Minister Nzimande must ensure all stolen Prasa money is paid back with interest

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

The Auditor-General (A-G) Kimi Makwetu, found that Letsoalo was undeserving of the extremely high raise he give himself.

The DA finds it ludicrous that such a large of 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.

This is precisely why Minister Nzimande must ensure that Letsoalo, who is still a member of the PRASA board, repay all the money he unduly awarded himself with added interest. This proves the DA’s position that the breakdown in the rail system in South Africa is no accident, it is directly due to the rampant corruption and mismanagement by successive Ministers and PRASA.

The DA has always maintained that PRASA is crippled because the ANC has used it as a piggy bank like all other State-Owned Entities (SOEs). The ANC keeps deploying past and current officials at PRASA who simply don’t care about the plight of South Africans.

It is all in Minister Nzimande’s hands now to ensure a disciplinary and investigation instituted against Letsoalo to find answers as to how this happened despite the courts saying Letsoalo’s conduct was wrong and unethical.

While millions of South Africans suffer from 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 are made to endure a terrible service from Metrorail while the Minister and PRASA executives dodge accountability.

Statement issued by Manny de Freitas MP, DA Shadow Minister of Transport, 24 June 2018