The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) will be “trimming” its senior management just as Transnet did to save costs.
Collins Letsoalo, Acting CEO of PRASA, says the passenger rail operator has a R2, 3 billion of deficits and will collapse by next year if nothing is done to cut back on costs.
He decided to start reducing senior managers because PRASA “simply has too many” of them compared to its employees.
On Friday Transnet announced that managers from levels A to F could apply for voluntary severance packages.
The United National Transport Union (UNTU) confronted Letsoalo at a press conference in Pretoria, where the CEO also known as “Mr. Fix-It”, justified his R5, 9 million salary package while PRASA was offering its employees a 3 % wage increase from 1 April 2017.
“PRASA’s wage bill is extremely high. We need to pay market related salaries, but at the same time, we want to be able to retain employees with scarce skills for the state-owned enterprise,” he says.
According to Letsoalo, the Board of PRASA appointed him on the same salary package his predecessor, Lucky Montana, used to receive. He earned R1,9 million while he was still working for the Department of Transport.
To prove his point, Letsoalo distributed copies of his Letter of Appointment by the PRASA Board and a letter of confirmation of the remuneration package of the Group CEO of PRASA to the media.
“I have 17 000 employees and five CEO’s reporting to me. I will not do this much work for nothing. I am earning what I am entitled to. I remained committed to doing my job although I had to wait four months before I received my salary,” Letsoalo says.
He started working at PRASA in July last year, but only started earning his R5,9 million salary package at the end of November last year.
Letsoalo feels it is unfair for the media to report when he buys new cars. “It is nobody’s business what I do with my money after it is deposited into my bank account. This has affected my family and is undermining the work that I am doing.”
According to him, he was warned that the report in the Sunday Times is part of a media assault on his character. The first of the alleged three reports on him was published yesterday.
“There are people who seek to destabilize PRASA. This is very disappointing. I am not driving a new car, but I am using the one my two predecessors used. My unlimited cell phone contract is my own. I had it from 2013,” he says.
Letsoalo warned those opposing him that he will continue to fight against corruption and nepotism in PRASA.
“There are a lot of hardworking men and women who has put their strength behind me and we have been able to implement our turn-around strategy. No number of media attacks will derail me from this goal,” Letsoalo says.
Steve Harris, General Secretary of UNTU, does not agree with Letsoalo’s reasoning.
“He talks of PRASA’s deficits, but is not prepared to use his so called “Mr. Fix-It” skills, earning the same salary he used to earn at the Department of Transport. If he sets the example for the rest of his management, they could save millions that can be used to give their hard-working employees a proper salary increase,” says Harris.
Harris urged Letsoalo to engage with the Leadership of Organised Labour to try and find solutions for PRASA’s challenges without taking the bread out of employee’s mouths.
For more information phone Harris on 082 566 5516.
Issued on behalf of UNTU by Sonja Carstens, Media and Liaison Officer. For UNTU Press Releases e-mail sonja@untu.co.za or phone 082 463 6806.
