Ex-Prasa CEO must repay 350% pay hike – DA

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will ask Minister of Transport Blade Nzimande to ensure that former Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) acting CEO Collins Letsoalo pays back every cent with interest for his massive 350% salary hike, the party said yesterday.

Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu had found that Letsoalo was undeserving of the extremely high raise he give himself, DA spokesperson Manny de Freitas said, adding: “The DA finds it ludicrous that such a large [amount] was apportioned to one individual when it could have been channelled towards fixing the rudderless state of the beleaguered entity.

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

Letsoalo, who was still a member of the Prasa board, should therefore repay all the money he unduly awarded himself, with interest, De Freitas said.

He also pointed out that this proved the breakdown in the rail system in South Africa was no accident, but was directly due to rampant corruption and mismanagement by successive ministers and Prasa.

“The DA has always maintained that Prasa was crippled because the ANC used it as a piggy bank, like all other state-owned entities. The ANC kept deploying past and current officials at Prasa who simply did not care about the plight of South Africans.”

He called on Nzimande to ensure a disciplinary hearing and investigation was instituted against Letsoalo to find out how this happened, despite the courts having said Letsoalo’s conduct was wrong and unethical.

“While millions of South Africans suffer because of a broken rail system, Prasa and successive ministers spend their time covering up blatant corruption. The DA will not allow a situation where millions of people endure a terrible service from Metrorail while the minister and Prasa executives dodge accountability.” – ANA