https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / Statements RSS ← Back
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

PRASA: PRASA 's reaction to the judgement handed down in the matter between PRASA and Siyangena

Close

Embed Video

PRASA: PRASA 's reaction to the judgement handed down in the matter between PRASA and Siyangena

PRASA: PRASA 's reaction to the judgement handed down in the matter between PRASA and Siyangena

4th May 2017

ARTICLE ENQUIRY      SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has noted the judgment handed down by the North Gauteng High Court in the application for the review of the contracts that were awarded by PRASA to Siyangena Technologies (Siyangena).

The judgment solely dealt with a technical issue around the computation of the 180 days within which a review application may be launched. The approach adopted by the court is one that does not cater for an instance such as the present: where the decision maker, PRASA, makes application for the judicial review of its own decision.

Advertisement

The learned judge did indicate during argument that he felt constrained by the fact that the legislature did not contemplate a situation where the decision maker asks for the review of its own decision. In dismissing the application for lateness, the learned judge stated that “The period of 180 days is not to be calculated from the date upon which an applicant for review becomes aware of an impropriety attaching to the decision sought to be reviewed”. Common sense dictates that the only time that a decision maker will decide to launch review proceedings against its own award is when the decision maker becomes aware of an impropriety in its award.

It is a well-known fact that one of the greatest enemies to the development of our country is corruption and maladministration. The fight against corruption and maladministration will be stunted if those who take over from administrators who acted unlawfully cannot review the unlawful decisions of their predecessors. This would make them accessories to the unlawfulness of their predecessors as they will be forced to continue honouring a contract that they know or suspect to be impugned by unlawfulness. We are of the view that the law should develop on this aspect to strengthen the fight against the cancer of corruption and maladministration that is part of the reasons for the recent downgrades by two Ratings Agencies. The legal steps that we are considering will serve this purpose and will be announced shortly.

Advertisement

As stated above, the court did not deal with the merits of the review application. The following is publicly available around the merits of this matter:

The Public Protector found that the award of the Phase 1 contract in the amount of R1,95 billion to Siyangena Technologies constituted maladministration and improper conduct. This award was made in 2011 and is one of the contracts that is the subject of the review application. The Public Protector found that the award contravened PRASA’s Supply Chain Management Policy, the Public Finance Management Act and section 217 of the Constitution.

This finding was arrived at after the Public Protector noted that “the documents submitted … were not always reliable as some crucial documents were undated and unsigned”, for example, a letter that was said to show that other tenderers were invited to tender for Phase 1 and a document that was claimed to be a Submission for Adjudication. This finding, although the subject of a review application, currently stands pending the outcome of the review of the Public Protector’s report. We have also noted that the information that was given to the Public Protector in this regard was incorrect and intended to mislead the Public Protector this information will be corrected and, we believe, that the Public Protector’s finding in this regard will be proven to be correct.

There are allegations of gratification against two very key employees of PRASA (a former employee and one that is currently undergoing disciplinary proceedings). The allegations of gratification in respect of the former employee of PRASA were made to the South African Police Service and, before the removal of the Board by the erstwhile Minister, the Chairperson of the Board of PRASA had threatened to make application to court to force the police to investigate these allegations of gratification as the police have the power to subpoena bank accounts for an analysis of the flow of funds. It is important for this investigation to be concluded so that the allegations made, in this regard, may be tested.

We believe that once our review application is fully ventilated by the court and the gratification allegations are fully investigated by the Directorate of Priority Crime and Investigation (the Hawks), the unlawfulness of these contracts will be proven. The main intention of this litigation and the reports made to the Hawks is to strengthen good governance in PRASA in particular and in public entities in general.

 

Issued by Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE ARTICLE ENQUIRY

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

 

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now