RAF blew over R100m on lawyers for suspensions, SCOPA hears

By Simon Nare

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has heard how the Road Accident Fund (RAF) spent millions of rands on external lawyers to handle labour disputes involving suspended employees, an approach MPs said contributed to wasteful expenditure.

Former RAF senior human resources manager Motlhoding Letsoalo testified that the fund paid “exorbitant fees” to private attorneys for disciplinary matters that could have been handled internally at no cost.

The committee was told that over the past five years, the RAF spent R100 million or more on legal fees arising from what witnesses described as reckless suspensions and labour disputes.

Letsoalo, the suspended head of the CEO’s office, Mpho Manyasha, and suspended chief governance officer Mampe Kumalo appeared before Scopa as the inquiry entered its seventh week.

Letsoalo, who clarified that he has no relation to former CEO Collins Letsoalo, told MPs that senior managers simply refused to participate