Prasa, like ANC, has no shame

It’s a sign of the times when the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) could not answer a The Citizen journalist on whether or not the state-owned company was ashamed of the current state it had mismanaged taxpayer assets into. In fact, in its response, the company simply ignored the question and only answered what it felt comfortable with. Because, you see, no government employee will ever do an interview. It has to be in writing and responding is then at their leisure.

It’s true of the department of public enterprises, Treasury and every other institution that is propped up by our money, but milked from the inside until they are as hollow as the promises of a “better life for all”.

That’s been the mantra, or curse, of the ANC-led government for 30 years. But the same playbook does not work any more.

And it’s the media’s job to get them to lose face, because that seems to be the only time that the cadres give a continental (expletive). The more egg on the collective state’s mug, the quicker the fix, even if it’s just a patch-up job. It’s the job of civil society and the outcome of exceptional work by organisations like the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse and other investigative, private agencies.

In Prasa’s case, the Benoni station is not an island of rot, but rather a physical monument to a succession of scandals, mismanagement and the daring of long fingers.

It’s homage to incompetence and the blatancy with which the ruling class views both the money of its citizens and their welfare. So, shamelessly, the company did not hesitate to regurgitate nearly the same promises that it did to media inquiries three years ago.

The proof is in the pudding, Prasa, and it’s the same for every other lackadaisical tax-digesting ingrate. Everyone has had enough of this. Shame on you.