The Democratic Party has condemned what it calls the appalling abuse of public money by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa)‚ which it says was confirmed in the Public Protector’s report into alleged maladministration relating to financial mismanagement‚ tender irregularities and appointment irregularities at the entity‚ released on Monday afternoon.
The Public Protector had found that 19 of the 37 allegations were substantiated and could be directly ascribed to improper conduct‚ maladministration and fruitless and wasteful expenditure at the ailing parastatal‚ DA leader Mmusi Maimane noted in a statement.
The report had further found that former Group CEO‚ Lucky Montana‚ could be directly implicated in six of the allegations and was found to be acting in contravention of Prasa’s own Supply Chain Management (SCM) regulations‚ Treasury’s SCM regulations‚ the Public Financial Management Act (PFMA)‚ as well as section 217 of the Constitution.
This finding comes a month after it was announced that Mr Montana would be released from serving the remainder of his notice period‚ set to end in December‚ despite receiving full pay.
“The confirmation of gross mismanagement at the parastatal by the Public Protector adds Prasa to the growing list of state owned enterprises‚ including Eskom and SAA‚ that are costing the South African economy billions while failing to provide the infrastructure needed for economic growth. This is severely hampering attempts to create jobs and cut unemployment‚” said Maimane.
He added that it was vital that Prasa was turned around as soon as possible to enable it to contribute positively to building an inclusive economy.
“To this end‚ the DA will tomorrow (Tuesday) brief the media on the steps we will be taking in order to ensure the Public Protector’s remedial action is implemented‚” Maimane said.
RDM News Wire.
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