The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is looking to newly appointed group CEO Sibusiso Sithole to turn the parastatal around.

The agency announced Sithole’s appointment in a statement on Tuesday, despite the fact that he has been on the job since 01 June 2018. Sithole, who is the former eThekwini municipal manager, was appointed on a 12-month contract.

Commenting on the appointment Prasa’s spokesperson Nana Zenani said Sithole will focus on stabilising the organisation. “The incoming group CEO will be focusing on the strategic turnaround plan on stabilising the business from an operational point of view that everything goes according to plan. He’s hit the ground running.”

Addressing a welcoming party of senior executives, Sithole highlighted that he is confident his team will rise to the occasion as part of what he calls the new dawn that the country is experiencing.

Sithole not fit for the role – DA

Meanwhile the Democratic Alliance (DA) has voiced its concern at the appointment, which was welcomed by the Road Traffic Management Corporation, and noted that Sithole was not fit to turn around the fortunes of Prasa.

The ANA on Tuesday reported that Manny de Freitas, DA spokesperson on transport, said that transport minister Blade Nzimande had “short-circuited” Prasa’s revival and turnaround before it even begun by authorising Sithole’s appointment.

“It is simply unacceptable that for an organisation such as Prasa which is struggling under the weight of bad debt and poor corporate governance, the minister sees it fit to appoint an individual who cannot manage his personal finances.”

De Frietas said that Sithole had racked up almost R2 million in bad debt, defaulted on his income tax and was slow to take action against firms that were involved in tender irregularities when he was city manager in eThekwini.

Despite the mixed reactions to Sithole’s appointment the board of Prasa urged all staff and management to give Sithole all the support he will need during this challenging period.