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Transport Minister Blade Nzimande has painted a grim picture of the internal state of affairs of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) and the Road Accident Fund.
“Prasa is losing money like an ATM” while the Road Accident Fund is “totally dysfunctional” and its “board needed to be disbanded”, Nzimande said in a meeting with Parliament’s portfolio committee on transport on Tuesday.
Nzimande was meant to be joined by Prasa board members in the meeting who were expected to account on his department’s performance and Prasa’s failure to submit its 2016/17 annual financial report to Parliament.
The minister, however, was left to hang out to dry as the parastatal’s board members chose to rather meet with the committee later in the day after Nzimande had faced the music unaided.
The state-owned entity had not submitted its 2016/17 financial report to Parliament, a delay of eight months in the submission of the annual report.
Addressing the committee, Nzimande said Prasa was losing money like an ATM and seemed intent at doing anything but fulfilling its mandate of providing passengers with safe transport.
Nzimade said this was why he had not been prepared to appoint a permanent board for the state-owned entity.
The minister in April announced an interim board for Prasa chaired by SABC board member Khanyisile Kweyama.
However, he indicated that he “needed further engagements” with the board before he could settle for a permanent group of individuals.
Nzimande blamed the constant reshuffling of ministers by former president Jacob Zuma’s administration and said it had been detrimental towards state-owned entities.
“I can see now what havoc it wreaked,” Nzimande said.
Although the minister was hesitant to name a new permanent board for Prasa, the company’s board members had no reservations announcing its new group chief executive Sibusiso Sithole.
Sithole, the former Ethekwini municipal manager, has been appointed group CEO for the next 12 months.
The announcement was made through a media statement by the company on Tuesday morning, although the statement itself makes it clear that Sithole’s contract was effective from the first of June.
The DA’s spokesperson on transport, Manny de Freitas, wanted to know from Nzimande how Sithole had been appointed Prasa group chief executive “when he got into trouble financially, both personally and professionally”.
Nzimande said people should not judge Sithole because of his previous financial troubles and added that the new CEO had not been charged, arrested or found to be corrupt.
“You are not a proper black in South Africa if you have not been on the credit bureaus list. Even my cards were taken away at some point,” said Nzimande.
Members of Parliament were not forgiving of the Prasa board’s absence in the proceedings with De Freitas saying “the fact that Prasa is not here as they were supposed to be is typical” as the state-owned entity’s board was being left unchecked.
Transport committee chair, Dikeledi Magadzi, dismissed De Freitas, saying: “I am not ready for tantrums today. Anyone with tantrums, the toys are outside.”
Prasa board members led by Kweyama are, however, expected to deliver the overdue annual financial report and give an account of how the new group chief executive would be dealing with the problems flagged in the Auditor-General and Public Protector’s reports on Prasa in order to have a “clean slate” in upcoming annual reports.
Meanwhile, speaking about the Road Accident Fund, Nzimande said: “It’s totally dysfunctional. That board should be disbanded.”
The minister argued that there was too much disunity within the board, even stating that in a meeting the board was “fighting so badly I thought they were going to come to blows”.
Nzimande also indicated that he would be meeting Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene to discuss a turnaround strategy for South African Airways (SAA).
According to Nzimande, SAA was currently under Treasury’s administration due to its financial challenges.
