Activists attack transport minister
Fikile Mbalula slammed for dragging heels over legal matter.
Group wants to join case involving a claim for billions owed by Prasa.
Commuter activist group #UniteBehind has filed an application in the High Court in Pretoria in an attempt to compel the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to hire new attorneys, or reappoint its previous attorneys. The application was lodged on Friday.
Prasa’s previous attorneys, Werksmans, withdrew their services on 14 January after Prasa failed to pay outstanding fees of about R19 million.
A critical court case is scheduled for 24 February. Siyangena Technologies is attempting to compel Prasa to pay billions in outstanding fees. The rail agency has already paid about R3 billion to the company. The public protector found in 2015 that contracts awarded to Siyangena by Prasa, totalling nearly R5 billion, constituted “maladministration and improper conduct”. #UniteBehind is trying to join this court case as a friend of the court.
In the court application, #UniteBehind secretariat member Zackie Achmat writes: “#UniteBehind has sought, without success, to ascertain Prasa’s attitude to this litigation and clarity as to its intention to instruct new attorneys.”
The application adds that Prasa has given no indication of how it plans to proceed with the Siyangena matter without attorney representation.
“There is, therefore, a risk that the main application will simply be dismissed, the irregular expenditure of nearly R5 billion in public funds will not be properly ventilated and that no amount of these funds will be recouped to the public purse,” the application reads. This month, #UniteBehind lodged an application in the Western Cape High Court that seeks to revoke Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula’s decision to appoint Bongisizwe Mpondo as the administrator of Prasa for a 12-month period without any oversight.
#UniteBehind claims this appointment is unlawful and wants this case to be ruled on before the Siyangena matter is finalised.
Prasa has also announced the appointment of a technical panel of advisors to assist Mpondo with
It’s gravely worrying that a person involved in approving the Siyangena contracts was appointed as a technical advisor.
“critical technical expertise”. Among the six advisors appointed to Prasa’s technical board is Themba Camane, who was involved in the Siyangena tender deal.
In its most recent court application, #UniteBehind wrote that it was “gravely worrying”, among other things, that “a person who was himself involved in approving the impugned Siyangena contracts was appointed as a technical advisor”.
Republished from GroundUp
#UniteBehind