Finally - the failure had absolutely nothing to do with it being government run. The trains are unreliable now due to CRIMINALS - and not government criminals (though many of us suspect a political motive). The trains are late due to vandalism and theft.

The only thing government has failed at is law enforcement - which has nothing to do with the functioning of the train system specifically. Unfortunately - due to the railways being national government rather than local government property the metro police has no jurisdiction on the lines - and the SAPS is not exactly functional.
But SAPS screw-ups affect ALL citizens and ALL endeavours whether private, public or non-profit.

So none of your arguments even apply. The trains never failed. They were killed-  by criminals. 

Solve the crime problem and the trains will, once again, run on time - like they did for decades before.
Do you think criminals don't target private companies too ? Being public had ZERO effect on this issue.