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The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has successfully secured 28 convictions through forensic investigations from 2021/22 to 2023/24. The convicted individuals include 22 claimants, a police officer, an RAF employee, three attorneys and touts, as well as a bookkeeper and the ex-wife of one of the arrested attorneys.
Over these three financial years, the RAF’s Forensic Investigation Department carried out preliminary investigations into 8,861 cases, leading to the referral of 1,138 cases to the South African Police Service (SAPS). While these referrals represent extensive investigative efforts, not all of the referred cases are directly connected to the recent arrests and convictions.
Law enforcement agencies made a total of 44 arrests as a result of the RAF’s investigations. Those apprehended included a RAF employee, a police officer, two doctors, three attorneys, and 37 claimants. The offenses ranged from soliciting bribes to expedite claims, theft of trust funds totaling R5 million, filing fraudulent claims worth R48 million, colluding with claimants to submit false claims, and forging medical reports for claimants they had not treated.
RAF CEO Collins Letsoalo highlighted the risk these fraudulent activities pose to the organization. “Criminal activities pose a significant risk to the Fund. These fraudulent claims by various individuals, if paid, could have diverted critical compensation away from deserving road crash survivors and their families, undermining the integrity of the work that the RAF is trying to do. The RAF’s primary responsibility is to ensure that compensation is paid to the legitimate victims of road crashes,” said Letsoalo.
Within the RAF, eight staff members have faced disciplinary action in the last three financial years, with two resigning while investigations were still in progress.
