Parliament's watchdog Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday resolved to ask the National Assembly to request that parliament declare members of past boards of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) delinquent directors to prevent them serving on the board in future.

This also applies to the former interim Prasa board, Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said.

"The committee came to this decision after it was informed by Prasa that the previous interim board prevented management from operating to its full capacity, particularly when it came to risk management and financial management," he said.
 
Hlengwa said Scopa would initiate a fully-fledged parliamentary probe to determine when the problems began, as it believed they started before the term of the interim board.

"The committee believes that it is important to go as far back as necessary," Hlengwa said.

"The committee wants to conduct an age analysis that will also include scrutinising the past reports of the Auditor-General, and Prasa management reports, to determine the beginning of the challenges currently faced by the agency.  This is to ensure that all the previous Prasa boards are held accountable."
 
In December, transport minister Fikile Mbalula dissolved the interim board and appointed Bongisizwe Mpondo as the sole administrator for the entity for a period of 12 months.

Mpondo on Wednesday briefed Scopa on measures to stabilise Prasa and the committee gave these their approval. 

On Tuesday, a consumer activist group had filed an application in the Western Cape High Court challenging Mbalula's decision to appoint him, arguing that serving as sole administrator would allow Mpondo to operate without lawful and effective oversight.

Prasa is seen as one of the many state entities bled dry by corruption, with Mbalula describing it as a "broken organisation", battling to provide an efficient train system to millions of poor commuters.

Mpondo has said the abuses of the recent past had rendered the rail agency fertile ground for wrongdoing.

“Even now we still have to arrest the decline because it is still happening,” Mpondo said in an interview with IOL last month.