Prasa ruling indicts ANC

On Monday judge Leoni Windell handed down a scathing judgment against former “engineer” Daniel Mthimkhulu on behalf of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa). The judge ordered Mthimkhulu to repay his salary of R5.7m to Prasa because he lied about his qualifications.

Mthimkhulu was hired by former CEO Lucky Montana, and these two completely wrecked Prasa, costing the agency billions of rand in lost revenue because of the “too tall” train contractual scandal with Swifambo Rail Leasing.

In essence, the judge found that Mthimkhulu lied in his evidence and most likely forged a letter on which his evidence relied. The forgery, incidentally, contained blatant, basic errors of grammar. This is how incompetent Mthimkhulu was, even at advancing his defence in court.

Aside from the criminal offences of fraud, forgery and uttering, the cost to the taxpayer of this malfeasance runs into billions of rand. Ordinary citizens are tired of waiting for prosecutions to follow from the various commissions of inquiry that have taken place.

Criminals in SA walk about with impunity. Every state-owned entity has been devastated by criminal behaviour and even a private bank (VBS) was pillaged by crooks. The culprits involved have yet to be charged criminally.

Unfortunately, this lack of resolve on the part of the ANC government has resulted in a lack of confidence not only among citizens but also foreign investors. It is becoming clearer by the day that the ANC and government will protect the criminals in its ranks to preserve the party.

Nathan Cheiman Northcliff