The ANC MP who is calling Prasa's bosses to order: Leonard Ramatlakane

African National Congress MP Leonard Ramatlakane has been trying to get straight answers out of Prasa for more than two years. His commitment to holding state-owned enterprises to account has even been noticed by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramatlakane is a former COPE MP who serves on the transport and police committees in parliament‚ after previously earning his stripes in the Western Cape provincial legislature.

On Tuesday‚ as chairman of the transport committee‚ he was not prepared to condone the non-attendance of Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) board members at a meeting that had already been postponed owing to the board’s failure to appear last week. He delayed the meeting but only from this morning to 2pm today - telling them to hop on a plane from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

Prasa has been in the news following years of alleged maladministration‚ alleged irregularities involving tenders and the disclosure that it might have misspent taxpayers’ resources in a R3.5bn locomotive contract.

The ongoing parliamentary scrutiny follows multiple investigations at the state-owned agency‚ including a forensic investigation by the auditor-general and a skills audit‚ both requested by then transport minister Dipuo Peters.

In September 2015‚ Ramatlakane‚ then a member of the transport committee and not yet its chairman‚ voiced concern at the impact of the tender probes on Prasa’s operations.

"My big worry going forward is bringing Prasa to a standstill. It’s going to be a protracted legal battle and at some point you will be forced to pay without anyone doing any work‚" he said then.

In his police portfolio he has also reprimanded feuding law enforcement bosses.

When the head of police watchdog IPID and the acting national police commissioner aired their dirty laundry in Parliament in May last year‚ spilling the beans on each other‚ Ramatlakane said: “Somehow this has to be stopped.”

In December he admonished the SAPS delegation that appeared before MPs‚ insisting that parliamentarians had been misled about how the police were tackling deficiencies in the vetting process.

Late last year when Ramaphosa called on the National Prosecuting Authority‚ the Hawks and other law enforcement agencies to "immediately" investigate corruption in state-owned enterprises‚ he referred to Ramatlakane. The deputy president said he agreed with the MP that investigating agencies needed to be strengthened and given the resources to combat illicit financial flows.

Ramatlakane is one of the most hardworking MPs in the country‚ according to research published by Africa Check‚ which based its top 10 list on the number of committees attended by MPs in 2015.

That year Ramatlakane attended 56 committee meetings – a 75% attendance rate. His rate has since improved‚ rising to 80% in 2017 and so far in 2018.

Ramatlakane’s financial interests include alternative energy sources and property‚ according to the People’s Assembly.

Listed under directorships or partnerships‚ he disclosed interests in African Virtual Gas; a new company seeking to install solar systems‚ South Africa (Pty) Ltd; and a domain called Solution Energy‚ to trade as LMV Investment.

He also has three property interests on the register‚ in Khayelitsha‚ and erfs in Monte Vista and Bloemfontein.

He is a golf fan and likes jazz‚ as evident from parliament’s register of members’ interests. In 2016 he received a golf T-shirt as a gift from the Presidency‚ as well as jazz festival tickets from the City of Cape Town – and from Prasa.