Prasa boss one of elite cashing in

Just how much is Collins Letsoalo worth – the man brought in by Transport Minister Dipuo Peters last July to save the embattled organisation after former Prasa CEO Lucky Montana left in disgrace?

This is a vexing question that no single voice at the Public Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) seems able to give a straight answer to.

At least Letsoalo is in no doubt about the heft his disputed pay packet should contain, pricing himself at 350% above his R1.9 million salary and a 12% allowance as acting CEO. He has seemingly determined he should be remunerated the same R5.9 million Montana received before he was found guilty of irregular and wasteful expenditure related to tenders.

Lesoalo has also requested a chauffeur-driven car and unlimited cellphone calls – all of this just a month after arriving on deployment from the transport ministry last July. Interestingly, Prasa chairperson Popo Molefe is on record as saying Lesoalo’s package remains unaltered.

The unseemly haggling exposes the incestuous system on redeployment among ANC cadres for exactly what it is: an elite circling of the sharks around any pool of cash seemingly available. It is also an unfortunate fact that this is almost invariably taxpayers’ money.

The sorry spat has also brought up internal gripes that Lesoalo has made little, if any, difference to the operational systems at Prasa during his secondment.

This echoes his time as CEO of the Road Traffic Management Corporation. In the analysis, the efficient use of public funding appears to be of less importance than getting a firstclass seat on the nearest available gravy train.

It is an insidious system which is tailor-made for abuse and a psyche of grab what you can, while you can.