A total of 188 employees suspended in a period of just five years, specialists ‘parachuted’ into top positions and a CEO who was carrying out the functions of the chief claims officer are among the findings contained in a draft report by Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on the Road Accident Fund (RAF).
Scopa's months-long inquiry delved into the RAF's governance, financial management and administration.
Chief among the findings is that an organisational structure review conducted at the RAF in 2021, following the arrival of the now former CEO Collins Letsoalo, left several critical senior positions vacant for prolonged periods; some of which were then occupied by specialists recruited into his office.
These specialists were involved in major policy decisions at the RAF, including an accounting policy change that resulted in the significant understatement of the Claims Liability by more than R300 billion.
In addition, disciplinary action was taken against more than 100 employees in a five-year period. Between 2020 and 2025, a total of 188 RAF employees were placed on suspension.
The report also states that, despite Letsoalo having told the committee that he had security clearance, he had not submitted the required documents to the State Security Agency (SSA) for vetting.
The draft report, which focuses on governance and human resources, follows months of evidence gathering and will form part of a final report that still has to be tabled before the National Assembly for adoption.
Scopa chairperson Songezo Zibi said a separate report would also be tabled on the RAF’s use of external lawyers and the millions of rand spent on legal fees.
“We will then put the evidence that has been gathered before the people who have been implicated before we make our recommendations and then refer it to the National Assembly,” he said.
According to the report, following Letsoalo’s appointment in September 2019, a concerning trend of specialists being appointed to the CEO's office began in May 2020, despite these positions not being provided for in the RAF’s organisational structure at the time.
The specialists were apparently placed in critical positions at the RAF, with the report finding that their appointments were not always made in compliance with the RAF’s policies and standard operating procedures.
“The recruitment of several specialists was influenced by Mr Letsoalo’s pre-existing preferences for specific individuals, creating the appearance that the recruitment process was conducted to legitimise predetermined appointments rather than to facilitate a fair and competitive recruitment process," read the report.
“The Committee observed that specialists were not only advising Mr Letsoalo but were also exercising authority within operational divisions, thereby creating a parallel management structure.”
The key positions subsequently occupied by these specialists were central to major decisions taken by the RAF, including the accounting policy change that resulted in the understatement of the Claims Liability by more than R300 billion.
They were also linked to a failed debt restructuring plan that sought, among other things, to secure a credit facility for the RAF and settle judgment debts.
The report found that the RAF had normalised prolonged employee suspensions by circumventing prescribed human resources procedures, which stipulate that suspensions should generally not exceed six months.
However, some suspensions lasted for more than four years without being finalised.
The RAF’s organisational structures contained in its 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 annual reports also indicated that Letsoalo had assumed the functions of the Chief Claims Officer.
“From the 2023/24 organisational structure, the Committee was particularly concerned about the vacancies and acting appointments in the following positions that are central to the RAF’s operations: Chief Claims Officer, Head: Claims Operations, Head: Legal Services, Head: Enterprise Risk Management, Head: People Management and Head: Revenue and Expenditure Management.”
A detailed list of employees suspended between April 1, 2020, and June 30, 2025, showed that 188 employees had been suspended on various matters.
Of these, 35 employees remained on suspension. Disciplinary hearings for 24 of the 35 were reportedly still in progress, while eight matters were under forensic investigation, two were awaiting outcomes and one was awaiting a sanction report.
The highest-paid employee on suspension was earning R6.58 million a year at task level 18 and had been suspended in August 2021.
A total of 136 employees were terminated following the suspensions.
“Concerningly, for some cases under this category, terminations were successfully contested at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and the Labour Court, but the RAF continued to challenge the matters and did not reinstate the employees. As such, certain former employees continue to litigate or make claims for reinstatement and payment.”
The report also highlights a sharp increase in the RAF’s legal expenditure linked to labour-related matters.
In 2020, legal costs were incurred with three law firms at a total cost of R2.23 million. This increased to R8.34 million in 2021 and R22.21 million in 2022.
The RAF subsequently uplifted the suspensions of 17 of the 188 employees.
ntsikelelo.qoyo@nationalmg.co.za