Difficulties
Between 2011 and 2021 PRASA experienced a significant fall in its ability to fulfil its mandate to provide rail based public transportation in South Africa's urban areas.[6] Statistics SA found that about 80% of regular PRASA commuters had stopped using the company's network of municipal railway services between 2013 and 2021.[6]
High levels of corruption, maladministration and mismanagement, largely associated with the presidency of Jacob Zuma, were blamed for the fall in the state owned enterprise's ability to provide basic rail passenger transport services.[6] These issues were investigated by the Public Protector of South Africa.[7]
PRASA has also been criticised for being very slow to pay its suppliers.[8]
PRASA mismanagement led to the loss of R2.65 billion, through the acquisition of Spanish Afro 4000 trains which were unsuitable for South African rails. The Afro 4000 requires 4.14 meters of clearance, too high for SA rail infrastructure at 3.965 m.[9]
The resulting scandal led to the 2015 removal of CEO, Lucky Montana and his chief engineer "Dr." Daniel Mtimkulu. Subsequent investigation revealed that Daniel Mtimkulu had falsified his qualifications. Having claimed to possess an electrical engineering doctorate, he was exposed as merely a technologist without even having completed a 4-year engineering B.S.[10]
During December 2016, acting PRASA CEO Collins Letsoalo told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts that the organisation had incurred R13.9 billion in irregular expenditure while 142 contracts worth R24 billion were being investigated for corruption with some cases referred to the Hawks.[11][12]
In mid-August 2019, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula launched a war room with a 100 day plan to improve PRASA's railway network and to plot its progress.[13] Director-General Alec Moemi was placed in charge of the unit and daily status meetings were to be held with performance managed and monitored daily.[13] Progress would have to be made by 31 December 2019.[13] Targets included improving arrival times of Metrorail from 50.2% to 85% and increasing the amount of train sets available; improving arrival times of the Shosholoza Meyl from 3% to 50% and the amount of available locomotives, among others.[13]
Early December 2019 saw Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula fire the PRASA board and its chief executive officer and placed the organisation under administration after failing government audits and their inability to stabilise its financial position and market share.[14] He announced the appointment of Bongisizwe Mpondo, managing director and founder of the transport company Safiri as the new administrator.[14]
Administrator Mpondo announced in January 2020 that he had closed down the war room created by the minister five months earlier, and he formed five exco subcommittees called revenue enhancement and cost containment; governance; service recovery; safety management; and capital and modernisation programme acceleration.[15]
He said the organisation would conduct lifestyle audits on 300 managers, especially those employees working in finance and supply-chains.[15] Vacancies in critical senior management positions would be filled.[15] Auditor-General findings and his concerns would also be investigated and attended too.[15]
On 16 January 2020, the Railway Safety Regulator made a surprise inspection of PRASA's rolling stock maintenance facility in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.[16] The inspection established that this large repair facility had not purchased brake blocks in six months despite needing 1,500 a month with the fleet of trains having been reduced to 32 from 144 over three years.[16] Also missing were replacement train windows, lubricating oil and wheels.[16] An improvement directive was issued and failure to comply would result in legal action.[16]
In February 2020, Eskom cut power to PRASA's Western Cape rail network after they failed to pay R4 million overdue electricity account but was restored after payment.[17] Also in February 2020, Tembinkosi Bonakele of the Competition Commission made recommendations for the unbundling of certain divisions of PRASA after an investigation into the public transport market in South Africa.[18]
These proposed divisions are Autopax, PRASA Cres (its property manager) and Metrorail.[18] All that would remain in PRASA's name would be Shosholoza Meyl and its technical division.[18]
PRASA Cres manages the railway stations across the country and manages and charges access to these stations of Autopax other non-PRASA transport providers.[18] Autopax is accused of not paying for parking spaces while enjoying exclusive locations while other providers were provided less exclusive spots.[18] Both division were recommended to operate as separate state-owned enterprises (SOEs).[18]
The Competition Commission also recommended that Metrorail in the Western Cape and Gauteng be managed and integrated into the provinces transport authorities services while the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provincial authorities were not yet ready to manage their own services.[18]
By 2022 Minister Mbalula announced that PRASA was no longer able to secure its trains and infrastructure as criminal syndicates had managed to infiltrate the company to facilitate wide scale metal theft.[19]
Between January 2021 and July 2022, there were an average of 1.7-million rail passenger trips per month, which is just 4% of the monthly average over the ten years between 1999 and 2008, ridership having significantly declined from 2015 onwards.[20] Post-COVID ridership is slowly recovering, with the agency reporting that by the end of March 2024 it had carried 40 million passengers during the previous year.[21][22]
