A former senior manager at the Road Accident Fund (RAF) on Friday shed light on why disciplinary proceedings took an extremely long period of time, with employees being on suspension with full pay.

Testifying at the Standing Committee on Public Accounts’ (Scopa) parliamentary inquiry into the affairs of the RAF, Ian Barriel said one of the reasons was that the entity outsourced the investigations.

“We had a panel of investigators from a legal and compliance perspective. They could do any investigation where there is serious misconduct and it’s a major offence, and then in itself, takes time as the charges would be brought about post the investigation,” Barriel said.

He also said the RAF would appoint an independent chairperson for a disciplinary hearing, and the matter would be initiated internally.

“That would take some time, but I am aware, chair, and I can confirm that cases within the Road Accident Fund took an extraordinary length of time to conclude, based on the time it takes for the investigation, based on charges to be put before the employee, and then the actual sitting of the formal disciplinary hearing.”

Scopa instituted the inquiry last month to look into maladministration, financial impropriety, and misuse of public funds at the RAF.

It had found scores of employees on suspension as far back as 2021 and who were yet to be served with charges to appear in disciplinary hearings.

This came at a huge cost to the RAF as the employees were paid, and other people acted in their places while paid acting allowances.

Barriel added that the disciplinary hearings were dependent on the particular calendar of the external chairpersons and attorneys appointed to initiate on behalf of the RAF.

“All those factors combined and considering that we have outsourced the actual management of the formal disciplinary hearing itself, the matters did take extra length of time to conclude,” he said.

Barriel told the inquiry that there were instances where recommendations would be made for the employee to return to work, and those would not be executed by line managers.

“A recommendation would be made to say, there’s the investigation. The outcome of the investigation is that there were no material findings against the employee or following a CCMA particular process that the CCMA has found the employee did not transgress.”

Instead of allowing their return, the RAF would take the matter under review even after a recommendation for the employee to return to work.

Barriel said the employees were not returned to work because of a lack of appetite to bring back the employee, especially if the employee was deemed as anti-transformational.

“There would not be an appetite to bring the employee back into the organisation. I cannot speculate on that. What I can confirm is instances where we have made recommendations for employees to return to work that it was not executed by line managers, and that instruction may have come from the CEO himself, in some instances,” he said.

Barriel explained that the outsourcing of the chairpersons and initiators of disciplinary hearings was introduced during the tenure of former CEO Collins Letsoalo.

“That was the rationale advanced by the CEO at that time, the former CEO, that we cannot prosecute ourselves. We are conflicted. So one would need an external party to adjudicate and manage the particular process,” he added.

Hours after Barriel gave his testimony at the Scopa’s inquiry, the board of the RAF placed the acting chief executive officer, CFO, chief governance officer, and the head of the Office of the CEO on precautionary suspension with immediate effect.

In a statement, the RAF said the precautionary suspension was taken to allow for an independent and unhindered investigation into certain administrative and governance matters within the organisation.

“These precautionary measures do not in any way constitute a finding of wrongdoing against the affected officials but are intended to ensure the integrity and transparency of the investigative process. However, it reflects the board’s determination to act in the best interests of the organisation, safeguard public trust, and uphold the highest standards of ethical conduct in the management of public funds.”

The RAF also said interim arrangements have been put in place to ensure business continuity and that the entity continues to deliver on its mandate.

“The board assures all stakeholders, claimants, and partners that the Fund’s operations remain stable and that service delivery continues uninterrupted.”

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za

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