RAF blocks huge bill of fraudulent claims
FORGED RECORDS IN SCAMS ANC urges SABC to abide by law
ALMOST half a billion rands worth of fraudulent claims were detected by the Road Accident Fund (RAF) in the current financial year before payments were finalised.
Some of these claims ranged from car accidents that never took place to exaggerated medical reports where a doctor colludes with the claimant.
The RAF’s annual report for April 2015 to March 2016 shows that the state entity’s forensic unit blocked claims totalling R424-million made from a total of 612 fraudulent applications.
The report also revealed that 813 cases had been referred to the police and 136 arrests were made, leading to 118 successful convictions.
A total of 612 claims totaling R198-million were rejected based on false representation.
Even though fraud cases were spread across the country, the RAF received the most tip-offs from Gauteng and KwaZuluNatal.
The forensic unit is a multidisciplinary wing that has 80 staff including lawyers and other investigators.
RAF chief executive Eugene Watson said the entity was targeted by lawyers and doctors who collude with claimants to fleece the organisation’s funds. The RAF also works closely with police and the National Prosecuting Authority.
The entity has a revenue of R33.2-billion, with R32.3-billion provided for claims. During April 2015 to March 2016 a total of 188 864 new claims were received and 188 759 were finalised, a rate of 715 claims finalised per working day.
“These people know that we receive a big budget to protect and cover our road users. But they [lawyers] see it as an easy way to make a quick buck. Even some of our employees are party to the scams,” Watson said.
The RAF had 143 investigations of its employees, and 46 were cases of misconduct and fraud. In those 46 cases, 14 employees resigned while facing a probe, 21 were put on suspension while 29 were convicted.
“It is unfortunate that our work is based on something that happened in the past. We therefore rely on things such as doctor’s medical and police accident reports to assess claims.
“Sometimes we find out that these documents are doctored or that the incident actually never happened. In some cases doctors exaggerate the claimant’s injuries in their medical reports or the claimant suddenly has more dependants, or they increase their past income in order to influence the payout amount,” Watson said.
He said the forensic unit was bringing value to the entity.
“They have saved us half a billion rands. We are headed in the right direction but there is room to improve,” Watson said. THE ANC has called on the SABC to comprehensively account for the state of the public broadcaster and its reported recent problems.
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa yesterday urged parliament to summon the SABC leadership.
The ruling party has noted the decision by the Western Cape High Court and the recent endorsement made by the Supreme Court of Appeal, in relation to the appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as SABC’s chief operating officer.
“The ANC echoes the call made by the Presidency that the ANC-led government remains committed to respecting court rulings and would fully abide by the undertaking to that effect made in a meeting with the judiciary last year,” Kodwa said.
“The ANC believes that there is an indisputable link between good governance and compliance with the law, and, accordingly, urges the SABC to ensure that it upholds the Western Cape High Court ruling.”
The DA had given the SABC until yesterday to clarify what Motsoeneng’s role was after his lawyer said he was an ordinary employee.
In 2014, public protector Thuli Madonsela found that Motsoeneng lied about his qualifications when he applied for the COO position.
Madonsela also noted that he had also increased his annual salary from R1.5million to R2.4-million, respectively.
The ANC said the SABC board owe the corporation not only their fiduciary duties, but also the responsibility to provide effective leadership based on an ethical foundation.