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‘Road Accident Fund officials make greedy lawyers look good’

The Democratic Alliance will on Tuesday lay criminal charges against the CEO of the Road Accident Fund (RAF)‚ Eugene Watson‚ on behalf of all those road accident victims who have waited and are still awaiting payouts.

In a statement‚ the DA said it is in possession of leaked documents – “in the form of letters from complaint attorneys to claimants” — which illustrate how “the RAF essentially appears to sue itself in order to maintain a certain cash flow”.

“This appears to be fraud and injustice at the highest level‚” the statement read‚ and “delays claims made by road crash victims”.

The information the DA has obtained‚ the party said‚ contradicts the RAF’s “ongoing campaign claiming that ‘lawyers steal the victim’s money’ when it is clear that the RAF is precluding victims from getting the money owed to them and thus causing them to get less than what they are due”.

“During March 2015‚ it was reported that millions are lost in the RAF due to fraudulent syndicates and greedy professionals‚” the DA said.

“Now it seems that top RAF officials are involved to such an extent that it will make greedy lawyers look good.”

The DA said the documentary proof it has warrants an independent forensic investigation‚ and it will request the Minister of Transport‚ Dipuo Peters‚ to institute such an enquiry.

“Watson should be suspended pending the outcome of such a probe as we would want to see the RAF continuing to do its work uninterrupted whilst such an investigation is taking place‚” the DA said.

The charges were expected to be laid at the Cape Town Central Police Station at 11am.

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