Public Interest Sa Lodges Formal Complaint With Regulators Over RMA Governance Concerns — Workers' Interests Must Come First
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA | Thursday, 29 October 2026 — Public Interest SA has formally lodged a public-interest complaint with the Prudential Authority, operating within the South African Reserve Bank, and the Compensation Commissioner, calling for urgent, independent supervisory intervention at Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) following serious allegations of conflicts of interest, procurement irregularities and governance failures involving the institution's leadership.
The complaint follows findings contained in an ENS forensic investigation, codenamed Project Clockwork, and revelations published by TimesLIVE on 28 October 2026 concerning a disputed procurement process linked to approximately R32 billion in assets.
Public Interest SA has requested that the two regulatory authorities, acting within their respective statutory mandates, independently examine the forensic findings, scrutinise the Board's handling of the investigation, assess the adequacy of RMA's governance arrangements and establish whether sufficient safeguards exist to protect the financial security and statutory compensation rights of mineworkers, injured employees and their dependants.
This is not merely a corporate governance dispute. It concerns the integrity of an institution entrusted with safeguarding the financial security, dignity and statutory compensation rights of some of South Africa's most vulnerable workers.
Serious governance concerns demand independent scrutiny
The ENS Project Clockwork draft report, dated 21 April 2026, identifies significant concerns relating to conflicts of interest, the integrity of procurement evaluations, the independence of investment-related decision-making and alleged interference in executive management processes.
Particularly troubling are allegations concerning the participation of an executive in a procurement process involving a company with which the executive was reportedly associated, as well as questions surrounding commercial relationships potentially involving individuals occupying senior board positions.
The forensic investigation also raises concerns regarding the adequacy of conflict-of-interest controls and allegations of victimisation or retaliation against individuals who raised governance concerns.
These matters require independent assessment, with full regard for procedural fairness and the rights of those implicated. The draft forensic findings should not be conflated with final determinations of misconduct or criminal liability.
Board's handling of final forensic report raises further questions
Public Interest SA is particularly concerned by reports that ENS has completed and submitted its final forensic investigation report to RMA's Board, but that executive management has not been afforded access to it.
While confidentiality, legal privilege and procedural fairness may justify restrictions on circulation, they cannot legitimately be used to frustrate accountability or prevent the implementation of necessary corrective measures.
Where allegations potentially implicate members of the very board entrusted with considering an investigation, independent oversight becomes indispensable.
No board should be the sole and effectively unaccountable arbiter of allegations potentially implicating its own members.
The reported circumstances raise legitimate questions about whether appropriate safeguards exist to prevent conflicted individuals from influencing decisions concerning the investigation, its findings and the implementation of remedial measures.
Public Interest SA has therefore specifically requested that the Prudential Authority obtain and independently assess the final ENS report through its lawful supervisory processes, establish whether its findings have been appropriately considered and determine whether RMA's Board has complied with its applicable governance and regulatory reporting obligations.
The organisation has further requested scrutiny of correspondence reportedly addressed by RMA executive management to shareholders, together with any independent legal advice concerning the Board's handling of the investigation.
We further urge RMA's shareholders to exercise their lawful governance rights and insist upon independent accountability, effective remedial action and the protection of compensation beneficiaries.
Workers must not become casualties of governance failures
RMA occupies a critical position in South Africa's occupational injury and disease compensation system. Injured metal sectors and mine workers, employees suffering from occupational diseases, permanently disabled beneficiaries and surviving dependants rely on the institution to fulfil obligations fundamental to their livelihoods.
These beneficiaries have little influence over the appointment of directors, investment decisions or internal governance disputes. Yet they may ultimately bear the consequences should governance failures compromise the institution's financial sustainability or operational effectiveness.
Public Interest SA emphasises that there is presently no established evidence before the organisation that RMA's compensation reserves have been depleted or that beneficiaries have suffered financial losses arising from the reported procurement irregularities.
Equally, the reported R32 billion procurement mandate must not be misrepresented as an established financial loss.
However, the absence of proven financial harm does not diminish the need for preventive regulatory intervention.
The protection of mineworkers' compensation rights cannot be left exclusively to the discretion of governance structures whose own conduct is the subject of serious and unresolved concerns.
For a mineworker permanently disabled through an occupational accident, or a family dependent upon compensation following the death of a breadwinner, corporate governance is not an abstract boardroom concern. It is inseparable from financial security, dignity and the ability to live with some measure of certainty.
