Passengers deserting crisis-stricken Prasa

The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has finally submitted its 2016/2017 annual report to parliament – almost 12 months behind schedule.

And the report does not paint a pretty picture.

The country’s rail agency is not only on the brink of financial collapse‚ it is shedding commuters who have lost confidence in its ability to deliver an efficient service.

The annual report‚ which covers the financial year ended in March 2017 and which was supposed to be tabled in parliament at the end of September that year‚ reveals that Prasa is failing to deliver in its core mandate‚ which the agency blames on governance and leadership instability.

Only 55% of targets for the period under review were achieved‚ up from 40% in the preceding year.

Prasa recorded a comprehensive loss of R928m‚ up from a R554m loss the previous year.

Its revenue declined by 12% from R3.3bn in 2015/2016 to R2.9bn in 2016/2017‚ mainly due to a decline of 14% – or R389m – in fare revenue collection‚ from R2.7bn in the previous year to R2.3bn during this period.

Prasa’s acting CEO‚ Sibusiso Sithole‚ said the rail division’s disappointing performance posed a serious challenge in positioning rail as the mode of choice for the commuting public.

This poor level of performance is evident in the corresponding satisfaction rating during this period which remained flat at 56.9% (56.78% in 2015/2016).

The continued decline in performance level by the rail unit has shown a corresponding effect on the passenger patronage, which dropped to 372-million passenger trips a year, against 448-million passenger trips the previous year.

Passenger patronage has a direct impact on the fare revenue.