/ 20 May 2005

Minister kicks out Road Accident Fund CEO

Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe has given the suspended Road Accident Fund chief executive Humphrey Kgomongwe the boot.

Radebe said in his Budget vote in an extended public committee on Friday that the Cabinet will shortly consider “a range of proposals” regarding the troubled Road Accident Fund, “and an announcement will follow soon”.

However, in the interim, “I have accepted a recommendation from the board to terminate the CEO’s contract with immediate effect”.

The dismissal followed a recent ultimatum by Radebe for the fund to shape up — after the auditor general found the fund has been rocked by corruption.

This is believed to be to the tune of about R500-million a year.

Kgomongwe — who was suspended for the second time earlier this year — angered Radebe after he warned the minister that if he did not intervene quickly in in-fighting at the fund, it would be a matter of months before the fund would collapse. — I-Net Bridge