South African President stuck on train

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa was among hundreds of passengers stuck on a train, after the locomotive reportedly stopped for hours for no apparent reason.

Updates of the event were tweeted by journalists who accompanied Mr Ramaphosa, who is currently campaigning for South Africa's upcoming elections in the Northern province of Guateng

“We saw for ourselves the trains are late. They stop for nothing. We saw how trains never arrive on time. This was an unannounced visit,” local media reported Ramaphosa saying.

Following the massive delay, questions were raised about whether the incident was connected to the widespread power outages currently gripping the country.

Power giant Eskom says that load shedding is expected to last at least to the middle of this week, severely disrupting daily life across South Africa.

Some passengers climbed out of the train in search of alternative means of transport, while traders took advantage of the delays to sell goods to frustrated passengers.