Pressure to appoint Prasa’s board

TRANSPORT Minister Joe Maswanganyi is under pressure to appoint a board of directors for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa).

This as concerns were raised about the awarding of a multibillion-rand contract at a time when it did not have a board of directors.

It was reported earlier this month that Prasa entered into a R57 billion deal for the construction of the Moloto Rail Development Corridor without a public tender or approval from National Treasury.

Yesterday, the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) was the latest organisation to make calls for the appointment of the board.

Fedusa general secretary Dennis George said they were calling on Maswanganyi to appoint a board for the Prasa as a matter of urgency.

“Prasa has been without a board since July, when the term of the previous board, under the chairmanship of former North West premier Popo Molefe, came to an end. To compound matters, most of executive management positions including that of the group chief executive of Prasa are all currently held by managers in an acting capacity,” George said.

Similar calls were made a week ago by the DA, which wrote to Maswanganyi requesting assurances for a moratorium to be placed on all contracts until a new board was appointed.

The DA’s Manny de Freitas said:”The rule book has been thrown out of the window to allow corrupt individuals to raid the public purse and enrich themselves at the expense of the poor.”

Maswanganyi said acting chief executive Lindikhaya Zide had assumed the responsibility of the accounting authority of Prasa, as an interim measure until the appointment of the new board is finalised.

Responding to a parliamentary question from the DA’s Tim Brauteseth, Maswanganyi said the Public Finance Management Act provided for the chief executive of a public entity to also assume the role of the board. He also said an advertisement calling for nomination of persons to serve on the board was published in February.

“Members of the public responded positively and a number of nominations were received. The department is currently busy with the shortlisting process and will make appointments in due course,” he said.