The United National Transport Union (UNTU) called on the newly appointed Board of the crippled Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) to immediately permanently appoint a Chief Group Executive Officer to ensure and bring about stability and future growth of passenger rail, the cheapest form of public transport for the poorest of the poor.
Steve Harris, General Secretary of UNTU, says the Union welcomes the newly appointed board although all its newly appointed members are unfamiliar with passenger rail operations, an aspect that has been the cause of the board’s lack of proper leadership since its establishment.
“UNTU believes any board is better than no board at all. At least PRASA now has an accountable body and can no longer use its lack of a functional board as an excuse for not implementing collective agreements signed at the PRASA Bargaining Forum with Labour.
“PRASA had to operate without a Board for nearly the past two months since the previous Board completed its term on 31 July 2017. Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi’s reluctance to appoint a new board has created an extremely difficult situation for Lindikhaya Zide, Acting Group Chief Executive Officer of PRASA, who had to make crucial operational decisions as part of his turn-around strategy and had to comply with court orders granted against PRASA without a board to direct or support him,” says Harris.
PRASA has been left without a permanently appointed GCEO after the former Public Protector, Adv. Thuli Madonsela, published her report titled “Derailed” in August 2015, in which she recommended that Lucky Montana, the then GCEO of PRASA, should account for R 14 billion in irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Issued on behalf of UNTU by Sonja Carstens, Media and Liaison Officer. For UNTU Press Statements phone 082 463 6806 or e-mail sonja@untu.co.za.
