Chris Gilili|Updated
Civil society organisation #UniteBehind has handed a dossier detailing alleged corruption involving the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA's) R3.9 billion locomotive deal, questioning why no one has been prosecuted more than a decade after the investigation began.
The dossier dossier details how money allegedly flowed from PRASA to Swifambo Rail Leasing, which was contracted to supply 70 locomotives but delivered only 13, which were too tall for parts of the South African rail network.
#UniteBehind director Zachie Achmat said the organisation had spent years campaigning for government accountability without success.
He said the organisation learnt during a Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) meeting in August 2026 that the NPA had not yet hired a forensic investigator to probe the matter.
“The Hawks and NPA said they have not gotten anywhere. What we are submitting today are the subpoenaed financial bank statements of businesses linked to Sfiso Buthelezi and other individuals within the PRASA corruption sphere. What we have is an investigative report done by our lawyers and based on 70 000 bank statements we had gone through. They show the flow of money from Swifambo to Sebenza to Makana and other companies. The NPA has been sitting on this evidence since 2015, something that we managed to do within two years,” Achmat said.
Achmat added that the criminal justice system had a duty to investigate corruption.
Affidavit details delays in Prasa corruption probe
In its founding affidavit addressed to the Hawks, NPA, Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) and Special Investigating Unit (SIU), #UniteBehind said three courts had held that the contract was procured through a corrupt tender process and that Swifambo Rail Leasing (Pty) Ltd was a front.
“Seven and a half years after the Constitutional Court dismissed an application by Swifambo Rail leasing (Pty) Ltd for leave to appeal the Supreme Court of Appeal decision which confirmed that the Prasa contract was awarded irregularly. To date, nobody has been prosecuted. A police docket has existed since July 2015. The forensic accountants engaged by the Hawks said in 2017 and again in 2020 which bank accounts they still needed. They have never been obtained,” the affidavit read.
#UniteBehind links PRASA corruption to commuter rail collapse
According to #UniteBehind, the collapse of PRASA has had a serious negative impact on hundreds of thousands of commuters who rely on the rail network for transport.
The organisation said the money allegedly diverted was intended for infrastructure, rolling stock, signalling and security, and that the "theft" had contributed to the collapse of lines and services.
“Commuter rail is the most affordable mode of transport available to hundreds of thousands of working-class commuters. PRASA's statutory mandate is to serve them. State capture at PRASA was therefore not an abstract loss to the fiscus. It was the theft of the means by which the poor reach work, school and clinics,” said #UniteBehind.
The organisation said PRASA carried an average of 54 million passenger trips a month at its peak in 2008/09. Between January 2021 and July 2022, it carried an average of 1.7 million trips a month.
“The central line in Cape Town, which serves the poorest communities in the city, stood closed from 2019 until its partial reopening in 2024. Commuters were exposed to violent crime on trains, at stations and on the walks forced on them when trains did not run, and the infrastructure that was left unguarded was stripped,” the organisation said in the affidavit.
Western Cape deputy director for public prosecutions Advocate Tommy Bunguzana accepted the forensic report on behalf of the NPA. He said he would pass it to Director of Public Prosecutions Adrian Carl Mopp.
Scopa chairperson Songezo Zibi told IOL Media that an inquiry into delays in PRASA cases would be established jointly with the portfolio committees on Police and Justice.
"We agree that the delays are too long and totally unacceptable. Unfortunately given the systemic problems at Hawks and some at NPA, simply shouting at them will not make a difference. We have to unearth as much of the problems as possible so they can be dealt with," Zibi said.
He said Parliament’s calendar meant the inquiry could only take place early next year, although most preparations would happen this year.