The Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday said it has decided to institute a parliamentary inquiry into the affairs of the troubled Road Accident Fund (RAF).
Scopa chairperson Songezo Zibi made the proposal that the committee look into matters related to maladministration and allegations made about the institution.
“There are lots of allegations and counter-allegations. Everybody involved needs to get their opportunity to present their side of the story before the committee. We need to give everyone an opportunity and to do so under oath,” Zibi said.
Briefing the MPs, Zibi referred a memorandum to the committee’s secretariat to prepare on issues that have beset the RAF.
“The ministry and RAF sent enormous volume of documents. We synthesise them and prepared a memo and shared with members. The only information redacted is critical whistle blower information.”
In his memorandum, Zibi cited issues related to the organogram and vacancies at the RAF.
He also mentioned the submission of inaccurate, misleading and or false information to Parliament by the entity.
There were also issues related to whistle-blower reports on two media services contracts worth R1 billion, RAF’s acquisition of offices as well as litigation against the Auditor-General and matters of rule of law.
“The information I set out raises numerous and serious concerns about corporate governance at the RAF,” he said.
DA Patrick George Atkinson said the situation at the RAF was deeply concerning.
“The kind of amounts we talk of could dwarf anything this committee has dealt with. It could make SAA look like a tea party by the amounts that are involved and the potential liability created for the state,” Atkinson said.
“If we can get to the bottom of the corruption and waste of money, the increase in a fuel levy might not even be necessary. The public pays for the corruption and maladministration in RAF.
It is critical we get the bottom of it,” he added.
Atkinson noted that there had been discrepancies in what they were told by the RAF and what the whistle-blowers were revealing.
ANC MP Helen Neale-May said there were concerns around governance and conduct of RAF with serious allegations of abuse of power, financial mismanagement and the disregard of legal procedures.
“We have no other choice and let’s see from them. It is just unbelievable,” Neale-May said.
His colleague Gijimani Skosana said the inquiry will assist stakeholders within and outside RAF to tell their stories.
“Everyone will be speaking under oath, unlike now where we invite them for a committee conversation,” Skosana said.
UDM’s Thandi Nontenja said the RAF seemed to be a law unto itself.
“We really support your view that there must be an inquiry. Beside contradicting themselves, they are not forthcoming with information that is requested,” Nontenja said.
“They are hiding something. It is not something good. I hope that having an inquiry will give us a way to get to the root of what is really happening there. It is amazing they get away with everything,” she added.
MK Party’s David Skosana said issues at the RAF touch a nerve of many people in the country and there was a lot of interest there.
“When the CEO told us they saved over R20bn some of us applauded to say he has done well. The fact is that the CEO and team saved this country over R20m,” Skosana said before questioning why certain names of companies were not named in the memorandum.
His colleague Kwenzokuhle Madlala said he did not believe the RAF was performing optimally or that it has proper governance.
“We see total collapse in all the institutions and RAF is not an exception,” he said.
EFF MP Veronica Mente did not see the need to institute an inquiry in RAF as she believed the matters did not warrant an inquiry.
She said there were non-performing municipalities and issues of service delivery, as an example, that could be pursued.
After the parties motivated for and against the parliamentary inquiry, it was decided to push ahead with it.
Zibi said the committee secretariat will draft terms of reference to be considered by Scopa on July 1 and then use the period afterwards to prepare for the inquiry.
He stated that once they completed the inquiry, they will consider all written evidence and testimony and then write a report with recommendations for the House.
