MPs say Prasa’s general overhaul programme showing signs of recovery
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Contrary to earlier indications that the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (Prasa) general overhaul (GO) programme was lagging behind, parliament’s portfolio committee on transport has expressed satisfaction with the turnaround the agency has made. This week, the committee conducted an oversight inspection at YNF’s Isando rail refurbishment facility as part of parliament’s review of transport delivery. YNF is a 100% black female-owned, broad-based BEE-compliant South African engineering company that has 30 years’ operational experience in the rail and heavy engineering sector, specialising in refurbishment, manufacturing, maintenance and life-extension programmes for passenger rail assets. MPs said YNF’s presentation highlighted the significant economic value of returning refurbished trains to service. The visit followed recent engagements in parliament where the committee called Prasa to account on progress in the GO programme. Committee chairperson Donald Selamolela said the purpose of the inspection was to compare what had been presented to parliament with implementation on the ground. “We came here as part of our ongoing oversight to see how the transport system is functioning in the Republic. “We wanted to test what had been presented to Parliament against what is happening on the ground,” said Selamolela. After summoning Prasa to parliament, MPs requested to inspect a supplier facility. “There has been an outcry about the GO programme. Prasa gave us answers in parliament but we wanted to see for ourselves. We requested that we visit one contractor to understand what is actually happening,” he said. After the inspection, Selamolela said the committee had seen evidence contradicting claims that the programme had failed. He said the narrative had been that the GO programme was not working, “with trains lying idle and no refurbishment taking place”. “What we have seen here tells a different story”. MPs praised the quality of the YNF facility, its technical c