RAF defends CEO amid national shutdown threat
THE Road Accident Fuund (RAF) has rubbished allegations of the entity’s mismanagement and defended its CEO Collins Letsoalo in the wake of a threat of a national shutdown of its offices by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa).
The response comes after Numsa issued a 48-hour notice to mobilise its members for a shutdown of all the RAF’s offices as of today, over the alleged continuous mismanagement of the entity by the CEO.
The union said it would also march to the offices of the National Department of Transport in Pretoria, to deliver a memorandum of demands to Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga. Their chief demand will be for the removal of Letsoalo, as the union blamed the CEO’s arrogance and poor decision making for having led to the “disastrous state” of the entity, to the detriment of clients and employees.
Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim complained of the growing number of issues at the entity, including its inability to pay out claimants on time, resulting in assets routinely being attached; and the internal call centre being shut down, only for the entity to outsource the function. This was to the tune of more than R200million for 13 months to a company that had a history of benefiting hugely from government tenders.
Jim also accused the CEO of continuing to implement restructuring even after having abandoned the formal, lawful restructuring process which was under the auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, during February 2023.
“Letsoalo is single-handedly destroying the RAF. He believes that no one will hold him accountable for his shocking behaviour,” Jim added.
McIntosh Polela, RAF head of corporate communications, said the fund was alerted to the allegations against its head, and disagreed wholeheartedly with the union.
“The RAF has seen the allegations from Numsa; we disagree with them. We also disagree with their intention to strike. An attack on the CEO is unfortunate and unwarranted. The RAF is not a one-man show, it’s an organisation. It is therefore disingenuous to attack one person.
“The changes currently taking place are part of the 2020-2025 strategy to turn around the RAF. These changes were approved at the level of the board and shareholder, and the Department of Transport,” added Polela.
The spokesperson said an agreement was made between the union and the RAF that matters of discipline were not collective bargaining matters, but rather a managerial prerogative, he said.
“Disagreements in the workplace happen all the time, but management will continue to do its work and likewise Numsa will continue to carry out its duties of protecting workers.”