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- Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says he won't allow "fabricated shenanigans" to get in the way of his bid to clean up Prasa.
- This as the MKMVA in Johannesburg threatened to open a case against him, which it had since abandoned.
- Mbalula says he doesn't understand why his comrades couldn't talk to him, opting instead to go to the police.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says no amount of intimidation will stop him from doing his job and cleaning up the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa).
This as his members of the ANC in the form of the Umkhonto We Sizwe Military Veterans' Association (MKMVA) wanted to take legal action against him.
This followed the circulation of a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa by "ANC comrades" at the Transport Department, labelling him a "celebrity minister of twitter".
"I am not worried about weak, fabricated propaganda. Those are desperate actions. I have a mandate to clean Prasa and not make it a safe place for looters," Mbalula told News24.
In an unprecedented move, the ANC at Luthuli house came to his defence this week, releasing a statement calling on the minister to not be distracted by gossip being spread by a group of "faceless" ANC members in the Transport Department.
News24 understands that cancelled private security contracts, which were terminated in April, may be at the heart of this saga, with some having supposed links to the MKMVA being affected by the decision to in-source security for the country's trains.
The association in Johannesburg had since changed its mind, saying too many cases had been opened against Prasa and that they would seek to engage the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and embark on a civil suit against the minister instead.
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"I have no reason to fight with anyone, my job is to clean up the mess... it might take us some time in terms of ripping apart the networks, but we are doing it," Mbalula told News24.
"I am not deterred by the shenanigans, they will disappear," he added.
Mbalula said he was complying with the Western Cape High Court ruling, which declared his appointment of Bongisizwe Mpondo as Prasa administrator unlawful.
Mpondo was appointed in December last year after the dissolution of the agency's interim board.
It's understood processes to appoint a new board were underway.
Factional
"The MKMVA is a structure in the ANC. If they are not factional, why did they not come to me?" Mbalula asked.
The minister's an ANC national executive committee member - its highest decision-making body in between conferences.
"Why did they open a case? Am I opposition now? I would expect that from the DA or the EFF," said Mbalula.
"They didn't make me. If they are comrades, they would come to me."
Thanduxolo Gorbachev Dyodo, MKMVA secretary in the Johannesburg region, told News24 their concern was the termination of the security contracts.
He said they were worried that train stations without proper security were being vandalised under Mbalula's watch.
"To destroy the infrastructure is like stealing bread from people, because they now have to use a much more expensive mode of transport as train stations dilapidate," Dyodo said.
He also said the MKMVA's bid to press charges failed as there were more than 40 cases which had been opened by members of society against Prasa.
Dyodo said the association would seek to engage the NPA and possibly pursue a civil case against Mbalula.
Dyodo insisted theirs was not a mission inspired by factions or patronage, but guided by views of the late OR Tambo, the ANC's longest serving president, who was always on the side of the people and the truth.
