The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has placed its acting legal head, Thato Tsautse, on precautionary suspension over allegations of misconduct.
The state entity on Thursday issued a statement indicating that the allegations against Tsautse are of a "serious nature" and necessitated "immediate suspension".
Prasa said that once it had received the allegations, it promptly launched an investigation.
"Pending the finalisation of this investigation, a decision has been taken to place the executive on precautionary suspension…" the statement read. "It is essential that the executive [be] placed on precautionary suspension to prevent any form of interference with the investigations."
Tsautse is facing allegations related to the appointment of law firms, investigators and the payment of service providers.
The Sunday Times had reported that a whistleblower had approached the Auditor-General, accusing Tsautse of flouting procurement processes through the irregular appointment and payment to a law firm.
Prasa said that Tsauste's suspension was not linked to any forensic investigations she allegedly intended to conduct.
The entity said it would not be commenting further until the investigations are concluded.