Johannesburg - The long-simmering tensions between the Passenger Rail South Africa (Prasa) board and the department of transport on Wednesday blew into the open, with board chairman Popo Molefe threatening court action against Transport Minister Dipuo Peters’ decision to dissolve the board with immediate effect.
Molefe hit back at the decision, charging that the board never enjoyed any co-operation from both the department and Peters. He described the relationship between his board, Peters and the department as strained. He said he would go to court to defend the board.
“I have noticed some reluctance from the minister [Peters] to meet and engage with me. She said this was due to her having many agencies reporting to her,” Molefe said.
The hardening of attitudes comes in the wake of an open fallout between the two entities.
Peters told the portfolio committee on transport in a statement read out by acting director-general, Mathabatha Mokonyama, that she wanted the board to be dissolved.
Peters accused the board of failing to adhere to good corporate governance in running the rail agency.
Her spokesman, Ishmael Mnisi, said the public spat was unfortunate and could have been avoided.
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“It is the minister’s contention that her pronouncement to dissolve the board is a necessary step to bring this unfortunate situation to an end as well as to ensure that she restores good corporate governance at Prasa,” Mnisi said.
Peters’ claims were supported by committee chairperson Dikeledi Magadzi, who said it was important for Prasa to clean its house in order to fulfil its mandate. “As things are now, there is no sense that the board is in control of anything. It does not seem that there are controls at the entity to ensure good governance in line with legislation,” Magadzi said.
The board, led by ANC veteran Popo Molefe, was appointed in July 2014 for a period of three years. Last month it fired Collins Letsoalo, a senior departmental official who was seconded by the department to Prasa in an acting capacity following the unceremonial sacking of former chief executive Lucky Montana last year.
The board showed Letsoalo the door after claims that he had hiked his salary by 350 percent to R5.9 million since taking the helm. It referred him back to the department for disciplinary action.
Molefe said the board’s decision to get rid of Letsoalo had a direct correlation to Peters’ decision to dissolve the board.
“The minister (Peters) had bizarrely written to Letsoalo to supervise the extent to which the board observes the rules of corporate governance,” said Molefe. “We cannot afford to have another Hlaudi Motsoeneng at Prasa.”
The rail agency has seen a high turnover of executives in recent years.
Montana left Prasa in disgrace in 2015 after being accused of blowing R600 million on trains that did not fit South Africa’s railways and for hiring a chief engineer who did not have the required academic qualifications, among other transgressions.
Montana had previously outlined plans to buy 20 diesel Afro 4000 locomotives, plus another 50 hybrid ones from Vossloh España, for a total of R3.5 billion.
However, in 2015 the Railway Safety Regulator found that the initial 13 locomotives that were delivered at a cost of R600 million were too high for South Africa’s railway system.
Former public protector Thuli Madonsela, in her 2015 “Derailed” report, had found evidence of widespread maladministration in the awarding of tenders worth R2.8 billion at the rail agency.
On Wednesday, United National Transport Union general secretary, Steve Harris, said the dismissal of the board was long overdue. The union said Peters should also be fired for failing to rein in the board sooner.