Parliament probes explosive corruption claims at Road Accident Fund

702's Bongani Bingwa is joined by SCOPA Chairperson Songezo Zibi.

Listen below:

For years, the Road Accident Fund (RAF) has been accused of mismanagement and dodgy payments, but now things are getting explosive.

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) is probing allegations of outright corruption involving lawyers and judges. 

Suspended executives say they were targeted for whistleblowing, while system 'errors' somehow saw R350 million land in the wrong law firms’ accounts. 

SCOPA says it aims to complete its inquiry by the end of October 2025 and will call witnesses that "include but are not limited to the RAF Board, past and present, RAF executives, whistleblowers, expert witnesses, and directly affected or implicated stakeholders"

Zibi explains what led SCOPA to investigate.

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"There was a lot coming from the RAF, specifically its former CEO Collins Letsoalo, about corrupt judges."

- Songezo Zibi, Chairperson - SCOPA

"We asked for any evidence they have, we asked for case numbers, the court in which the case was held, and why the RAF believes the judge colluded with counsel."

- Songezo Zibi, Chairperson - SCOPA

Zibi says that the 'trove' of documents sent to SCOPA by the RAF contained no substantive evidence pointing to corruption.

"None of them amount to what we asked for... for now, I will assume, maybe they didn't understand the enquiry."

- Songezo Zibi, Chairperson - SCOPA

"Today I am writing back to them for them to be specific because the allegations were quite serious."

- Songezo Zibi, Chairperson - SCOPA

Zibi says he is seeking clarity from the RAF around why it believes there was collusion between the lawyers and the judge concerned.

If no such evidence is forthcoming, he says, it will be for Parliament to see the appropriate sanctions.

Scroll up to listen to the full conversation from Breakfast with Bongani Bingwa.