PERMANENT EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS AT PRASA

PERMANENT New Appointments
EXECUTIVE
28 May 2020
APPOINTMENTS AT PRASA

BONGISIZWE MPONDO
Administrator
A very Good Morning ladies and gentlemen of the
media that are joining us here at PRASA head office,
and those joining us virtually via Teams. Your interest
in the progress being registered by this important
entity of state is indeed highly appreciated.
Today, we invited you here to share an important
milestone in the process of healing and stabilising
PRASA. You will recall that at the beginning of my
tenure here, the Minister of Transport, Honourable Mr
Fikile Mbalula, characterised the rail agency as a
broken business, and further gave us a critical task to
do all we can to bring stability to this organisation.
Over the years, PRASA has had a tendency of placing individuals in critical positions who lacked
the qualifications, experience and skills required for such positions. It has therefore been my
mission, and it will continue to be, to ensure that the right people are appointed in executive
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Recently, on malesuada the 11 th of libero, May 2020, sit amet I made commodo a commitment magna eros to Parliament’s quis urna. Portfolio Committee on
Transport to among others, finalise the process of filling all vacant Group Executive positions. In
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Today, I have the pleasure of announcing appointments to those positions. These appointments
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agencies as turpis well egestas. experts Proin various pharetra fields. nonummy pede. Mauris et orci.
I must highlight here, that it has been quite encouraging for me to witness the quality of
candidates that were shortlisted for these positions. These candidates were of a high calibre,
and are highly accomplished in their respective areas of expertise. This undoubtedly is an
indication that in the eyes of many professionals in the country, PRASA is now on the right track
and well on its way to a much-needed turnaround. These professionals were keen to be part of
the turnaround of the agency and we are grateful for their willingness to join us. I am quite certain
that the PRASA we are building will be in need of their valuable expertise in the not so distant
future.
The appointments I will share with you shortly are a strong indication that PRASA, is on a new
trajectory and that it is on track to take its rightful place as the backbone of the public transport
system in the country. The individuals that will be taking up the positions should be seen as a
sign that PRASA does not only seek to stabilise itself, but that it also aims to compare favourably
with the best in the world.
It is therefore a great privilege for me to announce and welcome to the PRASA family the
following new members of the Group Executive team:
In no particular order, I will begin with:

Ms. Nosipho Damasane who has been appointed to the position of Chief
Executive of PRASA Rail. Prior to joining PRASA, Ms. Damasane has been CEO
of the Bombela Operating Company, the operator of Gautrain. In that role, she has
had the opportunity to work and get exposure and training in France, the United
Kingdom and Middle East on passenger rail operations.
NOSIPHO DAMASANE
Chief Executive Officer - PRASA Rail
Ms. Damasane has 22 years’ experience in logistics, port and rail cargo, passenger
operations, infrastructure development and transport policy development. She
brings an all-encompassing experience gained in the Transport industry at
executive level. She is a commercially astute and strong people leader, a natural
coach who has a reputation for grooming young talent across her roles.
Ms. Damasane will contribute to the turnaround of PRASA Rail, which is the
backbone of our entire integrated transport structure. She would have no difficulty
stepping into the PRASA Rail CEO role, having successfully operated at this level
for some time.
Ms. Damasane holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting obtained from Walter
Sisulu University; a Senior Executive Programme obtained from London Business
School and a Certificate in Management of State-Owned Entities obtained from
University of Singapore.

Mr. Hishaam Emeran, has been appointed to the position of Chief Executive
Officer: PRASA Technical. Mr. Emeran is our homegrown talent that has risen
through the ranks at PRASA. He is a seasoned transport specialist with 25 years’
experience, ten of which were obtained in the private sector in transportation and
consulting. The other fifteen years were gained in the public sector.
Mr. Emeran has been acting in the role and acquitted himself exceptionally, which
gives me great pleasure to see him taking on the role on a permanent basis. His
vast leadership experience in transportation planning, engineering and
management, and his strong relations with leading engineering and transportation
stakeholders across the industry will stand PRASA in good stead.
Mr. Emeran is regarded as a thought leader in that he has contributed to various
transportation conference publications, and is a guest lecturer on rail transportation
at the University of Cape Town. He has great passion for transforming South
Africa’s integrated public transportation system in support of economic and societal
development.
HISHAAM EMERAN
Chief Executive Officer - PRASA Technical
Mr. Emeran holds a Master’s in Philosophy in Transport Studies obtained from the
University of Cape Town; A Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering
Transportation obtained from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and a
National Diploma in Civil Engineering from Cape Peninsula University of
Technology

