Cape Town - Corruption is derailing the commuter system as the national rail operator verges on financial collapse with accumulated losses topping R4.5 billion in 2017, a leaked auditor’s report revealed.
The draft Auditor-General (AG) report was distributed by DA MP and party spokesperson on transport Manny de Freitas at a press briefing in Parliament on Tuesday after it was leaked to the party. This came hours after yet another passenger train was torched, this time at Koeberg station.
De Freitas said the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) was yet to submit its 2016/17 annual report for scrutiny in Parliament.
The AG’s report revealed that Prasa was on the verge of financial collapse that is directly linked to massive losses last year, De Freitas said.
“The report states that the entity and group have incurred a loss of R1.7bn and R1.3bn, respectively, for the year ended March 31, 2017,” he said.
This resulted in an “accumulated loss as at March 31, 2017 of R4.4bn for the entity and R4.5bn at the group level, De Freitas said.
The AG’s report also showed that Prasa's systems were inadequate to identify irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
“During the duration of the audit and prior to submission of the annual financial statements, a number of findings identifying irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure were identified,” the AG reported.
The AG said the entity was undergoing a number of investigations relating to supply chain management matters which were confirmed on December 4, 2017 by Prasa management.
The AG took a sample of tenders from Prasa in the financial year 2016/7 which revealed critical issues of the 36 tenders analysed. All had irregularities related to the method of selection of a service provider and all the tenders had questionable bid processes.
De Freitas said the DA would be laying criminal charges against the Prasa board.
On the train torching, United National Transport Union (Untu) general secretary Steve Harris said: “This is the eighth incident in recent months.
“By now, surely the South African Police Service must have made a breakthrough in establishing who is behind these arson sprees that deliberately economically ruin train services in the Western Cape.”
DA spokesperson on the police Zak Mbhele said a reliable and safe commuter rail system was crucial.
Asked for comment, Prasa national spokesperson Nana Zenani said: “We will respond to the formal tabling process as opposed to leaks.”
@JasonFelix