Metrorail Western Cape regional manager, Richard Walker, is the latest official to be shown the door by the Passenger Rail Agency of SA.
Metrorail Western Cape regional manager, Richard Walker, is the latest official to be shown the door by the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa).
It has come to light that Walker was dismissed on June 1.
Walker is not new to making headlines, after allegations including mismanagement previously surfaced against him.
Early in 2020, Prasa announced that Walker was placed on paid leave amid “multiple challenges and lapses”.
It claimed the decision was aimed at stabilising the region and improving performance, with train services in the province the “most troubled” of all the regions.
Regional engineering manager, Raymond Maseko, stepped in the position and has been the acting regional head for the past two years.
Prasa’s spokesperson, Andiswa Makanda, confirmed the parastatal’s decision.
“Mr Richard Walker was dismissed by the organisation in June 2023 after a disciplinary process. Plans are underway to advertise the position of a regional manager in the Western Cape by the end of October 2023,” said Makanda.
She said since the resumption of train services in the province, Prasa was pleased that the performance of the service has improved.
“We have recorded just over 1.4 million passenger trips and we plan on improving this number as we restore more services.
The southern corridor fully recovered, with the northern corridor planned for the end of this calendar year,” she said.
According to insiders at Prasa, the decision to sack Walker came after he allegedly failed to attend his disciplinary hearing.
“He has been on that leave since 2020, he failed to attend his hearing and they finally dismissed him on June 1.
The disciplinary procedure states if a person missed their hearing three times without notification from your side, the company can fire you in your absence
Charges were involving breach of treasury policy. These were charges after he came back from suspension in 2018,” said the insider.
Another staffer told the Cape Times that charges against Walker included corruption, contravention of the Public Finance Management Act plus fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
“Walker also faced allegations of flouting supply chain management procedures by appointing security providers without the approval of the group CEO.”
The Cape Times made several attempts to contact Walker over the past two days, to no avail.
Meanwhile, former Prasa board member and chairperson, Leonard Ramatlakane, has approached the Western Cape High Court in hopes of having his dismissal reviewed.
He confirmed the legal action to the Cape Times on Monday, wherein Prasa and Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga are respondents.
Ramatlakane, 70, was fired on May 30 by Chikunga following allegations including misconduct and misuse of Prasa owned property after he occupied a house in Newlands, built for when executives travelled to Cape Town.
An internal investigation report into the matter found that due and proper processes were allegedly not followed by the ex-chairperson.
Ramatlakane and other members of the board were appointed on a three-year contract in October 2020, their term of office was expected to come to an end in October 2023.
Department of Transport spokesperson, Collen Msibi, said: “The Department is aware of the application. The notice was served on August 18, 2023.”
Makanda said Prasa was not in a position to comment.
“The Department of Transport/Ministry should be able to assist.”
Cape Times