RAF ready to cooperate with SIU probe into property deal for its Joburg office

JOHANNEBSURG - The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has said that it’s ready to lay everything bare as it prepares to make formal submissions to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

This follows media reports linked to a preliminary SIU investigation questioning a property deal involving the fund’s Johannesburg offices.

But the RAF said the reports were based on what it called a "smear campaign" led by a former employee who left under a cloud of sexual harassment and misconduct allegations.

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Briefing the media on Monday, RAF CEO Collins Letsoalo said this individual had posed as a whistleblower, taking untested claims to multiple platforms, including the public protector.

At the heart of the controversy is the RAF's move to Marble Towers in Johannesburg CBD, a lease arranged through state-owned property managers after years of failed attempts to relocate.

The fund insists the move followed all legal and procurement processes and was signed off by the office of the chief procurement officer.

“We are unperturbed, because ours was a mission, a mission to assist in the sustainability of the RAF," said Letsoalo.

Letsoalo added that the deal had already been audited by the auditor-general, with no irregularities found.

While it’s critical of the leaking of preliminary findings, the RAF said it remained fully supportive of the SIU’s work and would cooperate to see the matter through to finality.