Parliamentary inquiry into finances and governance at RAF to get underway

An inquiry into finances and governance at the Road Accident Fund (RAF) is one of two parliamentary inquiries set to start on Tuesday.

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) will probe the finances and governance at the entity which has led to the backlogs and suspected fraud claims process.

SCOPA said the inquiry was necessitated by the entity not providing it with credible information after a year of scrutiny.

The tenure of former RAF CEO, Collins Letsoalo, ended in August while he was on suspension for snubbing this committee.

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The RAF inquiry is not set to hear evidence from witnesses for at least another week.

The committee will start its inquiry over three days this week, with orientation presentations from the fund, the Department of Transport, under which it falls, and the offices of the chief procurement officer, accountant-general, the auditor-general and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

The inquiry will then focus its attention on the backlog of unpaid and rejected claims as well as inefficiencies in the process.

Allegations of corruption involving law firms and judges are also on the agenda, as well as the protracted suspension of employees without resolution.

Next week, the committee will investigate procurement matters, including the awarding of legal, media and marketing contracts worth a billion rand.

During the three-month planning phase for this inquiry, the committee received just shy of 100 submissions to guide its investigation.

"Through this inquiry, SCOPA seeks to uncover the root causes of the RAF's persistent financial problems and ensure accountability for how public funds are spent and managed," said committee chairperson Songezo Zibi.

Zibi said that previously, the committee planned to call both former and present board members and executives of the fund to get a full picture of where the problems started.