Johannesburg – The DA says the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is in ICU.
The DA spokesperson for transport, Thamsanqa Mabhena, said in a statement that corporate governance has been eroded at the entity that has almost 20% of its total workforce unaccounted for.
“Recent news reports revealed that Prasa has 3 000 ghost employees. Yet, a ballooning wage bill is honoured monthly with no value for money.
In 2009, Prasa was moving almost four million passengers per annum, compared to a paltry 12 000 passengers in 2021. Over the past 13 years, Prasa has lost a frightening 99.5% of its passenger numbers. Prasa is not financially viable nor in a position to recover costs, let alone realise any significant revenue,“ said Mabhena.
He said that the railway agency remains a significant financial risk to the South African fiscus, particularly given our country’s rapidly shrinking tax revenue base.
He added that some of the Prasa train stations that are still operational have no ticket inspectors, leaving platforms open for anyone to access and board trains, and the ticket booking phone line (086 000 8888) resembles a load-shedding schedule with significant down times.
Mabhena also highlighted some of the many revenue leakages that exist within the system.
“The DA has been consistent in calling for the necessary unbundling of Prasa from being exclusively funded by the government. This move will enable the entity to tap into the financial markets, raise capital, and become competitive,” he said.
Mabhena said that the appointment of the Prasa board can never be left to the discretion of Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula and that a more transparent process needs to be developed, one that also involves Parliament, similar to Section 13(8) of the Broadcasting Act, No 4 of 1999.
“Furthermore, the DA calls for a public-private partnership ownership and rescue business model to be developed that will enable the private sector to bring in expertise that can lead to the entity becoming financially viable,” said Mabhena.
He said his party also calls on the transport minister to brief the transport portfolio committee on a tangible, measurable, and bankable unbundling and rescue plan.
“The plan must have timelines as well as milestones that can be used to track and monitor progress, but also aimed at holding the board, executive management and the minister of transport accountable,” said Mabhena.
The Star