Parly set to lay criminal complaint against Letsoalo for snubbing RAF inquiry again

Parliament is set to take an unprecedented step to lay a criminal complaint against former Road Accident Fund (RAF) chief executive officer (CEO) Collins Letsoalo for snubbing an inquiry into financial maladministration at the fund for a second day.

It was probably to be expected that Letsoalo would not pitch after referring to the inquiry as a kangaroo court during an interview on the SABC programme, Face the Nation, on Tuesday night.

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The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) will now ask the National Assembly speaker to concur with its decision that Letsoalo face consequences for ignoring a summons to appear.

Parliament has never before acted against someone who has ignored a summons to appear before a committee.

On Wednesday, SCOPA moved its meeting online to allow for a lastminute change of heart by Letsoalo to give testimony on financial matters related to his tenure at the RAF in the event he was unable to travel to Cape Town.

While the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have appeared hesitant to take further steps against him, questioning the process to be followed, the African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA) and ActionSA said a criminal complaint must be laid.

Parliamentary legal advisor Fatima Ebrahim has advised the committee to follow through on the non-compliance.

“It might even be regarded as a dereliction of the committee’s duty. Because you have this duty to conduct this oversight, you’ve undertaken to do it in this manner, and then to summons and simply ignore thereafter, not only sets a bad precedent, but it calls into question whether the committee is then doing what it lawfully ought to be doing.”

SCOPA chairperson Songezo Zibi said he will now write to the speaker to inform her of the committee’s decision and to request that she acts accordingly.