By Setumo Stone
The R60-million Prasa subcontracting allegations now under police investigation arose from a wider Central Line recovery programme aimed at reopening one of Cape Town’s most damaged rail corridors.
The programme was governed by an implementation protocol, social compact, community structures and security interventions.
It brought together the departments of transport, human settlements and public works and infrastructure; the Western Cape government; the City of Cape Town; the Housing Development Agency; and Prasa.
The programme operated under court-ordered relocation deadlines and an implementation protocol steering committee. Operation Bhekela was described in Pasas’s Scopa report as the “immediate intervention to allow for the resumption of limited rail service”.
The Cape Town-Langa-Nyanga section reopened in July 2022, while another phase involved the temporary relocation of about 890 households.
Prasa’s former head of security Alexio Papadopulo’s detailed submission records that he and his team were approached in early 2021 by then-acting group CEO Thandeka Mabija and employed from June 1, 2021, to implement a security stabilisation plan so that contractors could rebuild destroyed infrastructure.
Police are examining allegations that Papadopulo improperly influenced subcontracting linked to Prasa’s Central Line security programme.
Papadopulo denies wrongdoing and says the decisions formed part of an approved effort to protect rail infrastructure and restore services on a corridor hit by theft, vandalism and unlawful occupation.
“Contractors had tried to take their sites but were shot at and some people lost their lives.”
He says the SAPS and the Department of Transport stopped contractors from working “until such time a security plan could be developed, which included the SAPS, CI [Crime
Intelligence], SSA [State Security Agency] and various security inputs”.
“Project managers on the central line then approached SCM (supply chain management) for variation orders to increase the security complement so that they could take the site and start with their work,” he states.
In September 2022, the corporate bid adjudication committee record confirmed variation requests involving Mpande, Diphatse and Transnet Freight Rail. It also records that Central Line security would “be managed in an integrated manner by corporate security, not individual service providers”.
Papadopulo says Protection Services did not control procurement. Community structures supplied lists of workers and small businesses to the main contractors after community briefings and presentations.
“Lists then get drawn up by the counsel and are presented to the main contractors who have direct contracts with Prasa. At no given time did Prasa get involved with contracts between the main contractors and SMMEs or labour.”
Papadopulo says the social compact grew from meetings involving Prasa, government departments, the Housing Development Agency, the city and communities and was “signed by all the role players, including the community”.
SMMEs were then onboarded by the main contractors through the process, while security
providers were required to comply with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority
regulations, he says.
Prasa’s subsequent independent desktop investigation found no evidence of direct contracts or direct payments between Prasa and Ralph Stanfield, Nicole Johnson or the entities they controlled. It found that participation by entities identified in the allegations occurred through subcontracting.
On Papadopulo specifically, the investigation found no conclusive evidence that he “coerced, forced, influenced or unduly directed subcontracting decisions, acted corruptly or intentionally facilitated criminal infiltration of the project”.
It nevertheless identified governance weaknesses and said some emails, meetings and interactions could create “perceptions of influence”.
Papadopulo is separately challenging the search-and-seizure warrants issued on May 4, 2026.
- The R60-million Prasa subcontracting allegations are being investigated by police and relate to the Central Line recovery programme in Cape Town.
- The programme involved multiple government departments and agencies and operated under court-ordered deadlines and a steering committee.
- Prasa's former head of security, Alexio Papadopulo, denies wrongdoing and states that security measures were necessary due to theft, vandalism, and unlawful occupation.
- An independent investigation found no direct contracts or payments between Prasa and individuals named in the allegations, but noted governance weaknesses and perceptions of undue influence.
- Papadopulo is challenging search-and-seizure warrants issued on May 4, 2026.
