The Department of Transport (DoT) has welcomed the appointment of Collins Letsoalo as acting group CEO of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), effective immediately.
Letsoalo was moving from his position as CFO at the DoT, assuming the role until PRASA’s board resolved several issues, inhibiting the appointment of a group CEO over the next few months.
“The board, in consultation with the Transport Minister, came to the conclusion that the operational environment at PRASA was not conducive to the appointment of the group CEO,” PRASA said in a statement.
PRASA noted that any new group CEO would have found “a detrimental environment” that would not enable a focus on the core mandate of ensuring the provision of effective, efficient and affordable rail services.
“Their time would be taken up by the many issues that remain unresolved,” said the rail agency.
“We believe that the secondment of the CFO will bring with it the necessary financial prudence, acute management skills and necessary strategic leadership, which will be complimented by the human capital currently in existence within the agency,” the department stated.