Question NW739 to the Minister of Transport
20 September 2021 - NW739
Van Minnen, Ms BM to ask the Minister of Transport
In light of the fact that one of the biggest hindrances to the Special Investigating Unit carrying out their mandate with regard to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) was the lack of paperwork and records which have disappeared and cannot be traced, including many of the contracts that were signed between Prasa and service providers, what steps will he be taking to (a) ensure the recovery of paperwork and records of such contracts and (b) investigate how (i) the records went missing in the first place and (ii) payments on contracts were honoured if no records of such contracts exist? NW860E
Reply:
a) PRASA will request all service providers that are currently rendering services where physical contract documentation could not be traced to submit copies of the signed contract agreements with PRASA.
b) (i) PRASA has signed a Secondment Agreement with SIU to investigate all contracts that were identified in the Public Protector Derailed report and flagged also by AGSA as irregular. Such investigation would shed light on how contract documents went missing in the first place and what corrective measures should be taken against responsible individuals. Internally the key challenge is on non-availability of documents and SIU seems to be having capacity constraints. SIU has indicated that the capacity challenges are being addressed and the investigations will be finalised in June 2021.
(ii) The process to pay for services where contract documentation is missing requires end-user departments to compile the necessary submissions with relevant source documents and confirmation of receipt of goods or services for approval by the GCEO and Finance prior to processing of any payment, especially for goods and services of a critical nature that PRASA cannot afford to operate without. In instances where payments have been processed without the necessary documents, based on the SIU investigation, appropriate corrective action will be taken against responsible individuals.