Johannesburg - The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) spends more than R3m subscribing to The New Age newspaper, Transport Minister Ben Martins said on Tuesday.
"Prasa has a subscription agreement with The New Age media company, which provides Prasa with 3 200 copies of the newspaper on a daily basis from Monday to Friday," Martins said in a written reply to a parliamentary question.
According to the payment schedule for the period from August 2012 to August 2013, the rail company paid a cover price of R3.50 including VAT for 256 publishing days and 3 200 copies, at a cost of R2 867.200.
It paid a further 50 cents for 256 publishing days and 3 200 copies at a cost of R409 600. This totalled R3 276.800.
Martins was replying to a question from Congress of the People MP Dirk Feldman, who asked whether Prasa had a subscription with The New Age.
Fares
In March, Prasa said it would increase Metrorail fares by an average of 27%, reported Sapa news agency.
This prompted complaints from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in the Western Cape.
“Train fares remain by far the lowest prices in comparison to any other form of transport in the country, with a single trip costing on average R2.84,” Prasa CEO Lucky Montana said at the time.
Prasa’s proposed train fare increases would generate R323m for Metrorail and R79m for Shosholoza Meyl.