PRASA finances stabilising, but there is significant room for improvement – Letsoalo
Despite recording R13.9-billion in irregular expenditure during the 2015/16 financial year, State-owned Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) still received an unqualified audit opinion from the Auditor-General.
Of the R13.9-billion, R9.8-billion had rolled over from the previous year.
Speaking at a media briefing at its offices in Pretoria, PRASA acting CEO Collins Letsoalo, who was appointed in July, said the parastatal had only met 47% of its yearly targets, which he noted was “unacceptable” and “disappointing”, but added that PRASA was now implementing key initiatives to improve the organisation’s financial and operational performance.
Letsoalo reported that the company had, this year, received revenue of R8-billion, but only one-third of this was sourced from passenger fare. More than half came from government subsidies, while the remainder was derived from rental and other income.
Despite this, Letsoalo said it paled in comparison to the Gautrain’s subsidy of R60.30 per passenger trip and between R11.76 and R15.12 for bus-rapid transit systems. The operating subsidy for Metrorail was R3.73 per passenger per trip, he pointed out, adding that government was “subsidising the rich”.
PRASA had also reduced its deficit from R1.05-billion to R312.4-million, but, said Letsoala, the company’s liabilities remained worrying.
He added that Metrorail’s performance was also poor, particularly in light of a decline in trains running on time and a decline in the availability of rolling stock, and that recent burnings of PRASA’s coaches exacerbated the problem.
“This is certainly a worry, but we are seeking to stabilise,” Letsoala noted.
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