Molefe to sue over axing

Axed Passenger Rail Agency of SA board chairman Popo Molefe has vowed to take legal action against Transport Minister Dipuo Peters for dismissing him.

The board got the axe yesterday following a Sunday Times report that former Prasa acting group CEO Collins Letsoalo had increased his salary by 350%.

Molefe said he had learned of his dismissal through the media.

He said he had given Peters a report on the debacle last week, which she had yet to respond to.

In the report, Molefe said Prasa had received advice that Letsoalo's secondment from the Transport Department was not compliant with policy because it was not approved by the Treasury.

• Popo Molefe to ask courts for help as Prasa board is dissolvedPassenger Rail Agency of South Africa board chairman Popo Molefe is shocked at the dissolution of the board by Parliament on Wednesday‚ after it ousted disgraced Acting CEO Collins Letsoalo.

He told Peters that Letsoalo had acted against the board by increasing his salary by 350%.

"We believe there may have been a misunderstanding that Letsoalo may have been labouring under regarding his role in relation to the board," wrote Molefe.

He recommended that Peters conduct her own investigation to determine Letsoalo's role in his salary increment.

Parliament's portfolio committee on transport resolved yesterday to establish an inquiry into governance challenges at Prasa after a two-day briefing .

Letsoalo was sacked after the Sunday Times report.

The salary hike saw him rake in R5.9-million a year but Prasa's board unanimously agreed to fire Letsoalo after the news story broke.

• MPs call for removal of Prasa boardThe Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) board “must fall” and be investigated‚ say fed up MPs.

Letsoalo claimed the board had confirmed his increase but the board denied this.

The portfolio committee heard claims on Tuesday that the Prasa board was less professional than "a high school tuck shop".

Committee chairman Dikeledi Magadzi said yesterday the resolution to fire the board had not been taken lightly.

"After two days of deliberations the committee still did not have a sense of whether Prasa will be saved," she said, adding that there was no sense that the board was in control of management at thenational rail agency.

Magadzi said the inquiry's terms of reference would be decided at the next committee meeting.