few in-person meetings with Prasa officials have been fruitless, because nothing has been done about the situation over the past few years.
White emphasized:
It’s a very dangerous area and there have been people I had to pull off the tracks who tried to commit suicide, but no intervention by the railway has been implemented yet. This was pure negligence by the people from the railway line.
Western Cape Prasa/Metrorail interim spokesman Zino Mihi confirmed to News24 that an investigation is underway.
“The information we received from our Protective Services department is that the woman who is supposed to be partially blind was crossing at points on the railroad tracks when she was unfortunately struck by the train.
“The area through which she crossed is where people who avoid paying train tickets (fare evaders) cross. The public must not make use of that section of track, as it is for staff members or technicians only. Michi added.
She said security officers were on the scene when the incident occurred Saturday morning and alerted Metrorail, SAPS and ambulance services.
“We run rail safety campaigns every two weeks at our train stations to educate our customers and communities about rail safety. Fencing the station is part of our plans to increase the safety of our passengers.
“There has been a lot of vandalism at our stations since the pandemic hit, but we are trying to get train services back where needed. We send our sincere condolences to the family of those who passed away,” Mihi added.
Police were contacted for comment but did not respond at the time of publication. It will be added once received.
