DA requests investigation into astronomical 30% RAF Executive bonuses

Documents in possession of the Democratic Alliance reveal that the Road Accident Fund (RAF) has proposed to its Board an astronomical 30% bonus for its Executives.

Additionally, it is proposed that all staff at the RAF will receive bonuses far above inflation. This despite the fact that the Fund is bankrupt and currently unable to pay road accident victims.

While thousands of road accident victims are being denied their claim monies, executives are about to receive astronomical bonuses.

These documents clearly show that bonuses had not been originally budgeted for in light of the R180 billion in outstanding RAF claims which are currently on the books.

The DA will therefore be writing to the Minister of Transport, Joe Maswanganyi, requesting that he investigate this matter, specifically, how bonuses so much higher than the inflation rate can be justified within the current economic climate and given the financial challenges facing the entity.

The responsibility should be firmly placed with the Executives - it is ludicrous that they are proposing a 30% bonus for themselves.

These bonuses are justified by claims that the Minister and the Transport Portfolio Committee had approved predetermined objectives. This is simply untrue - at no stage did the Committee make such an approval. The Committee does not have the power to do so.

The DA will not allow State Owned Entities such as the RAF to serve as perpetual personal piggy-banks for a select connected few when the majority of South Africans wait for the RAF to pay them out what is due to them.

Statement issued by Manny de Freitas MP, DA Shadow Minister of Transport, 2 June 2017