Transport minister denies protecting Letsoalo
Transport Minister Dipuo Peters has denied protecting axed Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) acting CEO Collins Letsoalo by dismantling the board months before the end of its term.
Peters announced the new 8-person interim board headed up by former SANRAL CEO Nazir Alli yesterday, saying she had no choice but to remove the board and CEO for the sake of stability.
Peters told the media that if she was protecting Letsoalo she wouldn't also have removed him.
Molefe is however still fighting his suspension and is due in the North Gauteng High Court on Thursday.
The Department of Transport's Mathabatha Mokonyama says the legal wrangling has no impact on their decision to proceed with an interim board.
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"We don't have a court interdict or court order that says we should not proceed. For the minister the gap was becoming too long in terms of making sure that we restore governance here at PRASA," he says.
In response to the announcement, Molefe says the decision to appoint an interim board shows the department's disregard for due process.
"We did warn that should the minister proceed in doing so we would have no option but to seek relief from court and to consider her to have acted in contempt of court," Molefe says.