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The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) has welcomed the unanimous decision by the Board of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to terminate the services of its Acting Group Chief Executive Officer Collins Letsoalo.

Letsoalo was axed after relentless pressure was exerted on the Board to act decisively by FEDUSA transport affiliate UNTU (the United National Transport Union), the majority union at Prasa, following a damning expose in a weekend newspaper.

The paper reported that Letsoalo, who had been seconded by the Department of Transport in July last year to fix the operational mess at Prasa, had awarded himself a whopping salary hike of 350 percent from R1.3 million to R5.9 million, a chauffeur-driven car and a company cell phone with unlimited calls in October.

Letsoalo’s new salary package was the same amount earned by his predecessor Lucky Montana who was forced to resign following adverse findings in former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s “Derailed” Report.

“Whilst Letsoalo was being transported safely around by his chauffeur, Nomveliso Brookwe, a female train driver was almost raped when three armed men tried to drag her into a bush after subduing unarmed train guards between Khayelitsha and the Nonkqubela Station in the Western Cape in January,” said UNTU General Secretary Steve Harris.

“To add injury to this shocking injustice, Letsoalo also thought nothing of lining his own pocket while his employees, especially those on the notorious central Line between Cape Town and Langa are being killed, assaulted and robbed daily by armed thugs”.

Harris said wage talks between Prasa management and its employees deadlocked last week after Letsoalo refused to give his negotiating team a mandate beyond a 3 percent wage increase compared to UNTU’s wage demand of 20 percent.

“There was never an intention on the side of management to consider the reality that their workers face: medical aid contributions that have increased from 11 percent to 14 percent, food prices that have escalated due to the drought ravaging the country and a general cost of living that is much higher than the predicted rate of inflation,” he said.

Issued by FEDUSA