SCOPA Chair Songezo Zibi Says Subpoenaing Witnesses Is A “Last Resort” Amid RAF Inquiry

Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) chairperson, Songezo Zibi, has made it clear that issuing subpoenas to force witnesses to testify before the committee will only be used as a last resort.

His remarks follow Friday’s SCOPA discussions surrounding former Road Accident Fund (RAF) CEO Collins Letsoalo, who has set several conditions before agreeing to testify.

Parliament intends to hear from Letsoalo in early November, after former RAF board members and executives have given their testimony.

Letsoalo Challenges SCOPA’s Authority Over RAF Inquiry

In his correspondence to Parliament, Letsoalo questioned SCOPA’s authority to conduct an inquiry into the RAF, arguing that it should instead collaborate with the Portfolio Committee on Transport.

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Ntombovuyo Mente expressed partial agreement with Letsoalo’s view, saying the committee’s hearings had turned into “character assassination” and were providing “false hope” to witnesses who raised concerns about unfair labour practices — issues that, she noted, fell outside SCOPA’s jurisdiction.

“We are hearing things that can’t do absolutely nothing about them, and if we want to rescue this situation, my suggestion would be let’s have a joint inquiry with the portfolio committee of transport, not them as invitees,” Mente said.

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Responding to Mente’s concerns, Zibi warned that forming a joint inquiry would cause unnecessary delays to the committee’s oversight process.

“I really want to assure members, we really, with everybody, have been quite accommodating, and when I look at what other committees do, people get told to come on a certain date, and they must come,” he said.

SCOPA confirmed that it would write once more to Letsoalo, urging him to appear voluntarily before the committee on the scheduled dates, rather than resorting to a subpoena.

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