Collins Letsoalo, the former CEO of the Road Accident Fund (RAF), was obsessed with power and would instruct his state-supplied bodyguards to work on his farm, send them shopping for his wife and family, and make them drive him to his girlfriend’s house.

He would at times send guards to shopping for his wife.

These allegations are contained in an affidavit by Stephens Msiza, the RAF manager of security, who testified on Wednesday before parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), which is investigating the RAF’s financial and governance failures.

In his affidavit, Msiza accused Letsoalo of abusing his power and using the RAF’s coffers for personal gain. He said Letsoalo ran parallel security structures to humiliate and intimidate him for refusing to adhere to his instructions.

“The guards raised repeated complaints about being instructed to perform duties unrelated to their security function, including farm-related work such as fetching equipment, …[tending to] livestock and transporting material,” Msiza’s submitting.

Msiza said Letsoalo forced the purchase of a R4.4m armoured vehicle despite objections by the RAF’s CFO, Bernice Potgieter. At the time, Letsoalo was using nine bodyguards.

He said Letsoalo told him in January last year that there was a “hit on him” and he needed the armoured vehicle. Msiza said he approached Potgieter for an emergency procurement, but the suggestion was initially rejected.

“I requested that he [Letsoalo] minimise his movements until the vehicle is bought. He didn’t want to listen; instead, he would push that he needed that vehicle, his life was in danger,” Msiza said in his affidavit.

The guards raised repeated complaints about being instructed to perform duties unrelated to their security function, including farm-related work such as fetching equipment, …[tending to] livestock and transporting material.

—  Stephens Msiza, RAF manager of security

The car was eventually bought for R4.4m.

“It was a relief for me, since I was told several times that I was failing him, I was compromising him, and his family,” Msiza said. “It was a relief because I knew it was going to reduce the number of close protection officers (CPOs) deployed. When I told him about reducing the number to two guards, I was attacked and told that the vehicle procured exposes him when he has to open a gate at his girlfriend’s estate.”

Msiza said Letsoalo flouted internal policies, instructing the guards to extend their deployment to his house and personal engagements.

“Due to the former CEO’s frequent movements, it became extremely tiring for the team. Drivers and CPOs complained of the long hours worked, particularly when ordered and forced, even when off-duty, to continue assignments.

“They’d go to his residence daily by 5am and remain outside for 15 hours a day, often under harsh weather conditions, without access to kitchen facilities or resting areas,” he said.

“On several occasions, the former CEO could not resist using staff, [for example] commanding them to family activities, [and] messaging after hours for non-security or private errands. These orders created a hostile working [environment], a coercive act of supply and emergency. These irregular orders led to exhaustion.”

On one occasion, the guards were forced to escort Letsoalo’s son to an event in Mpumalanga at the state’s expense. Guards who complained about exhaustion were reprimanded and subjected to unjustified disciplinary measures, while some were threatened with dismissal.

“The former CEO used to threaten dismissal because they refused to perform personal and unlawful errands that were unrelated to [their] operational scope,” he said.

In closing, Msiza said that had it not been for the intensive police training he received earlier in his career, he would not have coped.

Contacted for comment, Letsoalo said: “You can write whatever you want to write about me, I don’t care, and I am not interested.”

Scopa chair Songezo Zibi this week summoned Letsoalo to appear before the committee.

Zibi said the summons was issued on the advice of parliament’s legal adviser because Letsoalo had ignored a final letter offering him the opportunity to appear voluntarily.

— Additional reporting by Koena Mashale

Sowetan