Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa wants the RAF Board to report back early next year in Parliament on its legal challenge to the audit findings. Picture: Phando Jikelo/Independent Newspapers
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has come under fire from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) over its legal battle with the Auditor-General (AG) where it is challenging the report of the auditor-general.
Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the legal tussle has led to the delay in the RAF tabling its audited financial statements for the 2021/22 financial year in Parliament.
Minister of Transport Sindi Chikunga told Scopa on Wednesday she was concerned about the dispute between RAF and the AG.
She said she would have preferred alternative dispute resolution mechanisms than a court battle.
“This matter, chair, as you are aware, does precede my appointment to the portfolio and as such I needed to be brought to speed on the specific matters of this dispute. I have gathered that there is a technical accounting dispute and that is because of its complexity it has resulted in the legal tussle between the RAF and AG,” said Chikunga.
She said she believes there could still be a settlement between the two entities, rather than having a situation where they are dragging each other to court.
Chikunga said they would need a technical team to look into the matter and find a solution.
She said she has asked the RAF Board to intervene and find a solution.
“I have personally had conversations with the Auditor-General herself on the matter. There will be no winners, no matter which direction the court judgment goes. There won’t be a winner. It is my long-held view that both parties must engage, seeking a less confrontational mechanism outside the court,” said Chikunga.
Hlengwa said they met with the Accountant-General, the Auditor-General and National Treasury and did an analysis of the matter.
He said it was boggling the mind that RAF sought to change the findings of the AG. This issue of a dispute raises questions about the compliance of the entity.
However, he found it strange that the board was meeting with the AG when the RAF was taking the matter to court.
The issue of the audit opinion was the biggest issue.
“But to be in court with the AG, for me, that is no light matter,” said Hlengwa.
There was one set of standards of accounting for all entities and departments and that cannot be changed, he said.
ANC MP Sakhumzi Somyo said if the AG raises matters in her report, why is it difficult for the RAF to accept the audit opinion because these were the same matters she raised in the last financial year.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics