Collins Letsoalo suspended as CEO of the Road Accident Fund amid corruption allegations
Letsoalo, who appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) this morning, was suspended with full pay.
He has been implicated in several allegations of financial mismanagement and corruption, primarily centred around a controversial R79 million lease deal for the offices in Johannesburg.
A preliminary report by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) found that Letsoalo interfered with the procurement process by overturning a bid committee's recommendation to favour Mowana Properties, a losing bidder linked to the Government Employees Pension Fund, which ultimately secured the lease agreement.
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Nsfas R2.5m head office delays prolong terminating lease
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ALSO READ: Higher education minister withdraws appointment of Seta board chairpersons Nsfas board distances itself from previous decisions The current Nsfas leadership has distanced itself from the controversial agreement, emphasising that the lease arrangement preceded the board's appointment. Despite this, board members acknowledged their duty to address inherited problems. 'While this lease predates the appointment of the current Nsfas Board, the Board remains committed to its core mandate of implementing a comprehensive turnaround strategy founded on transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility.' Reform strategy underway The agency outlined extensive measures being implemented to prevent similar situations in the future. As part of this strategy, the scheme vowed to uphold a zero-tolerance policy towards wastage, fraud, and corruption. Nsfas added that 'any irregular contracts will be terminated in strict adherence to established due process.' 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According to a May 7 presentation to parliament's higher education portfolio committee, the agency is pursuing multiple contract cancellations in court. The organisation confirmed it has begun implementing recommendations from both the Auditor-General and the SIU as core elements of its institutional transformation Programme. These reforms encompass technology system improvements, enhanced contract oversight, and strengthened internal governance mechanisms. ALSO READ: No party favourites: Minister defends appointment of Mantashe's son to Seta board Future vision despite current challenges Despite ongoing financial and legal complications, Nsfas leadership maintained its commitment to the organisation's fundamental mission of supporting disadvantaged students' educational aspirations. 'Nsfas envisions a future where every eligible student, regardless of background, has equitable access to transformative education,' officials stated in their recent parliamentary report. 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a day ago
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The Citizen
2 days ago
- The Citizen
Two law firms get lion's share of RAF's R103m legal services spend
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Zibi said Malatji & Co in particular received 'an incredibly disproportionate portion of the work allocated by the RAF'. Source: RAF presentation to Scopa, 28 May 2025 This information was initially not made available to Scopa and was only provided after committee chair Songezo Zibi complained that it had twice requested information about the top 10 law firms that received briefs from the RAF and accused the fund of deliberately withholding this information from the committee for improper reasons. ALSO READ: RAF CEO placed on special leave with full pay, as MPs grill fund Law firm selection Acting RAF CEO Phathutshedzo Lukhwareni said a panel of 43 law firms was appointed by the RAF in December 2023 but only 19 were briefed and paid during the 2023 and 2024 financial years 'at the time of preparing the report [presentation]'. Lukhwareni said the RAF has a panel of law firms and the selection takes place depending on the complexity of the matter. 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The Sars matter involved an application to stop and prevent the tax collection authority from deducting R5.1 billion – or any part of this amount from the RAF levies it collects – to pay Eskom in terms of a settlement agreement between Sars and the power utility. ALSO READ: R25.5 billion deficit over five years — Can RAF afford to pay out claims? Repeat business despite repeated failure Zibi requested Kumalo to provide Scopa with a detailed breakdown by the close of business on Thursday of the fees paid to the two firms, including attorney fees, party-party costs, the cost of counsel and punitive costs orders against the RAF. 'The reason I want this is that you have persistently been clobbered on the AG matter by a law firm you continue to pay and see absolutely no reason to seek another law firm,' he said. Deputy Minister of Transport Mkhuleko Hlengwa said they must not be ignorant to the fundamental risk which prevails at the RAF because of the lawyers. 'The abuse of the system and the leakages of the money not reaching claimants in part is a result of the construct of the RAF. 'Why are we spending so much money on legal fees?,' he asked. 'We should be spending it on claimants because the whole system is fundamentally structured in a way which is problematic, hence the bill that we will be bringing … to parliament.' ALSO READ: RAF national crisis demands urgent action – expert Malatji responds Approached for comment about how the firm was able to receive such high fees from the RAF and if it has had any engagements with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), Tebogo Malatji – MD of Malatji & Co Attorneys – told Moneyweb the firm has no way of knowing how the RAF decides to appoint attorneys on matters and what criteria it uses to do so. 'We are thus unable to tender the explanation you seek and suggest that you direct the question to the RAF. As the two directors primarily responsible for the servicing [of] the RAF, I have 31 years practice experience and Ms Sunelle Eloff, 24 years,' he said. 'We have personal injury law experience from the time that we started practice, have acted for the RAF for the most part of our practice lifespan and are therefore experts in the field. 'We are also one of the leading public law specialist firms in the country. 'We can only but speculate that the reasons the RAF instructed us in each instance that they did must have something to do with our years of experience, expertise and suitability for the matter at hand,' said Malatji. 'We have acted for the RAF in several of their most complex matters assisted by senior and junior counsel from the Bar and that accounts for the high value of payments to our firm displayed. 'Moreover, the figures displayed at Scopa as being payments to our firm consist primarily of counsel/advocates and other disbursements and to a lesser extent fees to our firm,' he added 'Until we are confronted with the actual number of instructions issued by RAF to its panel attorneys, we do not accept your assumption that it is our firm that allegedly received a disproportionate number of instructions.' Malatji added that the SIU has not engaged the firm on this issue. Maponya Ledwaba Attorneys has not responded to a Moneyweb request for comment on these same issues. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
