Dear Editor
Yesterday, PRASA unlawfully blocked me, a sitting Member of Parliament, from conducting an oversight inspection at its Braamfontein yard and train carriage store.
This yard is at the centre of a R7.5 billion train refurbishment scandal. I was joined by DA councillors from the City of Johannesburg to assess the state of PRASA’s rolling stock as part of the DA’s fact-finding mission into how billions of public funds have been spent.
Despite presenting my valid parliamentary credentials, we were denied entry. But the DA has already obtained evidence that the trains in this yard are in a state of shocking disrepair and abandonment.
We received images showing discarded train carriages, broken tracks, collapsed seats, carriages used to store waste and broken furniture, and unsanitary bathroom facilities.
PRASA has already spent R2.5 billion on the refurbishment and heavy maintenance of its ageing yellow and grey fleet, with another R5 billion budgeted. Yet PRASA told the parliamentary portfolio committee in June that it now has no plans to spend the remainder.
This raises a critical question: why spend billions on refurbishing trains only to park them in a yard to rot? Taxpayers are paying for upgrades that never reach commuters, while PRASA’s executive mismanagement goes unchecked.
Worse still, media reports have revealed that former PRASA executives resigned, only to set up private companies that later bid for these same contracts, suggesting a potentially corrupt network of cadre enrichment.
The Auditor-General (AG) has raised concerns about the handling of the tender, including the procurement process and the suitability of the chosen contractors.
The DA condemns this elaborate and costly scandal. We will be demanding full accountability for this gross abuse of public money, and we expect implicated individuals to be held to account.
Regards
Thami Mabhena MP
DA Deputy Spokesperson on Transport