The maladministration that occurred at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) is a “very serious matter”, according to its chairperson.

Prasa maladministration ‘a very serious matter’Popo Molefe told parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday that the board was “rigorously going through the issues raised by Public Protector” Thuli Madonsela, after her investigation into Prasa three months ago revealed large-scale maladministration and targeted former CEO Lucky Montana.

“It is complex,” he said. “We can’t give timeframes. It is unfortunate that we cannot disclose details of what is emerging, because it needs follow-up investigations.

“We have National Treasury working with us and a team of forensic and IT experts as well as criminal lawyers and police working with us.”

“It is a multi-disciplinary committee led by very senior police officer,” he said.

Molefe said he would make announcements regarding the investigation as soon as the board has all the facts. “I accept we are the successor and, therefore, assume assets and liabilities of our processors,” he said. “We don’t want to be absolved. We have to deal with this problem.”

Many of the issues raised by the parliamentarians were subject to the investigation and so Molefe could not answer them. This resulted in the meeting being cut short. Ending the meeting short, Scopa chairperson Themba Godi instructed Prasa officials to compile a list of the various investigations that are underway, and to include how long each probe is likely to take, EWN reported.