Prasa top brass exposed
DOZENS of Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) officials, including senior executives and general managers, have been bust for failing to disclose that their business partners scored contracts worth R87 million from the embattled state-owned entity.
No action has been taken against the officials – nearly four months after retired former acting chief executive Cromet Molepo attempted to discipline the employees for misconduct for failing to declare that their business partners received lucrative contracts from Prasa.
The transactions were discovered during Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu’s audit of Prasa’s finances in the 2016/17 financial year.
Correspondence seen by Independent Media shows that in March Molepo told then interim board chairperson Xolile George that the audit had identified 42 transactions totalling R87m in six Prasa divisions.
The officials include executives and general managers in Prasa Corporate, Rail, Technical, Corporate Real Estate Solutions, its investment company Intersite and intercity bus service Autopax.
However, Prasa claimed it had no knowledge of letters of suspension that were issued by Molepo to “any staff member and/or executives”.
“Prasa’s policy on any issue regarding conflict of interest requires workers to declare their interests.
“We encourage anyone with information to come forward in this regard,” the agency said.
The response followed Prasa chief executive Sibusiso Sithole referring Independent Media’s questions to the agency’s communications team this week, despite some of its senior officials being among those issued with the suspension letters.
National Transport Movement (NTM) general secretary Ephraim Mphahlele said that the union was aware of the letters sent to staff suspending them.
He said this was for executives and general managers awarding tenders to their relatives.
According to Mphahlele, the NTM was told that investigations were still ongoing.
In his letter to the interim Prasa board that was replaced a few days after it was constituted, Molepo said: “I have implemented consequence management as required by legislation to suspend the officials implicated and (a) disciplinary team must be established (to) deal with these matters accordingly.”
Molepo said he would have failed in his duties by not exercising his responsibilities, “especially considering that Prasa has been plagued by allegations of maladministration, fraud and corruption in all levels”.
“Failure to declare business interests is a serious offence for a state entity. Furthermore it was also identified that your business associates failed to declare their interests with you in the standard bidding document forms.
“It is therefore my prerogative to suspend you until investigation is concluded,” read Molepo’s letters.
He also instructed the officials not to obstruct and interfere with investigations by contacting any Prasa employee or temper with the agency’s witnesses, and demanded official laptops as well as barring them from accessing work e-mails.