Transport Minister objects to DA’s request for RAF investigation

At this week’s Transport Portfolio Meeting the Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, chastised the Democratic Alliance (DA) for laying criminal charges against Road Accident Fund (RAF) CEO, Dr Eugene Watson. This week the DA laid criminal charges and also wrote to the Minister requesting for her to launch an investigation into the RAF and its CEO. These charges and the letter were as a result of evidence in the possession of the DA that appears to document large-scale fraud allegedly taking place at the RAF. The evidence, in the form of letters from complaint attorneys to claimants, illustrate how the RAF essentially appears to sue itself in order to maintain a certain cash flow. This delays claims made by road crash victims. Based on the documents leaked to us, as well as investigations that we undertook, appears to be fraud and injustice at the highest level. Although the Minister admitted in the Portfolio Committee Meeting that she had not yet seen the DA’s letter, she reprimanded the DA members of the Committee for laying the charges and for even writing to her. This is of great concern as she is clearly protecting Eugene Watson without even considering the evidence that we have provided her as she claims that the DA is “governing through the courts and the police”. Unbelievably, the Minister stated that any fraud allegation “should be handled in the Portfolio Committee and not in courts with charges and waste the time of police” and that they (the police) “are going to take ten years to investigate this case”. Considering that these statements were made without being prompted by the DA, we will be again writing to the Minister asking her to confirm that, based on what she said, if she will not be following our recommendations to launch an investigation, particularly as she appears to have made up her mind without considering the evidence. If this is indeed the case, we are even more concerned that she has made such a decision in such an uninformed manner and will request her to explain her reasons for this.