Former RAF board say they didn't approve former CEO's extensive security detail

The former board of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) said they played no role in approving an extensive security detail for former CEO Collins Letsoalo.

They’ve told Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) that they were unaware that he increased the number of bodyguards from six to nine and spent R23 million between 2023 and 2025 on personal security.

Four former board members appeared before SCOPA’s inquiry on Thursday to explain several decisions deemed to have been governance lapses that have sparked the oversight probe.

The committee has previously heard that Letsoalo breached the annual R480,000 limit approved by the board for bodyguards, whom he allegedly even put to work on his farm.

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Former chairperson Zanele Francois said the board was unaware of this.

“At no stage were we aware that this amount was exceeded because if they were, there would have been a request coming back to the board asking for ratification. That would have been the correct process.”

She was backed by former deputy chairperson Nomonde Mabuya-Moloele, who said the board was guided by the then transport director general to determine an appropriate limit for the CEO’s security, and R480,000 per annum appeared reasonable.

“Any other amount, our board did not approve.”

African National Congress (ANC) members of Parliament (MP) Helen Neale-May, however, took a dim view of the responses, questioning why it took whistleblowers to expose the situation.