SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger operator Prasa announced a management reshuffle on May 29, when Administrator Bongisizwe Mpondo announced five senior appointments.
Nosipho Damasane becomes Chief Executive of Prasa Rail, while Hishaam Emeran is named CEO of engineering business Prasa Technical. Neil Roesch heads road transport subsidiary Autopax; David Mphelo becomes Group Chief Information Officer; and Sandile Dlamini has been appointed Company Secretary.
‘The stability, I think, is starting to take shape’, Mpondo told local media when the reshuffle was announced. Prasa has been in administration since December 2019, when the previous interim management board was dismissed by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula. This followed a damning report by the country’s Auditor General Kima Makwetu on the 2018-19 financial year, which warned of ‘instability’ in the senior management and a lack of accountability among senior officials.
Despite an ambitious investment programme including one of the world’s largest passenger rolling stock procurements, Prasa has struggled in recent years amid a spate of vandalism and reliability problems which have led to the partial suspension of services across parts of its network, especially around Cape Town.
The ongoing coronavirus crisis has added to these problems. ‘This pandemic finds Prasa at a very difficult time as we all know’, explained Mpondo. ‘We’re working hard to ensure our environment is safe for our employees and commuters.’
