Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) says while there should be regard for security concerns of government officials, due process must always be followed.
The committee discussed its draft report of its investigation into maladministration, financial impropriety, and governance failures at the Road Accident Fund.
It also decided to lay criminal charges against the former CEO Collins Letsoalo for ignoring summons to appear before it.
Among others, in its draft report, Scopa notes that security for Letsoalo ballooned from a board approved R480 000 per year to several millions and the board was not consulted.
It resulted in operational expenditure of approximately R20 million.
Scopa Chairperson Songezo Zibi says while the safety of officials must be taken into account, it can’t be done without following the necessary processes.
“I want us to recognise where wrongdoing was done, but we also recognise where state has obligations regarding safety for employees, so we don’t just make recommendations that just say ‘security not warranted’. But as Hon Beesley said, governance and process matter, they cannot just be overridden.”
The report also states that SAPS did not find that there is a threat against Letsoalo’s life, but Scopa does not disregard the possibility. This in the light of witnesses during the inquiry that pointed out that Letsoalo had alleged that the threats against his life came from the taxi industry.
The committee says this could not be substantiated.
Zibi says this is information that could’ve been verified if Letsoalo had appeared before them.
“When we don’t have information, it becomes difficult to suppose what went on in a person’s mind when they took a decision. That is one area the person who could explain how the taxi industry affected his life, would have been Mr Letsoalo himself. But he elected not to appear before the committee, and that creates a difficulty for us in that we cannot suppose.”
