Prasa is buying enough live rounds to kill rather a lot of people - and won't talk about it

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is shopping for ammunition in the kind of bulk more typically associated with a war than with operating commuter trains.

The agency's shopping list includes 15 000 rubber bullets, classified as "less lethal", because with correct use (fired into the ground to bounce into the target rather than shot directly at a person) it is handy for breaking up determined groups of people while rarely killing anyone.