Suspended RAF CEO Collins Letsoalo claims corruption within the legal fraternity

Suspended Road Accident Fund CEO Collins Letsoalo, during a media briefing held on Saturday, together with chief investment officer Sefotle Modiba, attributed a lot of the problems at the fund to “corruption” within the legal fraternity, which he claimed included the judiciary.

Letsoalo and Modiba, who has also been suspended, said they are being targeted for trying to expose corruption within the fund. The aim of the briefing was to provide “context” into the reasons behind their suspensions.

While Letsoalo is soon due to once again face Judge Nasious Moshoanathe to ask for leave to appeal against the judgment in which the judge refused Letsoalo’s urgent application to immediately be reinstated, Letsoalo was clear that he thought the judge was biased from the start.

He kicked off his part of the media briefing by saying that his and Modiba’s journey at the RAF has been one of victimhood. “We have been victimised all the time. One does not know why. It would seem people want to believe when we arrived at the RAF everything was fine, but that is not true.”

Letsoalo said before he took over in 2020, the RAF was repurposed into a looting vehicle where people could “loot legally.” He referred to one law firm, which he said at the time made R1.2 billion  a year from the fund.

“We are dealing with corruption, which permeates itself across the legal fraternity. Our judiciary comes from the legal fraternity. So the question you must ask yourself is when is this Damascus moment when this plaintiff attorney or panel attorney suddenly becomes a judge and suddenly becomes honest?”

Letsoalo said while he has evidence against the “corrupt” legal fraternity, nobody wants to hear him out. He is told to present his evidence to the Judicial Service Commission, saying that the JSC will, in any event, do nothing about it.

Speaking about him first being placed on special leave and later on suspension, Letsoalo said the reason given was that he did not attend a Scopa meeting on May 28. But, he explained, he was placed on special leave the previous day and told not to attend the Scopa meeting.

“Then they tell me I’m placed on special leave because I did not attend Scopa. It’s absolute nonsense, but certain judges believe they were right,” he said in referring to Judge Moshoanathe’s findings against him during his recent urgent application to have his suspension lifted.

Letsoalo also referred to the fact that his urgent application was moved by the judge president from being heard on the urgent roll to a week later when it was placed on the special motion roll. He said the judge who was due to hear the matter was changed twice – and that the matter was eventually given to Judge Moshoanathe – who issued a scathing judgment against him. He also questioned how, under these circumstances, he was still slapped with a costs order.

But, Letsoalo said, he is a man of integrity and he is ready for the battle to prove that the judiciary has been captured. “I will show you the capture of the judiciary – they close ranks and they change the rules,” he said.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za