Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will use the Road Accident Fund (RAF) Parliamentary Inquiry to demand full accountability for the alleged corruption and mismanagement that has crippled the Fund, and to ensure urgent reforms are implemented to protect public finances and restore the RAF’s core mandate to road accident victims.
The RAF represents the single largest contingent liability on South Africa’s balance sheet, standing at R368 billion larger even than Eskom’s liabilities. This poses a direct threat to the country’s financial stability. Putting the RAF back on track is therefore not only critical to safeguarding the rights of accident victims but also to stabilising the state’s fiscal position.
Under former CEO Collins Letsoalo, the RAF unilaterally changed the claims processing system, resulting in the rejection of many legally valid claims. These rejected claims remain valid in law and will ultimately have to be paid, meaning the RAF has likely accumulated billions of rands in unpaid liabilities that are not accurately reflected on its books. This creates a ticking fiscal time bomb that government can no longer ignore.
The DA will pursue two key goals in the Inquiry:
Uncovering alleged corruption and mismanagement- Serious allegations involving hundreds of millions of rands implicate Letsoalo directly. He is alleged to have actively frustrated accountability processes and centralised power to push through irregular changes. However, the inquiry must look beyond one individual. Letsoalo could not have acted alone, and the DA will push for accountability across the RAF’s leadership, management, and oversight structures.
Ensuring the RAF is placed on a sustainable recovery path- The RAF receives roughly R50 billion in levies annually, but its ability to process and defend claims has been severely undermined. Unless decisive action is taken to restore legal and administrative capacity, the state faces a massive escalation in claims costs.
The DA will use this inquiry to ensure consequences for wrongdoers and to force the RAF and the Department of Transport to implement reforms that protect the public purse.
Regards
Patrick Atkinson MP
DA Spokesperson on SCOPA