<\/p>\n
No payments were made to alleged gang boss Ralph Stanfield or his wife, Nicole Johnson, or their linked companies, during the reconstruction of Prasa\u2019s Central Line in Cape Town.<\/p>\n
This is according to Prasa CEO Hishaam Emeran, who on Monday briefed parliament\u2019s Select Committee on Public Infrastructure and the Minister in the Presidency on the status of investigations into alleged criminal infiltration of its security services.<\/p>\n
Read: Shakedowns and construction mafia: Five years, more than 700 arrests<\/p>\n
In March, amaBhungane published a report on how companies associated with Johnson may have benefitted from security subcontracts between November 2022 and May 2024.<\/p>\n
Contractors working to fix the line \u2013 running through Stanfield\u2019s home turf \u2013 had faced extortion threats, including violent confrontations with masked, armed men.<\/p>\n
Stanfield and Johnson have been charged under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act for murder, attempted murder, and other alleged crimes. They are expected to go on trial in October.<\/p>\n
The Central Line, which according to Prasa board chair Nosizwe Nokwe-Macamo caters to 40% of prospective passengers in the city, stopped running in October 2019 after Prasa cancelled month-to-month security contracts that were irregular and probably illegal.<\/p>\n
The line was then stripped and people moved onto the site during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.<\/p>\n
Rehabilitation of the line was declared a presidential reconstruction project and involved relocating thousands of people who had built shacks on the line.<\/p>\n
Following amaBhungane\u2019s report, the Prasa board commissioned Ningiza Horner Attorneys and advocate Siyabulela Mapoma to conduct an independent investigation into allegations that Stanfield and Johnson had benefitted from various subcontracts.<\/p>\n
What the investigation found<\/p>\n
Emeran said the investigation covered \u201cirregular subcontracting arrangements, improper influence over contractors, governance failures and alleged criminal infiltration of the project\u201d.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe purpose of the investigation was to objectively assess the substance of the allegations and determine whether there was any evidence of wrong-doing by PRASA and\/or its officials,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cInterviews were conducted with PRASA officials, contractors and other relevant stakeholders identified in the published article,\u201d he said, and documents, mostly related to supply chain management and contractual agreements, were reviewed.<\/p>\n
He said 14 people had been interviewed or \u201cinvited to respond to written questions\u201d. Only one contractor had declined to be interviewed.<\/p>\n
Devices seized from the former head of security \u2013 presumably Prasa security chief Alexio Papadopulo, who is mentioned 101 times in amaBhungane\u2019s article \u2013 were not inspected as they were part of evidence in a parallel criminal investigation by the South African Police Service.<\/p>\n
Video footage referenced by amaBhungane was also not made available, nor were City of Cape Town officials and councillors interviewed.<\/p>\n
Emeran told the committee that no evidence had been found to substantiate \u201cthe central allegations made in the article\u201d.<\/p>\n
Read:
Cape Town: Prasa and city rail agreement finally gets going
How Cape Town plans to manage passenger rail<\/p>\n
He said there was \u201cno evidence that PRASA entered into any direct contractual relationship with organised crime figures or entities they directly own\u201d.<\/p>\n
There was also \u201cno documentary evidence that PRASA formally or unduly instructed contractors to appoint any specific subcontractor\u201d, and \u201cno evidence PRASA made any direct payments to organised crime figures or any entity they control\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe allegations are speculative and unsubstantiated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Findings\u2019 challenged<\/p>\n
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Commenting on Prasa\u2019s presentation, amaBhungane managing partner Sam Sole told GroundUp it formed a very weak basis for dismissing the allegations in the article.<\/p>\n
Sole said it was unsurprising that a \u201cdesktop investigation\u201d by a firm of attorneys \u201cfailed to find any evidence of capture by organised crime\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy their own admission, the investigators couldn\u2019t access the laptop or email of PRASA\u2019s head of security, the central character in the story.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the investigation concluded that Prasa had not entered into any direct contracts or made direct payments to organised crime figures, but amaBhungane had never alleged this.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat PRASA appears to have presented to Parliament is a very expensive straw man. Meanwhile the presentation confirms that there is a formal police investigation of the allegations and there was enough evidence for police to obtain a warrant and execute a search and seizure at PRASA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read:<\/p>\n
Passenger rail gets back on track, slowly \u2026<\/p>\n
Cape Town pushes harder for policing, rail and port control<\/p>\n
Committee chair Frederik Badenhorst noted that although the investigation cleared Prasa of wrongdoing in relation to the central line contracts, it did list ten reforms needed to address governance for future high-risk projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re telling Parliament there is no evidence of wrongdoing, but you have a long list of recommendations. My question is if your systems worked properly, why are so many governance reforms necessary?\u201d asked Badenhorst.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do we come to this place every time if your systems are working properly?\u201d<\/p>\n
He said this pointed to \u201cserious governance shortcomings\u201d at Prasa.<\/p>\n
Emeran said contracts were independently audited by the Auditor-General annually and there was \u201ccontinual business improvement\u201d within Prasa.<\/p>\n
He said Prasa\u2019s improved audit outcomes showed the necessary checks and balances were being put in place.<\/p>\n
Piggybacking contracts<\/p>\n
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Transport Minister Barbara Creecy also addressed the committee.<\/p>\n
She focused on a report in the Sunday Times on the weekend that Prasa had paid a politically connected security group more than R1 billion in an unlawful piggybacking procurement deal.<\/p>\n
Read:
Hawks, NPA sued for failing to investigate Prasa corruption
To see what\u2019s wrong with the NPA, look at the opposition front bench<\/p>\n
The Sunday Times reported that Reshebile Aviation and Protection Services (RAPS) and Reshebile Aviation Solutions (RAS) were on the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) list of approved security companies.<\/p>\n
The Sunday Times said it had seen documents showing that in July 2021 Acsa had \u201capproved PRASA\u2019s request to piggyback on its panel of security companies\u201d, giving Prasa access to contractors already appointed through Acsa\u2019s procurement process.<\/p>\n
But according to the newspaper, the National Treasury confirmed that the regulation which allowed this did not apply to Prasa or Acsa.<\/p>\n
Read:<\/p>\n
Rail master plan will cost almost R2trn over 30 years
\nTransnet bottlenecks spur fresh private rail investment push<\/p>\n
According to the Sunday Times, RAPS and RAS are reportedly led by ANC veteran and former Robben Island prisoner Paul Langa.<\/p>\n
Creecy told parliament that given the Sunday Times report, she had asked Prasa\u2019s board to \u201cimmediately\u201d appoint a forensic investigation into the allegations and a separate forensic company to conduct due diligence on all other active security contracts at the rail agency.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 GroundUp. This article was first published here.<\/p>\n
#Prasa #denies #paying #Cape #Town #gangsterlinked #companies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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