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The government state owned entity, Prasa (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa) soap-opera seems to go on and on without an end in sight.  The latest twist in this drama is that Prasa Board Chairman, Popo Molefe has written to the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) head, Shawn Abrahams requesting help with corruption cases within the parastatal. This leaves me with more questions than answers.

Firstly, why is Molefe requesting the NPA to investigate this matter when Prasa has already spent almost R100 million on legal firm Werksmans Attorneys which is conducting an investigation.

Secondly, Prasa is also conducting its own “internal investigation” on apparently the same cases. Prasa shouldn’t be conducting an investigation on itself. We need to be assured that Prasa is not player as well as referee.

Thirdly, Treasury is also conducting investigations into the same matters.

The Public Protector at the time, Adv. Madonsela, was clear in her remedial recommendations that it was the National Treasury which should conduct this critical investigation.

All these investigations come after a report by the then Public Protector (PP) called “Derailed” which identified a number of deficiencies in a number of processes and contracts worth billions of taxpayer’s rands to supply rail carriages. The remedial action in Adv Madonsela’s report included the commissioning of a forensic investigation into all Prasa contracts or tenders over R10 million awarded between 1 April 2012 and 30 June 2015.

The waters must stop being muddied. One holist investigation must be undertaken by Treasury so that guilty parties are brought to book. Meanwhile Prasa needs to focus on getting people back in functioning and safe trains.

Issued by DA