Road Accident Fund (RAF) CEO Collins Letsoalo has been placed on leave pending a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) inquiry into multimillion-rand contracts and tenders at the fund.
The RAF board decided to place Letsoalo on leave after a special meeting on Tuesday, transport department spokesperson Collen Msibi confirmed.
The SIU has been investigating RAF management after the entity signed a R79m lease for a Johannesburg building with Mowana Properties. Letsoalo approved the contract against a bid evaluation committee’s recommendation.
The Sunday Times reported that a preliminary SIU report allegedly “implicated Letsoalo in possible wrongdoing” in the contract.
“The CEO will be on special leave until the conclusion of the relevant investigations by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), or such earlier date as the board may determine,” Msibi said.
“The board has indicated that this is a precautionary measure and does not constitute disciplinary action or presumption of guilt.”
Msibi said the decision was taken as a precautionary step, but “does not imply any prejudgment or adverse finding against the CEO”.
The RAF has appointed Phathutshedzo Lukhwareni as acting CEO.
The move to place Letsoalo on leave comes after reports that the SIU faced issues in its investigation while he remained in office, a claim he denied.
Briefing the media last month, Letsoalo committed to giving the SIU access to his bank statements to prove he “is not corrupt”.
The SIU had requested bank statements from the RAF management, including Letsoalo, for its investigation.
‘Sleep nicely’
“They can accuse me of anything, but not that one [corruption]. I sleep nicely at night even when the police pass by,” he said.
He said the RAF followed all legal requirements in the R79m lease.
“They asked for the bank accounts and we will make them available. I am willing to give them my bank account; I do not have a problem. We will probably need advice from lawyers, but, from my side, I do not have a problem as long as they will not be leaked.”
Letsoalo, whose term comes to an end in August, said the whistle-blower who made allegations against him was a disgruntled former employee who left the entity after being charged with sexual harassment.
The RAF signed a contract with Mowana Properties, which manages a property portfolio owned by the Government Employees Pension Fund, to move RAF’s Johannesburg regional office, which was situated in Marble Towers, in the CBD.
In approving the lease, the RAF obtained approval from the National Treasury, and the auditor-general did not flag the contract as irregular, Letsoalo contended.
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