Johannesburg - The National Transport Movement (NTM) has laid criminal charges against former Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) chief executive Lucky Montana to press for repayments of money allegedly misappropriated during his tenure.
NTM secretary-general Ephraim Mphahlele said the union had opened a case at the Hillbrow police station. It had also written to the Prasa board, urging the executives to take action against present and former employees implicated in the wasteful expenditure cited in public protector Thuli Madonsela’s findings.
The union has also impressed on the Prasa board the importance of not only suspending but nullifying the irregular tenders awarded during Montana’s tenure to send a strong message that corruption will not be condoned.
Mphahlele said the action was not informed by Madonsela’s report but by a citizens’ initiative. “Our route is to go to court and obtain an order against the said contracts and also launch legal proceedings to recover monies from the contracts,” he said.
Remedial steps
The NTM is one of two complainants that has raised issues concerning Prasa, leading to the initiation of the public protector’s investigation in 2012.
The action was started by the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), which got cold feet midway through the process and withdrew its allegations against Montana. The NTM then pressed on and sponsored the complaints by itself.
Delivering her report on the findings last month, Madonsela noted Satawu’s about-turn and said it raised more questions than it did answers.
Asked about the filing of criminal charges, Montana said he did not take the NTM seriously and that it should be allowed “to continue with their publicity stunt”.
The NTM splintered off from Satawu apparently over disagreements concerning Prasa while Mphahlele was the chairman of the union.
For its part, the NTM also sneered at Montana’s position that he would take action to have the public protector’s report set aside and that he would take action against the Prasa board for “delinquent directorship” if it followed the report’s findings.
“He is playing to the gallery, that is neither here nor there,” Mphahlele said.
Prasa chairman Popo Molefe said last week that they had asked the Treasury for a chief procurement officer and were looking at its supply chain management systems in a bid to fix its problems.
A qualifications audit by the South Africa Qualifications Authority (SAQA) was initiated and would be undertaken after its human resources department apparently let some employees “fall through the cracks”.
Prasa is considering taking disciplinary steps against employees implicated in wasteful and fruitless expenditure.
Madonsela found that 19 of the 32 complaints against Prasa were substantiated. There was a “systematic failure” to comply with supply chain management policies and a culture of hiding information.
Molefe said the Prasa board had directed management to strengthen supply chain management structures and to find an experienced chief procurement officer.
He also said Prasa was considering legal steps regarding some of the remedial action recommended by the public protector.
Molefe said the board had told management to suspend questionable contracts.
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