Simon Nare
Members of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) have recommended that former Road Accident Fund (RAF) chief executive Collins Letsoalo face criminal charges for failing to appear before the committee.
Letsoalo was scheduled to appear on Tuesday and Wednesday to account for his role in the entity’s financial troubles during his tenure.
Despite several attempts to persuade him, including efforts by the committee secretary and summonses served on him at his residence and electronically, Letsoalo was a no-show.
In an SABC interview on Tuesday night, Letsoalo said that he would not appear before SCOPA, likening it to a “kangaroo court”.
Committee members on Wednesday objected to Letsoalo’s “disrespect”, especially after the secretary had gone to considerable lengths to accommodate him and ensure his side of the story could be heard.
Committee chairperson Songezo Zibi told members that, as late as Tuesday night – before Letsoalo’s interview with the public broadcaster – he had been offered the option of appearing virtually. Letsoalo had not responded by Wednesday morning.
Zibi said that the committee had extended the virtual appearance option in case Letsoalo had a last-minute change of heart and to avoid the inconvenience of late-night travel arrangements. Even that gesture was rejected.
Parliament’s legal adviser, Fatima Ebrahim, told the committee that correspondence with Letsoalo’s lawyers made it clear he had no intention of appearing.
“He maintains that the committee is not the appropriate forum to deal with the issues that we are dealing with and that [it instead] remains within the ambit of the committee on transport.
“It is clear that as things stand now, Mr Letsoalo still contest the authority of the committee to conduct an enquiry and the committee must now determine what is its way forward,” she said.
Ebrahim told members that Letsoalo had clearly violated the law and that the committee would be fully within its rights to recommend that criminal charges be laid against him. If found guilty, he could face up to 12 months’ imprisonment or a fine.
However, she said, any such recommendation would require the concurrence of National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza. Regardless, Letsoalo had exposed himself to criminal prosecution, which could be initiated by any member of the public or organisation.
The majority of committee members called for the strongest possible action, saying that Letsoalo had shown contempt not only for the committee but for Parliament itself.
Zibi undertook to write to Didiza, informing her that the committee had resolved to recommend the laying of criminal charges and that, should she concur, the legal process would follow its course.
If Didiza did not agree with the recommendation, the committee would need to consider its next steps.
‘We believe that Mr Letsoalo has been duly summoned in terms of section 14 and he has failed to attend for the reasons specified… and therefore we believe that the next necessary step should be undertaken in order to make sure that charges are laid and criminal investigation takes place,” he said.
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