Mr. Neil Roesch has been appointed to the position of Chief Executive for
Autopax, a subsidiary of PRASA that houses our brands, Translux and City to City.
He is currently an Operations Executive at Larimar (Putco). He is regarded as a
thought leader in bus operations within the passenger transport industry. He has
more than 30 years of experience in the bus industry with 19 of them at senior and
executive management level.
NEIL ROESCH
Chief Executive Officer - Autopax
Mr. Roesch has leadership experience in bus services and logistics, as well as the
manufacturing of buses and has established strong relations with leading
passenger transportation stakeholders across the industry. He has been part of
multiple turnaround projects in passenger transport over the years and has led
them in various business units at Larimar (Putco).
Mr. Roesch played a major role in the formulation and implementation of the
turnaround strategies in the Northwest Transport Investments Group of Companies
earlier in his career, which ultimately resulted in the lifting of the judicial
management order in August 2009. The group had been under judicial
management from 1999. He is undoubtedly a ‘flatfooted’ operator whose years of
experience will add immense value to Autopax in its turnaround efforts.
Mr. Roesch holds a BCom Accounting, which he obtained from the University of
Pretoria and B.Compt Honours obtained from UNISA.

Mr. David Mphelo has been appointed to the position of Group Chief Information
Officer. He has been an independent consultant focusing on Digital
Transformation. Mr. Mphelo has a wealth of experience in the ICT sector. I am
confident that his wealth of ICT experience will contribute greatly to the turnaround
of PRASA’s ICT function, which has been dogged by challenges for some time.
Over a number of years, he worked on developing and implementing competitive
market development strategies to drive business growth. He is a leader and
teamwork consultant with an excellent background of understanding technology’s
impact on business and its strategy, opportunity, generation and sustainable
growth.
Mr. Mphelo’s IT career spans across multiple industries including banking, mining,
government, telecommunications, FMCG, security, retail and petroleum.
Mr. Mphelo was with MTN where he held a number of positions within the
Enterprise Business Unit, such as General Manager: Public Sector; General
Manager: Enterprise Sales; and General Manager: Gauteng Region.
DAVID MPHELO
Group Chief Information Officer
Mr. Mphelo holds a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) Honours obtained
from the University of Witwatersrand.

Mr. Sandile Dlamini has been appointed to the position of Group Company
Secretary. Mr. Dlamini has 18 years’ experience as a Company Secretary and over
12 years’ experience in executive positions. He was admitted as the advocate of
the high court in 2000 and he is a member of the National Bar Council of SA.
Mr. Dlamini’s appointment is timely in that the Department of Transport has started
the process of appointing a permanent Board of Control. Mr. Dlamini will help
establish systems and protocols that are important for the proper functioning of the
Board of Control that will be appointed by the Minister of Transport.
SANDILE DLAMINI
Group Company Secretary
He is currently employed at the National Energy Regulator of South Africa as the
Head of Department: Legal Advisory Services. Previously, Mr. Dlamini was
employed at South African Airways SOC, as the Group Company Secretary. Other
former employers include the Department of Public Enterprises, EDI Holdings,
Rand Water, Umgeni Water and other various companies within the public sector.
Some of his notable achievements in his career include an amendment of the
relevant legislation to allow Umgeni Water to operate outside their services, which
was to operate trans-nationally.
Mr. Dlamini has been instrumental in establishing company secretary functions at
Ithala Bank and uMngeni Water, and other roles. At NERSA, he ensured that the
Company Secretary function became a trusted advisor to the business. He brings
remarkable skills and a background in the areas of governance and compliance.
He holds an LLM, LLB, B Juris and Diploma Juris obtained from UNISA.

Ladies and gentlemen, this major step bears testimony to the fact that we are ensuring that PRASA is capacitated with befitting
talent in all positions.
I must hasten to indicate that I am best placed at this stage to attest to the fact that, it is no mean task that these colleagues will be
faced with. However, I can equally attest that it is doable and the positive signs are there for all to see that we are moving in the
right direction. I therefore make a humble appeal to PRASA employees as well as you, our fellow South Africans, to rally around
and support these colleagues. PRASA needs your support, our commuters and customers will benefit from it and our
country will be the better for it.
As I conclude, let me note that the appointments I am announcing this morning, come at a critical time when (as we all are aware)
PRASA is in the process of a turnaround, with various programmes currently underway to enable the organisation to be:
§ Customer centric
§ Efficient
§ A Rail Transportation Centre of Excellence
Towards this end, I extend a warm PRASA welcome to these colleagues, and am certain that they will positively contribute to this
noble effort of providing safe, reliable and affordable rail passenger services to our customers. Together we have to ensure that
we create a PRASA that is unrecognisable from its troubled past.
It would be amiss of me not to express my gratitude to the colleagues who have previously held the above positions in an acting
capacity. To them I say, Enkosi.
Lastly and crucially, we are seized with the Covid-19 pandemic and its undesirable effects, which are negatively affecting the
organisation. This pandemic finds PRASA at a very difficult time as we all know. However, our teams are working very hard to
ensure that our environment is safe for our employees and customers alike, and that we prevent and combat the spread of
COVID-19. We will soon outline our response plans after the Minister has announced Directions for Railway Operations.
I Thank You all for attending.