'All is not well at RAF', says Hlengwa as he orders board to appear before Parly when asked to do so

CAPE TOWN - Deputy Transport Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa has read the Road Accident Fund (RAF) the riot act, saying he would not tolerate its board and executives dodging Parliament.

Hlengwa told Parliament's transport committee on Tuesday that "all is not well" at the entity and he expected management to be accountable to Parliament.

On Tuesday, the board said it had suspended CEO Collins Letsoalo over his refusal to attend last week’s meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), which has been probing a range of irregularities at the fund.

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The RAF board said it felt it was unfair to have to answer to findings unearthed by investigations of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in Parliament when it had not been briefed by the SIU prior to the meeting.

But Deputy Minister Hlengwa, a former SCOPA chairperson, said that he had ordered the board to come to Parliament when asked to do so. 

"When so much is wrong in the country, we cannot be seen to be avoiding accountability. I indicated to the board, that go and ventilate those issues at the SCOPA meeting, so that Parliament can have a holistic outlook of the set of circumstances around these investigations."

Hlengwa said that he would meet with the board next week to deal with some of its issues. 

"All is not well at RAF, on a number of fronts."

Hlengwa said he'd also instructed the board to drop its persistence on challenging the auditor-general on the accounting standard used at the fund, following three adverse judgments in the courts.