The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) urges Parliament to lay contempt of court charges against the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Road Accident Fund (RAF), Mr. Collins Letsoalo, for his blatant refusal to appear before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA). It is unacceptable for any current or former public servant, let alone senior executive, to refuse to appear before Parliament, irrespective of the size of their ego or bank balance.
Parliament is a fundamental pillar of South Africa’s constitutional democracy. The legislature is explicitly mandated and required by the Constitution to hold all state officials accountable for their actions, this includes requiring their appearance before parliamentary committees.
The RAF has been a site of grotesque state capture and corruption with billions siphoned off by senior management and road accident lawyers. This has seen thousands of working-class claimants denied billions of Rands due to compensate them for medical and rehabilitation expenses as well as relief for loss of income. SCOPA’s public hearings on the RAF have shone a shameful spotlight on a reign of terror against its employees who have sought to block and blow the whistle on corruption.
SCOPA is well within its right to summon the former CEO to account for his role in the chaos that is the RAF. The Power, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures empower parliamentary committees to subpoena any persons to answer questions and account for their actions. These subpoenas have equal standing in law as a court summons. Failure by any person to honour these is equivalent to contempt of court. Parliament must now act to have the former CEO charged with contempt, and if needs be, arrested and physically dragged before SCOPA.
It will not only be illegal but set a very dangerous precedent and expose Parliament to a constitutional crisis if this circus is allowed to continue. Parliament must act and send a clear message of dire consequences to any delinquent seeking to undermine the Constitution or Parliament, or any miscreant attempting to resuscitate the state capture project.
It is equally critical that government led by the African National Congress and the Minister for Transport, Ms. Barbara Creecy, intensify their efforts to cleanse the state of corruption, including addressing the mismanagement and chaos at the RAF. We similarly urge the Minister to expedite the tabling of the RAF and Road Accident Benefits Scheme Bills at Cabinet and Parliament, as part of placing the RAF on a sustainable path and to ensure that its limited resources are dispensed in a manner that prioritises the working class and the poor.
COSATU will continue to demand and agitate for the RAF to be cleansed of the cancers of state capture and corruption.
Issued by COSATU
Matthew Parks (COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator)
Mobile: 082 785 0687
Email: matthew@cosatu.org.za