CAPE TOWN, South Africa, May 28, 2025/APO Group/ --

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) has instructed the minster to take urgent steps to restore the effectiveness of governance systems at the Road Accident Fund (RAF). The RAF Chief Executive Officer, Mr Collins Letsoalo, was placed on special leave on Monday, 26 May 2025.

The committee has a litany of concerns, which include but are not limited to:

The decision to place the CEO on special leave was taken by the board yesterday and announced to SCOPA by the Deputy Minister of Transport Mr Mkhuleko Hlongwa today in a meeting that was meant to discuss updates on the ongoing SIU investigations at RAF.

RAF board Chairperson, Ms Zanele Francois, told SCOPA that the reason for the CEO special leave was due to a disagreement over whether the RAF should agree to account to Parliament, the content of the presentation and potential conflict in relation to the ongoing SIU investigation.

The committee has instructed the board to provide comprehensive reasons in writing to the committee within a week.

SCOPA has resolved to recall RAF to return with detailed explanations regarding the special leave of the CEO, a breakdown of spending on cases with a list of law firms, attorney and council fees.

“The Road Accident Fund is funded by taxpayers. It is unacceptable that any official thereof refuses to account to Parliament in the manner we have experienced during the past week. It is also unacceptable that the institution can accumulate billions in default judgments due to its failure to manage litigation properly, leaving the institution vulnerable to expensive default judgments that accumulate interest taxpayers must pay,” said Songezo Zibi, the Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.