Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts wants the board of the Road Accident Fund dissolved due to its ongoing defiance of the Auditor-General to revert to the accounting standards it used before 2021.
The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Transport, Lisa Mangcu, who said he would convey the committee's sentiments to Minister Sindi Chikunga, who appoints the board. But Mangcu stopped short of pronouncing who was right and who was wrong in the dispute. Last year, the Auditor-General and the National Treasury instructed the RAF to return to IFRS accounting. Scopa endorsed this. But instead, the RAF commenced litigation against the AG. In September last year, under pressure from Scopa, the RAF said it would withdraw its litigation on the condition that an alternative dispute resolution be followed.
The AG and the Treasury insist that it accounts as an insurer. When treated as an insurer, the RAF's liability, which includes all contingent claims, would sit at R577 billion this year. But, treated as a social security fund in which only the claims that have already been approved and have merit are counted but are not yet paid, the liability is R11 billion.