After recent reports by the Auditor-General and Public Protector pointed to several tender irregularities, as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure, at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), the agency has committed to “taking appropriate steps” to suspend all contracts identified as being “irregular”.

“Prior to the release of the Public Protector’s report, the board had already commissioned an independent firm of attorneys to conduct an in-depth analysis and investigation. Its focus includes issues raised by the Auditor-General. 

“The board is committed to ensuring that all irregular and unlawful conduct is identified and dealt with in accordance with the law,” PRASA chairperson Popo Molefe said on Monday.

Among other interventions, the parastatal had further commited to uplifting all unlawful suspensions of employees, while taking the necessary steps against those employees that had been implicated in the various irregularities.

An audit had also been launched in May to review all payments over R10-million made from April 1, 2014, to check for irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure.

An independent probity would, meanwhile, be conducted on all tenders that were over R10-million to ensure compliance with PRASA policies, the Public Finance Management Act and all other statutes.

This followed a call by the United Front and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa on National Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry to conduct an investigation into procurement undertaken by the agency in relation to its rail rolling stock since July 2012.

“The board has noted the call for various investigations to be conducted and will cooperate with the Transport and Treasury departments, the Auditor-General and Public Protector.

“The board is committed to ensuring that, where there are any cases identified, causing irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure to be incurred, these must be addressed in the appropriate legal manner so as to recover costs. Where any criminal conduct has been identified, the matter will be referred to the appropriate law enforcement agencies,” Molefe said.