Of mic drops and men 🎤

The supporting cast of 'Nine Wasted Years' seem to forget the role they played [View this email in your browser]( August 31, 2021 [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, On Thursday the high court in Johannesburg interdicted the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) from any further implementation of two tenders in Salt River and Durban [because of irregularities in how they were awarded](. In March, built-environment consultancy GladAfrica was awarded the tender to provide engineering services to Prasa for the upgrade of the Salt River and Springfield rolling stock depots. Prasa did not publicise the awarding of the tender, in breach of procurement legislation. In addition, GladAfrica got the tender despite its price being R346-million more than that of another company, Gibb. The interdict is necessary to prevent Prasa and GladAfrica from proceeding with the tenders to such an advanced stage that it would be impossible to essentially unscramble the egg. While Prasa claims Gibb is merely a sore loser dealing with hurt feelings, GladAfrica, which has gained notoriety in a number of controversial tender dramas, did not oppose the temporary interdict. According to court papers, if the Gibb tender had been accepted, Prasa would have paid just under R238-million for the company to design and oversee the refurbishment of the two depots. GladAfrica’s tender will cost about R584.4-million, a difference of approximately R346-million. That’s a bill that would be footed by taxpayers. A day before this interdict was handed down it was quite something to watch former transport minister Dipuo Peters and former deputy minister Sfiso Buthelezi grilling treasury officials about the abysmal state of the economy. Though as citizens they too have a right to answers, we would suggest they lower their voices because, unlike them, we won’t soon forget. Prasa’s service has declined so dramatically since its inception that the majority of South Africans who used to rely on the affordable and once-reliable train service have had to turn to more expensive, and often dangerous modes of public transport. The allegations of maladministration that had been doing the [rounds in many government and media circles]( truly became public knowledge with the release of then public protector Thuli Madonsela’s [Derailed report in 2015](. Among other things, Madonsela found evidence of systemic mismanagement and maladministration within the procurement process and supply chain management at every level of Prasa’s organisational structure — from the board and chief executive to low-level officials down the procurement line. In February 2016, the national treasury, going on Madonsela’s recommendations, commissioned investigations into 216 contracts awarded by Prasa between 2012 and 2015. Out of the 216 contracts, worth around R15-billion, only 13 were found to be legit. A [number of independent reports and court judgments]( show that private interests were protected and encouraged within Prasa, namely by former chief executive [Lucky Montana]( and the board under [Buthelezi's chairmanship](. Buthelezi was appointed deputy finance minister in March 2017 as part of former president Jacob Zuma’s so-called "night of the long knives" cabinet reshuffle that saw Pravin Gordhan and Mcebisi Jonas booted from the finance portfolio. He also served as an adviser to Zuma during the former president’s time as MEC for economic development in KwaZulu-Natal. On the basis of these findings, Prasa’s board laid about 40 charges with the Hawks and took the [Siyangena and Swifambo tenders to court](. These two large tenders cost Prasa more than R5-billion and were riddled with serious irregularities. The Prasa board, now led by [Popo Molefe]( also commissioned the law firm Werksmans to investigate tenders that were not within the scope of the treasury investigations. The treasury-commissioned reports recommended that Buthelezi and his fellow board members be criminally charged “for contravening several sections of the Public Finance Management Act in the course of awarding at least 30 contracts” and “ignoring all responsibilities in record keeping within the procurement process”. The Molefe board, however, faced major pushback from some in the ANC, both within the parliamentary standing committee on transport and from[transport minister Peters](. This pushback attempted to bury the forensic reports from the public eye and halt the Werksmans investigations commissioned by the board. This is according to [Molefe’s testimony before the Zondo commission]( into state capture. To Buthelezi and Peters we offer this advice: one can only mic drop if they’re upright. Prasa presents just one example of how state coffers became the [personal piggy bank of political elites]( during the waste and graft of the Zuma presidency. These same people are now behaving as though our current situation happened overnight and without help. Much like South Africa’s own descent into corruption, at the root of Prasa and indeed South Africa’s decline is a series of decisions made by a select few politicians and businessmen. Let’s not forget who engineered these losses. Until tomorrow, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham [Subscribe now]( Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2021 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. 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