Ndlovu, 41, who works on a vegetable farm in Baynesfield, KwaZulu-Natal, is among dozens of cases that have been uncovered by an external probe ordered by the fund.
Private investigator Francois van der Westhuizen, who was commissioned to investigate the syndicate in 2009, has found that it comprises a network of doctors, lawyers, police officers and even a DA politician.
It was also found:
■They allegedly defrauded the RAF of about R7-million;
■Many of the claims were in the region of R25000;
■At least six officers of the notorious Mountain Rise police station in Pietermaritzburg were involved;
■Three law firms were central in processing the fraudulent claims; and
■Doctors would sign off clinical notes even though claimants never visited them.
The police’s commercial crimes branch in Durban forwarded questions from the Sunday Times to its communications officials in Pretoria.
“We can confirm that there is an investigation around fraud at the RAF,” the police said in a statement.
Van der Westhuizen, a former murder and robbery policeman, said the RAF needed to act immediately. “These people need to be arrested,” he said.
One of the implicated doctors, a consulting physician, referred questions to his medical indemnity insurers, GPLA.
The company’s managing director, David Campbell, said their client had notified them “some time ago” that unknown people were committing fraud in his name.
“It appears that, at the very least, his signature and handwriting have been forged and his name used (or) abused by these individuals,” said Campbell.
In a follow-up e-mail from the company’s legal division, GPLA said that the doctor had reported the matter to the police and the Health Professions Council of SA.
But the council’s spokesman, Lize Nel, said there was no record of a complaint from the doctor.
One of the attorneys, a DA councillor, had even processed a bogus claim using her mother-in-law’s details.
In her affidavit, compiled by Van der Westhuizen, the mother-in-law denied having been involved in the accident or visiting a doctor for a claim.
“I deny the fact that I instituted the claim and did not have any part in this fraudulent act,” she stated.
In another case, two police officers claimed for injuries in a minor fender-bender that left the official police vehicle with a 15cm-long scratch on the bumper.
Another claim contained betting shop employee Delani Sithole’s personal details.
The compensation claim submitted to the RAF was for an accident that occurred five years ago involving a taxi on the N3 near Cato Ridge, KwaZulu-Natal.
About 12 people were allegedly injured when the vehicle apparently rolled.
But Sithole, 28, told the Sunday Times: “I was never even in that accident.”
Neither was his brother, Mduduzi, and several others whose identities were used to lodge fraudulent claims.
According to RAF spokesman Connie Nel, 300 people were convicted of fraud during the 2011 financial year, perpetrated by individuals, groups and organised criminal syndicates.
“The RAF is unable to disclose any details regarding ongoing investigations,” she said
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