Law firms launch court bid to remove RAF’s recently appointed Collins Letsoalo

Johannesburg - A group of law firms has launched a court bid to remove recently appointed Road Accident Fund (RAF) chief executive Collins Letsoalo from his position.

Letsoalo should be removed on grounds that strings were pulled to secure his appointment and that his appointment was irrational given his previous misdemeanours in public service, the lawyers submitted in papers deposed at the North Gauteng High Court.

The major red flag in Letsoalo's appointment was the manner in which the RAF advertised the post on April 22, and he was already acting, said the papers.

“Significantly, the closing date for a post of this magnitude and importance was earmarked as April 29, while April 27 was a public holiday.

"Consequently, aspirant chief executives only had four days within which to apply,” said Kabelo Malao from K Malao Inc in the affidavit.

“Moreover, at the time the advert was published the country was still under full lockdown in terms of regulations relating to Covid-19.

"Movement at the time was severely restricted.

“I respectfully submit that the timing of the advertisement was a deliberate act to eliminate competition.”

William Maphutha, spokesperson for RAF, said neither Letsoalo nor the agency wished to comment.

In 2018, the then Transport Minister Blade Nzimande appointed Letsoalo as non-executive board member to the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) interim board that he announced in April.

Insiders at the state-owned entity criticised the move, with some describing it as “outrageously scandalous”.

The previous year, the then Prasa board had terminated Letsoalo’s contract as its acting chief executive after it emerged that he had increased his salary from R1.7 million to R5.9m a year, which was four times his agreed salary.

Letsoalo – who was seconded to that position by former transport minister Dipuo Peters – had also allegedly demanded a chauffeur-driven vehicle as well as a “company cellphone with unlimited calls”.

Letsoalo rejected the claims at the time.

The Star