It won’t happen overnight, but Prasa can be put back on track — and the work has already begun
When a machine breaks down and remains broken for almost a decade, to the point where its dysfunction becomes its most identifiable feature, one wonders whether it can be fixed.
Having gone from one mechanic to another, with some doing more harm than good, the owner can be forgiven for contemplating throwing in the towel, while the contraption deteriorates.
While it is parked outside in the driveway, exposed to the elements, dust gathers, rust sets in and the machine can be rendered irreparable.
The owner begins to entertain suggestions from passers-by: “Why don’t you just sell this thing for scrap, it is of no use … how long has it been in this condition, it is beyond repair … I doubt the manufacturer still makes the original parts.”
Such is the story of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa). A young entity, only a decade old, it grew in leaps and bounds in its infancy. Prasa became a formidable machine, poised to be the lifeblood of our economy.
Sadly, it has now fallen on hard times; not unlike a successful uncle who falls hard for the bottle. It is an open secret that the institution is in dire straits, in desperate need of a new lease of life.
During the 2018/2019 financial year, Prasa’s irregular expenditure was close to R30bn. As things stand, a number of cases are being investigated by the Hawks. The Special Investigating Unit secondment team that was at Prasa in 2019 recommended 42 cases where consequence management should be implemented. So far, 25 of these have been assessed. The team has identified irregular contracts worth R1.57bn.
On many occasions, Prasa has tried to rid itself of corruption and maladministration, but like the mechanics that attempted to fix the hypothetical machine, the organisation would be taken one step forward and two steps back.
Taking extraordinary measures in order to deal with extraordinary problems, a month ago transport minister Fikile Mbalula placed Prasa under administration, giving me the unenviable task of leading the organisation for 12 months.
I did not take the appointment lightly; I am alive to the magnitude of the issues that plague the entity and, by virtue of that fact, that this will be one of the most gruelling challenges of my life.
It has already placed heavy demands on my person and I have faced significant backlash from those who have benefited from Prasa’s demise, but I remain resolute.
I am convinced that turning Prasa around is mission possible. Encouraged by the staff members who still believe in the future of the entity as well as the dedicated commuters who write to us daily, urging us to improve our services, my team and I worked throughout December to devise the following plan.
The war room, which the minister created five months ago, will be wound down and all its work incorporated into five exco subcommittees: revenue enhancement and cost containment; governance; service recovery; safety management; and capital and modernisation programme acceleration.
The chairs of these subcommittees have already begun their work. We are also strengthening communications with all our stakeholders and we thank them for their unwavering commitment to change the fortunes of this entity for the better.
We will be moving to effect permanent appointments where there are critical vacancies at senior levels in the organisation. I will also be strengthening the office of the administrator through a combination of secondments from the government as well as other state-owned entities.
Prasa will conduct lifestyle audits on the top 300 managers, especially all employees in finance and supply chain.
We will ensure that consequence management is instituted. Furthermore, we plan to track and attend to a number of audit findings, particularly repeat findings identified by the auditorgeneral.
In the different regions, we plan to recover the service in key corridors, especially the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZuluNatal.
A new security tender will be finalised to resolve issues of safety and security.
In the words of author Sonali Dev: “The point is that things can be repaired. That they are even more beautiful for having been repaired.”
My mandate is to drive the restoration of Prasa in an aggressive manner and ensure its responsiveness to the daily needs of our commuters. A customer-centric ethos will guide our work.
But all this fixing will not happen overnight. I will lay the foundation during my tenure. The baton will then be handed over to those who will complete the work of restoration.
Those who plundered the entity did so over a lengthy period of time. Their deeply entrenched corrosion cannot be wished away.
It will take far more than a little spit and polish to repair this broken machine. The minister has demonstrated the political will and I am ready to rise to the occasion and deliver an entity that becomes the backbone of our public transport system.
It will require decisive action and unwavering political will. Luckily for Prasa, this time it has a healthy dose of both.