D-Day for Letsoalo to appear before Parly's RAF inquiry

Tuesday is D-day for former Road Accident Fund (RAF) chief executive officer (CEO) Collins Letsoalo to appear before Parliament’s inquiry into financial irregularities.

In October, it issued a summons for his appearance after Letsoalo wrote to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), questioning its mandate and the need for his appearance.

The committee is entering its eighth week of testimony as it probes contracts, appointments and accounting standards at the agency under Letsoalo’s watch, which ended in August.

Following weeks of testimony from former and current employees about the running of the agency by Letsoalo, it’s now his turn to respond.

Witnesses have testified how he populated his office with a handpicked parallel structure, including finance, investment and security portfolios, that staff have been on suspension since 2021, and that the agency, funded by the fuel levy, paid millions for his personal security.

SCOPA chairperson Songezo Zibi said attempts to serve him with a summons have come to naught.

“We’ve attempted to locate Mr Letsoalo at various addresses but have not been able to find him. The one address given to us was not inhabited.”

On Friday, Parliament sent the summons to Letsoalo’s phone messaging services and posted a redacted version on its digital platforms.

Zibi said while Letsoalo is not obliged to inform Parliament ahead of time whether he will indeed pitch, it will nevertheless set Tuesday aside for his testimony in the hope that he does.

Failure to comply with a parliamentary summons could result in criminal prosecution.