Untouchable board collapsing PRASA

POWER WITHOUT CONSEQUENCE:

- NKAZIMULO MOYENI

BY ANY standard of governance - legal, constitutional, or ethical - the failures plaguing the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) can be traced directly to its board.

What is less ordinary, and far more disturbing, is the way accountability has been applied so selectively.

Time and again, executives and senior officials are suspended, investigated, or dismissed, often amid significant public attention. Yet board members - the very individuals tasked with oversight - remain untouched.

That pattern is not only unfair, it is deeply damaging to the principles of the rule of law, institutional integrity, and public trust.

PRASA, like all state-owned entities, has a functioning board that carries legal and fiduciary responsibilities. The tenders that are awarded, the procurement decisions that are made, and the operational directions taken are all the product of board-sanctioned processes.

Executives do not act in a vacuum. They work within governance frameworks that require decisions to be reviewed, approved, and frequently initiated by the board.

This raises a critical question. If some of the executives who have faced disciplinary action or criminal investigation were simply implementing board-approved decisions, then what role did the board play in those decisions?

And more importantly, why has there been so little accountability at that level?

The standard narrative — that executive management failed while the board remained passive or uninformed — begins to fall apart under scrutiny. It is not a theoretical concern.