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The Passenger Rail Agency of SA announced on Friday afternoon that it has placed twelve senior officials on suspension pending a disciplinary process.
The suspended employees span across the various business units, regions and departments in Prasa.
The action is due to various allegations of gross misconduct and misconduct emanating from recommendations of various investigation reports, Prasa said in a statement.
Prasa Administrator Bongisizwe Mpondo took office in December of 2019, tasked with "ensuring effective consequence management and providing support to investigations currently underway by law enforcement authorities".
According to Prasa, the suspensions are in line with Mpondo's commitment to ensuring good governance, as well as "the eradication of corruption and fruitless and wasteful expenditure" by various employees throughout the organisation. The action is also a response to findings by the auditor-general and the Public Protector.
Some of the suspensions relate to ongoing investigations by the Special Investigating Unit into contracts and payments made by Prasa from 1 January 2010 to the present.
"Prasa is going through a debilitating cash-flow crunch that has depleted its operational budget and further led to the company failing to pay suppliers and creditors," according to the statement.
"Prasa's dire financial position is in part due to irregular expenditure amounting to billions of rand under the watch of successive boards and the executive."
* Compiled by Carin Smith
