South African Transport Minister Barbara Creecy on 15 July dissolved the 11-member board of the Road Accident Fund, saying persistent governance and operational failures had crippled the state insurer’s ability to meet its statutory mandate. The department cited costly litigation over accounting standards, deep divisions among directors, mishandling of chief executive Collins Letsoalo’s suspension, frequent default judgments that swelled contingent liabilities and an ongoing failure to fill critical posts. Creecy has asked Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to appoint an interim accounting authority and will assemble an independent panel to recommend reforms while a new board is recruited. She also requested the Special Investigating Unit to consider widening its corruption probe into the fund’s recent activities. The minister’s move follows intensifying parliamentary scrutiny. In late June, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts launched the first formal inquiry of the seventh Parliament to examine allegations of maladministration, financial mismanagement and wasteful expenditure at the RAF, adopting its terms of reference on 1 July. The fund, financed through a fuel levy to compensate road-crash victims, has faced years of financial distress. CEO Letsoalo was placed on special leave in May amid accusations that include a disputed R79 million office lease. Lawmakers and regulators say the governance overhaul is aimed at restoring stability to an entity considered vital for road-accident compensation and at protecting public finances.
[WATCH] Independent analyst Khaya Sithole says the RAF board played a role in its dissolution due to channels of accountability being broken down. On Tuesday, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy dissolved the RAF board, citing ongoing governance and operational problems that have https://t.co/CJVmAkSLpG
The Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, has taken decisive action by dissolving the board of directors of the Road Accident Fund (RAF), citing ongoing governance and operational challenges that have severely hindered the entity's ability to fulfil its legislative https://t.co/kdkE48B8Kc
Creecy dissolves beleaguered RAF board https://t.co/q8d1sUB9E7 https://t.co/XofssIvlsr