Outspoken Road Accident Fund (RAF) chief executive Collins Letsoalo, who has been under siege since taking over the role five years ago, wants a commission of inquiry on court matters involving the multi-billion rand organisation.
Letsoalo believes his biggest sin was to get rid of the panel of greedy and corrupt attorneys that were raking in billions of rands by defending the organisation in court before his arrival the RAF.
During a tell-all interview with Sunday World Engage, Letsoalo claimed that his resolve to do away with that panel made him persona non grata within the legal fraternity and blamed some lawyers and even judges for the attacks on him.
In his view, it was no coincidence that since his unpopular decision, several courts have been harsh on the RAF, specifically to the point of being slapped with personal costs orders on matters involving the organisation, where he believes he was acting in good faith.
Letsoalo, who implicated at least three judges in the saga, told Sunday World he is convinced that certain members of the judiciary are too compromised when it comes to the RAF to preside over matters with an open mind.
“It is my view that there must [be] some sort of a commission of inquiry on court matters relating to the RAF. But it must not be headed by any of the retired judges. It must be someone [from] outside [the legal fraternity], someone independent, someone who can bring an open mind. It may well be systemic bias in the system. This systemic bias is now hitting us as individuals who work at RAF.”
Pressed on why he has not reported the alleged incidents, which all happened more than two years ago, to the Judicial Service Commission, Letsoalo said it was a catch-22 situation.
“The RAF at the time was in the middle of very big legal battles. I am not naïve; they were going to rule against us left, right and centre. And there was nothing we could do at that point. Remember, no one trusted what we were saying; our credibility was very low because people were saying things about us. I did not think it would go this far.”
Letsoalo says the genesis of all his and the RAF’s problems is their decision to terminate the panel of attorneys, thus stopping a long-standing fleecing of the RAF by lawyers, some of whom have graduated to the bench.
“I have been saying the legal fraternity gives us judges, some of them, including judge [name withheld] who used to run a law firm, which was part of the panel we disposed of.
“At the time we were disposing of the panel, [one of the applicants in that was her former law firm [of the judge presiding on the case. Now you can understand there is something wrong with that.”
Letsoalo is adamant that before he arrived at the RAF, it was open season for lawyers from both sides – for the fund as well as claimants, and his coming up with strategies to halt the gravy train turned him into an enemy for many.
