In a groundswell of support, more medico-legal experts have joined the group taking on Road Accident Fund (RAF) CEO Collins Letsoalo over at least R150m owed them. As reported last week in MedicalBrief, (22 March) Letsoalo has rejected their request that they either be paid or their opinions not used in court.
They experts wrote to Chief Justice Raymond Zondo at the beginning of March to withdraw any completed opinions that have not yet been used in court, highlighting that the RAF not only refuses to pay them but has charged penalties to reduce the amounts owed. They all used the same letter that each one signed and sent individually.
Letsoalo reacted with a letter to various stakeholders and the media, blaming the negligence of the former panel of attorneys “who at all times were aware of the provisions of the service level agreement (SLA) but decided to act in contravention thereof”.
In a recent radio interview, Letsoalo said: “The law is very clear about who is liable for it. It doesn’t say that we can’t use it. It says we are not liable for paying for it”.
However, says the group, even the RAF’s own service level agreements state that all intellectual property remains the property of the owner, and ownership of any documentation only belongs to the fund once it’s paid for.
They said this clearly shows the RAF either does not understand its own contracts and directives or “wilfully ignores them to dodge their financial obligations”.
According to a new letter that doctors are signing and sending to Letsoalo individually, the SLA Letsoalo refers to was signed in 2014 and a directive, dated 12 August 2015, was issued, which affected this clause. This said that the RAF had embarked on a tender to appoint a panel of medical experts, but the tender did not yield the number of service providers required and the RAF embarked on a second tender to augment the first tender.
The RAF contracted with 82 service providers via the first tender, who started to render services from 23 June 2015. It also states that “the RAF decided to allow using non-contracted service providers where the contracted panel is unable to provide the service timeously”.
The directive added that the arrangement would apply until the second tender was awarded. However, the second tender for experts was cancelled. Following the expiry of the panel of medical experts’ contract on 10 May 2018, the RAF approached National Treasury for approval of a new engagement model for medical experts.
The panel of attorneys could choose and instruct any medical expert, who then invoiced the attorney, who claimed the expenses from the RAF. The RAF then paid the attorneys, who paid the medical experts.
The medical experts say in their letter that the work they completed on instruction from the RAF’s panel attorneys was used by the RAF and all their invoices were submitted according to the RAF’s prescribed tariffs. They say they were only made aware of “unauthorised” invoices a year after the former panel of attorneys’ contract was terminated.
“Should the RAF not have approved my appointment as medical expert on a matter, surely the appointment should have been cancelled by the RAF prior to the assessment, report and in instances, joint minutes and court appearances I have performed on behalf of the RAF?” the medical experts write.
According to the letter, the RAF directive issued on 2 November 2021 to its former panel attorneys clearly states that the RAF assessed the non-compliance and the effect it would have on the experts and that the assessment extended to the legitimacy of the services rendered and the benefit to the RAF and claimants.
The RAF further says in the directive that “it decided to make payment for invoices where pre-authorisation was not obtained to ensure the experts are not prejudiced by the non-compliance”.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Neurologist lashes RAF chief’s ‘pitiful and preposterous excuses’
RAF chief attacks medical experts over ‘unethical and potentially unlawful’ letter to Zondo
RAF revolt: Experts withdraw medico-legal opinions over non-payment