Minister Peters contradicts herself on Letsoalo’s 350% wage increase
In a written response to a DA parliamentary question, the former Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, revealed that the Acting Group CEO (AGCEO) of PRASA, Mr Collins Letsoalo, was “eligible to receive all the benefits applicable to this position”, which include an annual salary of almost R6 million or roughly R500 000 per month.
This response is a clear contradiction of the secondment letter which the former Minister sent to Letsoalo and the Board of PRASA on 7 July 2016, in which she allegedly informed Letsoalo and the Board that Letsoalo’s remuneration package would remain unchanged at R1.3 million per annum, plus an additional 12% acting allowance.
The former Minister has therefore either misrepresented herself in her response to the DA, or she was untruthful in her secondment confirming that Letsoalo would earn R1.3 million per annum.
As a Minister, Peters had a Constitutional obligation to answer parliamentary questions truthfully, and she also had an obligation to be transparent and honest in her dealings with the Board.
She must now account for this obvious discrepancy and if she is found to have been less than truthful, the DA will ensure that she is held to account.
Entities of the Department of Transport under the leadership of Peters have lurched from one crisis to another due, in large part, to overpaid and underperforming CEOs, who enjoyed undue protection from the former Minister, whilst ordinary workers continue to fight for better wages.
Unions that represent PRASA employees have for the past two months threatened to go on strike, in a bid to get better wages. Yet, the former Minister thought it was appropriate for the acting GCEO to earn close to R6 million per annum.
The DA will not allow Peters or Letsoalo to escape accountability on this matter. Peters must answer for the discrepancies in her communication with Parliament and the PRASA Board.
Statement issued by Manny de Freitas MP, DA Shadow Minister of Transport, 9 April 2017
