‘I feel betrayed by my country’ – Prasa whistleblower Martha Ngoye

Martha Ngoye, the suspended head of legal, risk and compliance at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), said she felt betrayed by her country and blamed the government for the lack of protection for whistleblowers.

Ngoye spoke out about the Swifambo and Siyangena contracts at Prasa, which have since been declared invalid. She also prevented the railway from making a R1 billion investment in the now-liquidated VBS, and prevented Prasa from making illegitimate payments to a company called Siyaya.

Lack of protection for whistleblowers

Speaking to 702, Ngoye said being a whistleblower in South Africa is not worth it because the is no protection from the government. Despite this, she said it has to be done.

“I think if you do it, you have to understand the consequences of what you’re doing,” she said.

Ngoye said she fears that she might suffer the same fate as whistleblower Babita Deokaran, who was gunned down last year.

Deokaran was a key witness in an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into dodgy payments at Tembisa Hospital.

Shortly after her death, it was revealed that Deokaran received multiple death threats in the days leading to her assassination. She was not offered any protection by the government.

“I do not think we go out there to become whistleblowers, Babita identified problematic issues within the organisation and highlighted those issues with the seniors and hoped something would be done about them,” said Ngoye.

Disciplinary hearing

Ngoye is currently serving a suspension, pending an internal disciplinary hearing. Her hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

“I have been threatened, I have been told that you think you are running Prasa. I have been told in many instances that my time is limited at Prasa if I do not toe the line.”

“When I look at Babita Deokaran’s life and looking at my life as a single mother of a daughter, I looked at her daughter and mine, I see the pain in both girls’ eyes, and I feel very betrayed by our country.”

ALSO READ: Fired whistleblower tells Zondo how she was hounded out of Prasa

The railway agency also sued her for a multimillionaire tender.

“I was investigated by the Hawks, in fact at the end the investigating officer came to me and said ‘you know Martha we have done everything, we have looked at your financials, we have looked at you and we cannot find anything’.

“However, this investigation had to continue because Mr Lucky Montana [former Prasa CEO] was constantly in our offices enquiring as to how far this matter was.”

Compiled by Kgomotso Phooko

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