SCOPA's Zibi says inquiry into RAF a bid to understand systemic problems at entity

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) says it’s clearing the backlog of thousands of unprocessed claims but in many cases, claimants are just trying their luck and were never injured in a vehicle accident.

It's day one of a parliamentary inquiry into malfeasance at the fund.

Deputy minister of transport, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, said the inquiry was running parallel to a legislative review conducted by the department and new legislation to govern the fund was just about ready to be tabled to Cabinet for approval.

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This is the first inquiry conducted by the Standing Committee of Public Accounts (SCOPA) in the seventh administration into the finances and governance at the beleaguered fund.

It follows several visits by this committee in the previous administration led by the former committee chairperson, now Deputy Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa, which witnessed disorganisation at RAF offices, with boxes of claims stacked along the walls of offices.

SCOPA chairperson Songezo Zibi said this probe was not necessarily intended to apportion blame on individuals, but to understand the systemic problems that could lead to recommendations on changes that could be made.

"When people hear the word inquiry, they sometimes think somebody will be found guilty at the end of it."

The fund has not met the deadline to submit an annual report to Parliament this year, with Hlengwa promising to do so by Friday. 

"There were matters that were not concluded in the audit process by the entity and the auditor-general and we’ve asked for late submission."

The inquiry has begun with six RAF officials, mostly all in an acting capacity, explaining the claims process to MPs.