Dipuo Peters ‘not responsible’ for parastatals’ mess
Minister of Transport Dipuo Peters cannot be held responsible for the chaotic state of affairs at her department’s entities as she gives only political oversight. Parliament’s transport committee chairwoman Dikeledi Magadzi said Peters was playing her role as representative of shareholders — the taxpayers.
Members of the former board of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) are set to lodge an urgent high court application on Monday to reverse their removal by Transport Minister Dipuo Peters and to interdict her from appointing a new board.
According to sources close to the Prasa battle, papers are set to be filed in the high court on Monday morning.
This comes as Peters is scheduled to hold a media briefing on developments at the state-owned company, also on Monday morning.
Parliament’s transport committee chairwoman Dikeledi Magadzi said Peters could not be held responsible for the chaotic state of affairs at her department’s entities as she gave only political oversight.
Magadzi said Peters was playing her role as a representative of the shareholders, the country’s taxpayers.
“We can interact with the minister on these issues and we intend to. However, we must stress as the committee that it is very strange that we have boards who can’t seem to rein in their executives.
““This kind of thing … where executives do as they please and boards cannot act [is not indulged in the private sector],” Magadzi said.
Since the latest ructions at Prasa, there have been calls from several quarters for the minister to be held accountable for the governance failures and turf wars at the agency. These seem to be brewing between the department and the agency’s dissolved board, which was led by Popo Molefe.
On Wednesday, Department of Transport acting directorgeneral Mathabatha Mokonyama announced the dissolution of the Prasa board at the end of an explosive meeting between the board, former acting CEO Collins Letsoalo and the portfolio committee.
In February, the minister reportedly moved to issue notices of intention to dismiss four board members at the Airports Company SA amid an impasse between the airport operator’s board and its CEO, Bongani Maseko.
Magadzi stood firm in Peters’s defence, saying it was the board’s responsibility to keep executives in check as opposed to the board running to the minister or blaming her when disputes arose.
Magadzi said the portfolio committee would meet on Tuesday and discuss the parliamentary inquiry into Prasa once it had concluded its work on the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Amendment Bill on the same day.