At the start of Part V, Volume II of the Zondo fee’s report on allegations of state seize involving the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), Chief Justice Raymond Zondo observes that employees or officers who resisted state seize or corruption had been victimised and hounded out.
This was already public information in 2015 when former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela launched her report titled ‘Derailed’, which handled allegations of maladministration, procurement irregularities, battle of curiosity, nepotism and human sources mismanagement, and victimisation of whistleblowers.
Madonsela discovered that then-Prasa Group CEO Lucky Montana had suspended employees with out following correct disciplinary procedures and concluded that there was a “pattern of habitual suspensions” on the passenger rail company.
Zondo, referring to Madonsela’s findings, mirrored that “one would have thought that five years after Montana had left Prasa the unlawful, unfair or unjustified use by Prasa authorities of their power to suspend or dismiss employees which had been a problem at Prasa during Montana’s term … would have come to an end”.
Montana left Prasa in July 2015, and no CEO was appointed till 2021.
Maladministration and improper conduct throughout Montana’s time period
Madonsela included in her report a number of cases of “suspensions and dismissals and in some cases failure to discipline which happened during Montana’s term at Prasa”.
These embrace:
- An improper and irregular fee of R685,000 made to Enlightened Security;
- Montana’s improper termination of contracts of executives resulted in fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to roughly R5 million;
- Montana’s improper suspension of employees resulted in labour dispute settlements amounting to R3.35 million (this constituted fruitless and wasteful expenditure); and
- In regard to an alleged fraudulent digital funds switch of R8.1 million, Prasa took motion in opposition to one worker “but inexplicably failed to take disciplinary action against the other six individuals recommended for possible disciplinary action”;
- Montana’s failure to take disciplinary motion in opposition to these employees “constitutes maladministration and improper conduct”.
Montana advised the Zondo fee that he had challenged the general public protector’s report and had utilized to the excessive court docket to have it reviewed and put aside.
Zondo doesn’t suppose Montana intends pursuing that software.
ALSO READ: Zondo requires inquiry into why Prasa was allowed to ‘side into almost total ruin’
Dismissal of three executives in 2021
Keeping up with the culture of dismissing ‘problem’ employees, originally of 2021 the Prasa board below the chairmanship of Leonard Ramatlakane “unfortunately” dismissed three executives – Martha Ngoye, Nkosinathi Khena and Tiro Holele – on the evidently spurious foundation that they had been appointed on fixed-term contracts and these contracts had expired.
All three wrote to Prasa declaring that they had not been appointed on fixed-term contracts. The board didn’t reply.
The three executives then instituted an pressing software within the Labour Court for an order declaring their dismissals “unlawful, invalid and void”.
The board opposed the applying, regardless that it didn’t have proof that the three executives had fixed-term contracts with Prasa.
Zondo acknowledged: “I am lost for words as to why all the members of the Prasa board, the Acting Chief Executive Officer and Prasa opposed the executive’s court application when they had no defence to the executives’ unlawful dismissal claim on the merits.”
Zondo questioned whether or not the board was appearing in the very best pursuits of Prasa, particularly because the Public Finance Management Act required them to “prevent irregular expenditure, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, losses resulting from criminal conduct, and expenditure not complying with the operational policies of the public entity”.
Zondo steered that “serious consideration must be given to whether the Board members should not jointly and individually be required to pay back” the cash wasted.
Dismissal, reinstatement and second dismissal of Zolani Matthews
Zolani Matthews was appointed CEO of Prasa in February 2021. The board, chaired by Ramatlakane, dismissed him seven months later.
Ramatlakane beforehand served as an ANC member of parliament and was a member of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport through the time period of workplace of the Prasa board chaired by Popo Molefe.
Molefe testified to the fee that the portfolio committee, or the ANC members of that committee, had been “antagonistic towards his board and effectively failed to do its job in relation to the problems at Prasa”.
Zondo concluded that the committee had “failed to carry out its constitutional function of oversight in relation to the problems” at Prasa.
Matthews’ dismissal ended up in arbitration below Judge Robert Nugent, who discovered that his dismissal “was unlawful” and ordered Prasa “to reinstate him”.
Nugent opined that Prasa is completely entitled to dismiss an worker however should accomplish that “for proper reason”, and inferred from the occasions that occurred that Prasa wished to be rid of Matthews “and has cast about [for] reasons to do so”.
The board at one level gave as a cause Matthews’ twin citizenship, however Nugent questioned why the Prasa board thought “he was obliged to have disclosed the dual citizenship if they could not explain why making that disclosure was material to his employment?”.
Nugent concluded that the board and Ramatlakane gave inconsistent causes for Matthews’ suspension.
Prasa had no CEO for six years
In wrapping up the proof of Prasa’s historical past of suspending and dismissing employees for no good cause, and discussing Nugent’s arbitration award to the three dismissed executives above, Zondo remarked that even “after Prasa had had much instability for six years when it did not have a permanent CEO, that instability has continued even after a permanent CEO had been appointed”.
Zondo noticed that seven years after Montana’s departure, the brand new CEO was dismissed earlier than he may even full a yr, and that the board “was simply looking for whatever reason it could find to get rid of him”.
Those who wielded energy did nothing
Zondo lamented that the employees who tried to face as much as corruption had been “unable to stop the rot and weed out the wrongdoers because the people who wielded public power” – the leaders of the ANC, parliament, and the legislation enforcement companies – had been obstructive and refused to help and easily stood by.
Why did the leaders of the ANC stand by whereas Prasa was collapsing from inside?
Did they suppose Prasa was the proverbial goose that may perpetually lay golden eggs?
Did they not perceive that such a important group offering important providers to the general public wouldn’t be financially sustainable if it was being systematically looted?
This article first appeared on Moneyweb and was republished with permission. Read the unique article here.
