The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) confirmed that it placed CEO Zolani Matthews under precautionary suspension after finding out that he has UK citizenship.
In a statement, Prasa’s board said it found out about Matthews’ citizenship last week after the State Security Department declined his top secret security clearance. The board said Matthews had deliberately failed to disclose that he is a British citizen.
“This came as a shock to Prasa and upon perusal of a declaration form signed on 8 May 2021 by Mr Matthews it was evident that he deliberately concealed this fact,” said the board’s chairperson Leonard Ramatlakane.
Ramatlakane explained that Matthews is on precautionary suspension to allow for an investigation to be done “without interference”. Prasa has since appointed David Mphelo as acting CEO. The board stressed that Matthews is still a Prasa employee pending the investigation into the issue.
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