Based on the presentation by the leadership of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to the Transport Portfolio Committee on Tuesday‚ it has become abundantly clear that the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) should be instructed to investigate the extensive mismanagement at the rail agency.
That’s the view of the Democratic Alliance which says that‚ if left unchecked‚ this poses a significant threat to the parastatal‚ which has an important mandate to transport millions of South Africans to work and school on a daily basis.
“Although there is currently an ongoing probe‚ we contend that it is not properly independent‚ as it was appointed by the Prasa Board who themselves might have a case to answer for in the financial meltdown at Prasa.
“This is after the Public Protector found large-scale corruption and financial misappropriation at the rail agency that saw the departure of then Prasa CEO Lucky Motana‚” DA spokesman on transport Manny de Freitas said on Wednesday.
The interrogation by members of the Portfolio Committee revealed that the management and Board were clearly hiding information‚ he said.
“One example is the SA Fence and Gates Depot Fencing contract‚ where the Prasa presentation hid the fact that an additional R250 million is being spent because of a contract bungle.
“This while the financial viability of Prasa remains highly questionable‚ demonstrated by the amount of R550 million spent on irregular expenses in the last year as indicated in Prasa’s annual report‚” De Freitas said.
“In light of this financial bungling‚ it is concerning that the CFO was absent yet again from a parliamentary committee meeting. At the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) meeting on February 23‚ Transport Minister Dipuo Peters admitted that she had never met the CFO‚ despite her being appointed over a year ago. It was also revealed that Prasa has had to function without a CFO for more than seven months‚ as she has a medical condition that negatively impacts her performance.
“Furthermore‚ the Rail Safety Regulator is still waiting for Prasa to address the deficiencies that were identified in the R3.5 billion locomotive deal. To date Prasa has not responded to these concerns‚” De Freitas stated.
Even requests from the minister herself had been ignored. To date‚ the requested skills audit in October 2015 had been ignored.
“It is clear that the Board does not have the appetite to resolve these issues.
“We will therefore be calling for the Special Investigation Unit to fully investigate the mismanagement‚ allegations of corruption‚ misappropriations and deficiencies in processes. The unit should also make recommendations in resolving this myriad of problems‚” De Freitas added.
SIU must probe R550m Prasa ‘irregular’ expenditure‚ says DA
Based on the presentation by the leadership of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to the Transport Portfolio Committee on Tuesday‚ it has become abundantly clear that the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) should be instructed to investigate the extensive mismanagement at the rail agency.
That’s the view of the Democratic Alliance which says that‚ if left unchecked‚ this poses a significant threat to the parastatal‚ which has an important mandate to transport millions of South Africans to work and school on a daily basis.
“Although there is currently an ongoing probe‚ we contend that it is not properly independent‚ as it was appointed by the Prasa Board who themselves might have a case to answer for in the financial meltdown at Prasa.
“This is after the Public Protector found large-scale corruption and financial misappropriation at the rail agency that saw the departure of then Prasa CEO Lucky Motana‚” DA spokesman on transport Manny de Freitas said on Wednesday.
The interrogation by members of the Portfolio Committee revealed that the management and Board were clearly hiding information‚ he said.
“One example is the SA Fence and Gates Depot Fencing contract‚ where the Prasa presentation hid the fact that an additional R250 million is being spent because of a contract bungle.
“This while the financial viability of Prasa remains highly questionable‚ demonstrated by the amount of R550 million spent on irregular expenses in the last year as indicated in Prasa’s annual report‚” De Freitas said.
“In light of this financial bungling‚ it is concerning that the CFO was absent yet again from a parliamentary committee meeting. At the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) meeting on February 23‚ Transport Minister Dipuo Peters admitted that she had never met the CFO‚ despite her being appointed over a year ago. It was also revealed that Prasa has had to function without a CFO for more than seven months‚ as she has a medical condition that negatively impacts her performance.
“Furthermore‚ the Rail Safety Regulator is still waiting for Prasa to address the deficiencies that were identified in the R3.5 billion locomotive deal. To date Prasa has not responded to these concerns‚” De Freitas stated.
Even requests from the minister herself had been ignored. To date‚ the requested skills audit in October 2015 had been ignored.
“It is clear that the Board does not have the appetite to resolve these issues.
“We will therefore be calling for the Special Investigation Unit to fully investigate the mismanagement‚ allegations of corruption‚ misappropriations and deficiencies in processes. The unit should also make recommendations in resolving this myriad of problems‚” De Freitas added.
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