Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) Group CEO Hishaam Emeran says the principles he learned growing up in a Muslim household have shaped both his personal life and leadership style as the state-owned rail operator continues its recovery from years of decline.
Speaking to One Nation Media (ONM), Emeran reflected on PRASA’s progress since taking office, outlining how the organisation has rebuilt much of South Africa’s passenger rail network while emphasising the importance of integrity, respect and public service.
Emeran said he joined PRASA while it was still implementing its recovery and rebuilding programme after years of extensive theft, vandalism and operational collapse.
“We came in at a period where PRASA was still under the recovery and rebuild programme. We found that the network was quite badly destroyed, decimated through theft and vandalism, to the extent that we only had four out of the 40 corridors operating nationally,” he said.
He said the organisation has since made significant progress in restoring rail services across the country.
“Here we are today, we have now recovered over 85% of those corridors. Thirty-five of the 40 are now recovered, with trains running on all of them.”
The recovery has also been reflected in rising passenger numbers.
“We’ve seen in the last year a doubling of our patronage. We were sitting at 39 million, that grew to 77 million last year, and this year we are due to break into the 100 million mark. Our target is to grow to 600 million,” Emeran said.
While infrastructure recovery has been a priority, Emeran said rebuilding confidence within the organisation has been equally important.
He noted that PRASA had experienced prolonged instability at both board and executive leadership level, making it difficult to sustain momentum and implement long-term programmes.
“PRASA’s gone through a period with quite a bit of instability at the leadership level, both at the board level, but also at the Group CEO level. And with that instability, it impacts in terms of the momentum, able to roll out effective programmes and so forth.”
With a workforce of nearly 14,000 employees, Emeran said improving staff morale became one of the organisation’s main priorities after years of governance failures and corruption.
“One of the key things that needed addressing was the low staff morale that we had in the company. That has been due to the fact we’ve come through a very traumatic period with some of the corruption that we have seen in not only PRASA, but other state companies as well.”
He said management introduced several initiatives aimed at improving employee wellbeing and restoring confidence within the organisation.
“We’ve had a concerted effort in terms of looking at how does one improve staff morale with various programmes and wellness, but most importantly was to bring back that pride within the workforce in terms of PRASA’s abilities, capabilities and how we are turning things around.”
Emeran also reflected on the influence of his upbringing in Cape Town’s historic Bo-Kaap, a community renowned for its rich Islamic heritage.
“I come from an area called Bo-Kaap in Cape Town, and it really shaped my view on life,” he said.
“From a religious point of view, my upbringing has been in a Muslim environment, Islam. I think, without going into too much detail, the principles within Islam have had a major impact on my life.”
Emeran said the values instilled through his faith continue to guide his approach to leadership.
“That’s where we learned a lot of principles, how to conduct ourselves, what is right, what is wrong in terms of how we go about doing things. I brought that into not only the impact on my personal life, but it’s something you bring into your professional life as well.”
He added that while his own values are rooted in Islam, similar principles can be found across different faith traditions.
“It’s the same with other faiths as well. The issue of integrity, ensuring that when you come here, there’s an element of respect that you have for not only the business, but your colleagues, your peers. It’s very important.”
As PRASA works towards restoring rail as South Africa’s preferred mode of public transport, Emeran believes rebuilding infrastructure must go hand in hand with rebuilding trust, both within the organisation and among the millions of commuters who depend on it.
