All ‘stolen’ Prasa money must be paid back, demands DA

Collins Letsoalo. File picture: Phill Magakoe/Independent Media

Collins Letsoalo. File picture: Phill Magakoe/Independent Media

Published Jun 25, 2018

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CAPE TOWN - THE DA will ask Transport Minister Blade Nzimande to ensure that former acting Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) chief executive Collins Letsoalo pays back every cent with interest for his massive 350% salary hike, it said yesterday.

Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu found that Letsoalo was undeserving of the extremely high raise he give himself, DA spokesperson Manny de Freitas said.

“The DA finds it ludicrous that such a large (amount) was apportioned to one individual, when it could be channelled towards fixing the rudderless state of the beleaguered entity.

“It is a well-known scandal that Prasa is struggling under the weight of debt,” he said.

This was precisely why Nzimande should ensure that Letsoalo, who was still a member of the Prasa board, repays all the money he unduly awarded himself with added interest.

This proved the DA’s position that the breakdown in the rail system in South Africa was no accident.

It was directly due to the rampant corruption and mismanagement by successive ministers and Prasa, De Freitas said.

The DA had always maintained that Prasa was crippled because the ANC had used it as a “piggy bank, like all other state-owned entities”.

It was all in Nzimande’s hands now to ensure a disciplinary investigation was instituted against Letsoalo to find answers as to how this happened.

“While millions of South Africans suffer from a broken rail system, Prasa and successive ministers spent their time covering up blatant corruption,” De Freitas said. 

- African News Agency 

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