Public Interest SA seeks urgent regulatory intervention
In its formal complaint, Public Interest SA has requested that the Prudential Authority and Compensation Commissioner exercise their respective statutory mandates to ensure that the governance concerns are independently assessed and that compensation beneficiaries remain adequately protected.
The organisation has specifically called for:
Independent regulatory scrutiny of the final ENS Project Clockwork report, including the Board's handling of its findings, recommendations and any remedial measures.
An assessment of board governance and accountability, including conflicts of interest, directors' independence, investment oversight and the adequacy of internal controls.
Appropriate safeguards against conflicted decision-making, including recusals where warranted and independent oversight of investigations involving individuals occupying senior governance positions.
Assurance regarding the security of compensation resources, RMA's financial sustainability and the uninterrupted administration and payment of statutory benefits.
Protection of whistleblowers and preservation of evidence, including appropriate measures against intimidation, retaliation or interference with investigations.
A time-bound governance remediation process, subject to appropriate regulatory monitoring and accountability.
Public Interest SA has further requested that the Prudential Authority consider whether the circumstances warrant an independent governance review under section 31(6) of the Insurance Act 18 of 2017, together with appropriate remedial directions where legally justified.
The Compensation Commissioner has separately been requested to assess whether the reported governance concerns have implications for RMA's continued compliance with its statutory compensation responsibilities and applicable licensing conditions under the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act.
The complaint also calls for appropriate coordination between the two regulatory authorities to ensure that governance and prudential risks do not fall between their respective supervisory mandates.
Public Interest SA has requested written acknowledgement within three working days and an initial response within ten working days, subject to applicable statutory confidentiality requirements.
In the interests of transparency, Public Interest SA also discloses that RMA, alongside other entities, recently sponsored its 2026 Whistleblowers Awards & Summit — a relationship that has neither influenced nor constrained the organisation's independent decision to seek regulatory intervention.
Accountability must strengthen, not destabilise, RMA
Public Interest SA is not calling for the indiscriminate removal of directors, nor does it seek to undermine RMA's operations or prejudge allegations against any individual.
Our objective is to safeguard the institution through lawful, independent and proportionate regulatory intervention.
Procedural fairness must be respected. However, procedural fairness cannot be invoked as justification for institutional paralysis or indefinite inaction in the face of credible governance concerns.
The regulators must ensure that the investigation and any subsequent corrective measures are not compromised by actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
Importantly, the regulatory response must preserve the continuity of compensation payments, medical benefits, investment operations and essential administrative services.
The purpose of regulatory intervention must be to protect RMA from governance failures, not to undermine the institution upon which vulnerable workers and their families depend.
The public interest must prevail
Public Interest SA believes this matter presents an important test of South Africa's regulatory oversight arrangements and the accountability of institutions entrusted with administering workers' compensation.
The central question is not simply whether a particular service provider was improperly favoured in a procurement process.
It is whether RMA's governance structures have demonstrated the independence, integrity and accountability necessary to safeguard substantial financial resources held to support workers' compensation obligations.
It is equally important to establish whether the Board has responded appropriately to the forensic findings, whether any material recommendations remain unimplemented and whether the handling of the final report has compromised institutional accountability.
Public Interest SA maintains that the governance of institutions entrusted with protecting workers' livelihoods must be subject to the highest standards of ethical leadership, transparency and accountability.
Those standards must apply equally to directors, executives, investment committees and every person exercising authority over resources intended to serve the interests of compensation beneficiaries.
No commercial relationship, personal interest or institutional consideration should be permitted to override the statutory rights and financial security of mineworkers and their dependants.
Public Interest SA urges the Prudential Authority and Compensation Commissioner to treat its complaint with the urgency, independence and diligence that the circumstances demand.
Metal sector and mine workers' interests must come first. Those entrusted with safeguarding workers' compensation resources must themselves be subject to effective, independent and demonstrable accountability.
ENDS
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NOTE TO EDITORS — DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
Public Interest SA discloses that Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA), alongside other entities, was a financial sponsor of the 2026 Whistleblowers Awards & Summit, held on 26 and 27 October 2026. The organisation acknowledges and appreciates RMA's contribution to this important initiative.
However, the decision to lodge the regulatory complaint was taken independently, without interference, inducement or undue influence from RMA or its representatives. Public Interest SA's institutional partnerships and sponsorship arrangements do not compromise its independence or confer immunity from scrutiny. The organisation remains committed to holding itself to the same standards of integrity, transparency and accountability that it demands of others, and to acting consistently, impartially and without fear or favour.
ISSUED BY: Public Interest SA
MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Tebogo Khaas, Chairperson — Public Interest SA
