Former Prasa boss Montana stands by fired CEO Collins Letsoalo

Former Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) Group CEO Lucky Montana has alleged that a group of executives at the parastatal wanted the now-axed acting CEO Collins Letsoalo to return to his old job at the department of transport to shield themselves from scrutiny over their “transgressions”.

Montana – who stepped down from the struggling rail agency in 2015 following the release of the public protector’s report into corruption allegations at Prasa – was responding to a Sunday Times report at the weekend that Letsoalo had demanded the same R5.9 million salary package that Montana had received, a month after he was appointed in an acting capacity.

Taking to social networking site Twitter on Monday, Montana accused The Sunday Times of extreme bias in its report and said Prasa chairperson Popo Molefe had colluded with the weekly to kick Letsoalo out of the state-owned company.

“Popo Molefe has been conniving with [the newspaper] because Collins Letsoalo has also been questioning payments to Werkmans Attorneys of R120 million and the value the investigation was adding to Prasa.

“Prasa is facing a serious crisis, and this requires the urgent attention of the government. I find it disingenuous of The Sunday Times not to present the full facts of the story and deny the nation the information to make their own informed decisions about Prasa‚” Montana said in a tweet.

“The group of Prasa executives behind the story want Collins Letsoalo to return to his old position at the department of transport so that they do not face the music for the transgressions they have committed.”

Letsoalo was fired a few hours after he held a briefing on Monday over the controversy behind his remuneration package. Prasa’s board said later in the evening it had unanimously agreed to terminate his contract, as it had not authorised his pay hike.

Prasa said the acting CEO was seconded to the rail agency by Transport Minister Dipuo Peters last year to turn the agency around.

Letsoalo has warned his former employees of more allegations coming against him and Prasa.

He has also denied that he had irregularly increased his salary by 350%, but the board had sanctioned the increase.

Sunday Times deputy editor S’thembiso Msomi on Monday said the paper stood by its story.

“If [Letsoalo] insists on that‚ he must give us proof that the board passed a resolution that he must be paid as a CEO and not an acting CEO.”

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