Prasa to announce new measures to improve systems

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) says it will announce new measures to improve operations in the railway system.

It comes amid prolonged issues of cable theft and vandalism – leading to service disruptions and thousands of commuters being left stranded.

Prasa spokesperson, Makhosini Mgitywa, says the network does not have the security level like the Gautrain.

“The Prasa network is porous and that is a historical problem. If you compare Prasa network with the Gautrain, they are totally different. You can’t access the rails of the Gautrain unless you go via the station and they wouldn’t allow you to go into the rails themselves. But if you look in many areas with Prasa, there is no wall that separates and protects the network itself. So it becomes porous as people walk in and do whatever they like. There is poverty in the country, people are unemployed, and they are looking for anything that they can take and sell.”

In the video below, Prasa’s cable theft and other issues:

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Prasa ‘clean up’ sees four Protection Services officials dismissed

In June, it was reported that Prasa is continuing its clean-up of officials who have been found guilty of procurement irregularities after they dismissed four officials from its Protection Services Department. These dismissals are the culmination of a disciplinary inquiry, following allegations of impropriety in the awarding of security-related tenders.

These dismissals started when the agency’s Administrator Bongisizwe Mpondo took office in December last year. Among Mr Mpondo’s priorities, as determined by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, is consequence management.

Minister Mbalula characterised Prasa as a broken business, following years of maladministration and other malfeasance, especially in Supply Chain Management and the Protection Services departments.

The wrongdoing was also highlighted in the “DERAILED” report by the Office of the Public Protector a few years ago.