On Wednesday 27 March, Metrorail released Cape Town crime statistics gathered since the struggling commuter train operator implemented additional security measures to stem vandalism. The success of nearly 350 arrests was dampened by the theft of an overhead cable earlier that morning which caused a temporary service suspension on Cape Town's Central Line.

On Wednesday morning, train services on Cape Town's busiest lines -- which connect the CBD to areas such as Bellville, Bishop Lavis, Nyanga, Philippi, Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha -- were temporarily suspended. The theft of an overhead cable between Langa and Nyanga was the cause, according to the Metrorail Cape Town Twitter page on Wednesday morning.

Metrorail Western Cape regional manager Richard Walker confirmed to journalists at a Cape Town Station media briefing on Western Cape rail safety that the cause of the service suspension was the overnight theft of an overhead cable.

"Our team is busy on that," said Walker. Metrorail was hoping to re-open the service by late Wednesday. Services had resumed by the afternoon peak, but in some cases, there was a delay of more than 60 minutes.

Walker said at the briefing that 347 arrests had been made between March 2018 and March...