BL Premium reports that the United National Transport Union (Untu) has alleged that the suspension of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA’s (Prasa’s) CEO is part of a broader campaign to sabotage state-owned entities and a push back against the drive to tackle corruption at parastatals.
The Prasa board confirmed at the weekend that Zolani Matthews had been placed on suspension pending an investigation after he apparently failed to declare that he held a UK passport. “The suspension took us completely by surprise ... but it only reinforces our belief that there is deliberate sabotage of our state-owned enterprises. We have seen it happening most recently at Eskom, Transnet and now Prasa,” said Untu spokesperson Sonja Carstens. She asserted that there are many foreigners and holders of dual citizenship employed by state-owned enterprises. “So what is the problem if we employ a UK citizen? How can you suspend someone because they have UK citizenship when you are supposed to have checked that in the past [before hiring him]? We smell a rat. We are extremely upset about the current situation. This is destabilising Prasa all over again. It is very demoralising for workers ... by suspending him we are sabotaging the economy,” Carstens said. In her view, Matthews had managed to stabilise Prasa after years of “demolition of rail infrastructure and looting”. Carstens said the union would wait for the outcome of the Prasa investigation into the matter before deciding on its next move. Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda dismissed suggestions that the suspension was part of a plan to destabilise the agency.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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