Ramaphosa orders probe into passenger rail agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa has referred allegations of maladministration at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa to the state’s Special Investigating Unit.

The SIU is mandated to probe allegations of improper or unlawful conduct by employees, unlawful appropriation or expenditure of public money, irregular procurement and more, according to a notice published on the government gazette website on Friday. The SIU has been asked to investigate Prasa’s activities from at least as far back as 2010.

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Former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, in a report published in August 2016, said that an investigation into Prasa covering the period from about 2008 to 2013 found the company had a culture of “systemic failure” to comply with its own supply-chain policy.