Who are the shady corporate bosses who derailed Prasa? In this instalment of Unaccountable, we shine a light on Roy Moodley, a politically connected businessman whom employees at the state-owned railway company would call ‘Mr Prasa’, according to testimony at the Zondo Commission.
For more than a decade, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (Prasa) infrastructure and service has deteriorated rapidly, forcing commuters to other more expensive forms of public transport. Central to this degradation is almost a decade of corruption and maladministration, with Prasa’s procurement process captured by a group of businessmen assisted by some of Prasa’s senior executives and board members.
In March last year, Advocate Vas Soni — evidence leader of the Prasa stream at the Zondo Commission — introduced two names alleged to be the principal “capturers” of Prasa’s procurement process: Chockalingam “Roy” Moodley and Makhensa Mabunda. In Unaccountable#26, we detailed how Mabunda’s network of companies scored billions worth of dodgy contracts with the SOE and was one of the masterminds behind the Swifambo “tall-trains” contract alongside German railway giant Vossloh.
Moodley and his companies have been implicated in corruption allegations at SOEs dating back to 2001 when his security company was named in a tender scandal at Telkom. This week, evidence showing the KZN businessman’s alleged capture of Prasa’s “modernisation mission” takes centre stage: A series of forensic reports into Prasa’s major contracts by law firm Werksmans, alongside evidence presented to the Zondo Commission, reveals the level of influence that Moodley and his companies wielded over Prasa and how he used this influence to receive lucrative contracts and crush dissent within the parastatal.
