People's Assembly

Hunsinger, Mr CH question

(1)(a) What total number of senior staff members of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has been and/or was suspended since 2019 and (b) on what charges; (2) what total number of the suspended Prasa members (a) have been reinstated, (b) are still suspended and/or (c) had their services terminated; (3) with reference to the specified Prasa members who have been reinstated, are still suspended and/or had their services terminated, at what cost has this taken place in each specified case, including (a) salary and benefits expenses to Prasa and (b) legal costs; (4) with reference to the Prasa members who are still suspended, (a) what is the next expected step and (b) by what date does he envisage will the specified step be implemented?

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1. (a) The total number of senior staff members of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) that has been and/or was suspended since 2019 and (b) on what charges are listed in the table below:

(a) Financial Year	(b) Charges
2019/20 TOTAL = 17	Participating in the irregular appointment of private security providers
	Failing breathalyser test when reporting for duty and colluding with competitors.
	Procurement related irregularities
	Misconduct: sexual harassment nepotism and violation of recruitment policy gross dishonesty gross negligence dereliction of duties damage to company property theft operational irregularities
2020/21 TOTAL = 14	Procurement related irregularities
	Misconduct: gross dishonesty gross negligence dereliction of duties damage to company property operational irregularities
2021/22 TOTAL = 11	Procurement related irregularities
	Theft
	Sexual harassment

2. The total number of the suspended PRASA members which (a) have been reinstated, (b) are still suspended and/or (c) had their services terminated are listed below:

Financial Year	(a) Reinstated	(b) Still Suspended	(c) Service Terminated
2019/20	5	46	18
2020/21	12	36	30
2021/22	9	22	14

3. With reference to the specified PRASA members who have been reinstated, are still suspended and/or had their services terminated, the cost at which this has taken place in each specified case, including (a) salary and benefits expenses to Prasa and (b) legal costs are listed below:

(a) FY2020/21: EMPLOYEE COST TO COMPANY
PRASA Corporate	R5,316,062-92
AUTOPAX	R1,228,945-43
PRASA CRES	R2,460,022-63
PRASA Rail	R13,497,814-55
PRASA Tech	R6,951,264-48
TOTAL	R29,454,110-01

(a) FY2021/22: EMPLOYEE COST TO COMPANY
PRASA Corporate	R6,680,079-48
AUTOPAX	R492,277-49
PRASA CRES	R4,709,643-24
PRASA Rail	R3,617,636-63
PRASA Tech	R593,538-19
TOTAL	R16,093,175-03

(b) FY2021/22: LEGAL COSTS
Internal disciplinary hearings	R11,024,796-36
CCMA	R7,309,533-83
Labour Court	R5,766,758-82
TOTAL	R24,101,089-01

4. With reference to the PRASA members who are still suspended, (a) the next expected step and (b) by which date the specified step is envisaged to be implemented is listed below.

(a)

BUSINESS UNIT	PROGRESS STATUS
PRASA Corporate	4 Senior members: disciplinary hearing in progress for Procurement related irregularities One manager: still under investigation for Gross dishonesty and fraud allegations
AUTOPAX	Disciplinary Hearings in progress for gross negligence, false declaration, shortages and theft
PRASA CRES	Disciplinary hearings are in progress for all suspended employees for procurement related irregularities
PRASA Rail	Disciplinary hearings are in progress for all suspended employees for various acts of misconduct
PRASA Technical	One Employee undergoing disciplinary process Attorneys appointed to finalise charges and proceed with disciplinary hearing in another matter

(b) Dates

The matters are all at different stages of either the investigation or the disciplinary process. It is not possible to give an exact date of the next step for each matter, since this is influenced by a number of factors, like the complexity of the matter, the availability of the parties, the stage of the investigation by either internal or external investigators, etc.

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2021-w2275 - 10 December 2021