Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s(PRASA) new CEO Sibusiso Sithole has undertaken before Parliament that he will prioritise passenger service provision.
Sithole was announced as the passenger rail’s agency interim Chief Executive Office(CEO) on Tuesday, for a period of 12 months.
The PRASA board says in the meantime it will advertise for a permanent CEO.
The agency is plagued by corruption, and has been criticised for its unreliable transport.
Sithole says: “Any business cannot function unless you go to the core of what depresses customers, what has made customers not to prioritise rail. We need to go back and address those fundamentals.”
Meanwhile Transport Minister Blade Nzimande has also acknowledged that PRASA is failing to provide reliable transport to South Africans.
Nzimande was briefing Parliament’s oversight committee about PRASA on Tuesday.
He admitted that the majority of Metro rail users arrive late at work on a daily basis due to unreliable trains and the ailing infrastructure.
The Minister also had concerns about diversion of Prasa funds. “At PRASA it looks like everything else was a priority except to provide transport, a reliable transport was like the last item.”
