Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) CEO Zolani Matthews was suspended last week by the board for holding dual citizenship, which it says is a security threat, just weeks after it tried to terminate his contract for alleged non-performance.
The board announced that Matthews had been placed on precautionary suspension, saying there was an ‘alleged sensitive matter of security breach and other contractual obligations’.
According to the Sunday Times, Matthews has been suspended for allegedly not declaring that he holds dual citizenship. Matthews is the son of the late struggle stalwart Joe Matthews, who lived in exile in England, which is when the dual citizenship was obtained.
Matthews is the younger brother of international relations & co-operation minister Naledi Pandor. He was chair of the Ports Regulator and has also served as a board member at the Post Office.
When he was interviewed by state security during the vetting process he did declare that he holds dual citizenship.
In November Matthews had been advised that his services would be terminated by the board, contrary to an earlier decision to extend his probation until 8 December.
A source at the department of transport said there were claims that transport minister Fikile Mbalula was unhappy with his performance.
Insiders say CFO Lesibana Fosu is also at risk for claims that she is impeding Prasa’s operations by failing to settle invoices on time.
Recently Matthews told the Sunday Times that the organisation was in a critical state and that its infrastructure was not ready for a modern rail network, despite billions of rands spent on modernisation since 2009. He said Prasa’s problems are self-inflicted and that he had established a task team, led by Fosu, to work with the auditor-general to turn the situation around.
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