RAF In the News

Written by Wayne Duvenage | Published on 9 Oct 2026 | Daily Maverick The Road Accident Fund’s (RAF’s) crisis is not primarily a failure of revenue collection. It is the result of years of weak leadership, poor administration and inadequate oversight. Redesigning how the public pays will achieve little unless the government first fixes how the fund operates. Recent statements from the Department of Transport indicate that the government is reconsidering how the Road Accident Fund (RAF) is financed. It argues that electric and hybrid vehicles will very gradually erode fuel-levy revenue, prompting the consideration of alternative funding via a previously failed third-party insurance scheme, while not recognising the real issues that need to be addressed. There is nothing wrong with evaluating new models. However, it is futile to find new ways of pouring money into a scheme where funds are being wasted on a grand scale. Electric and hybrid

Written by Calvin Swemmer | Published on 6 Oct 2026 | Newcastillian News Changes to South Africa’s Road Accident Fund legislation are being finalised, with government preparing amendments covering claims, rehabilitation, dispute resolution and the treatment of claims involving foreign nationals. The Department of Transport confirmed the work during a briefing to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport on Tuesday, 6 October 2026. According to Parliament’s official report on the briefing, Acting Transport Director-General Mokonyama Mathabatha told committee members that amendments were being considered in four areas: capped claims, rehabilitation, mediation and conciliation, and claims involving foreign nationals. “All these issues are in the amendment Act that we are finalising. The Act in its current form makes the scheme not sustainable,” Mathabatha told the committee. The announcement does not mean that RAF claim rules have already changed. The proposed amendments must still move through the legislative process, including being tabled before

Written by Sibongile Maputi | Published on 6 Oct 2026 | Parliament of the Republic of South Africa The Portfolio Committee on Transport heard on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, that amendments to the Road Accident Fund (RAF) Act are being contemplated and will soon be tabled before the committee. The Department of Transport’s acting Director-General Mokonyama Mathabatha told the committee that amendments are being considered to four aspects of the legislation, namely capped claims, rehabilitation, mediation and conciliation, and claims by foreign nationals. “All these issues are in the amendment Act that we are finalising. The Act in its current form makes the scheme not sustainable.” Mr Mathabatha was part of the departmental delegation briefing the committee on the department’s audit outcomes and annual performance plans. Also present in the meeting were the South African National Roads Agency Limited, the Road Accident Fund and Airports Company of South Africa, who

Written By Stephen Grootes | Published on 5 Oct 2026 | Daily Maverick The Road Accident Fund is buckling under unpaid claims, costly payouts and shrinking fuel-levy revenue. Reform must protect victims without deepening inequality. The RAF is in crisis and needs a fundamental overhaul of both its funding model and payouts before declining fuel-levy revenue makes the system unsustainable. A few years ago, when I was younger and much more interesting, I happened to find myself being despatched to some boring political case about which nobody now cares in the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Johannesburg.  While there I happened to sit for a very unproductive hour in the motion court, the place where motions are put and logistics are sorted out. I noticed that there was a long queue of advocates who all had cases that went “surname” vs the fund. I didn’t really understand what

Written By Roy Cokayne  | Published on 31 July 2026 | Moneyweb Accident victims association proposes a system that will fast-track claims ready for payment, without waiting for the RAF’s bigger problems to be fixed first. The Association for the Protection of Road Accident Victims (Aprav) has proposed the creation of a national Settlement Hub as a simple way to address the crisis at the Road Accident Fund (RAF) and clear its backlog of about 100 000 claims. It would involve funding from National Treasury to clear claims that are ready to be settled without waiting for the RAF’s bigger problems to be fixed first. The ‘bigger problems’ were summarised by Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) chair Songezo Zibi, who said on Friday the RAF is chronically underfunded – and even when its governance and operational problems are resolved, there will not be enough money to meet all the claim

Written By Lilita Gcwabe | Published on 30 July 2026 | IOL Parliament’s inquiry into the troubled Road Accident Fund (RAF) has exposed years of governance failures, chronic underfunding and operational dysfunction that have left thousands of road accident victims waiting years for compensation, with a victims’ advocacy group now calling for urgent reforms before the findings are tabled in the National Assembly. The Association for the Protection of Road Accident Victims (APRAV) said on Thursday that the Standing Committee on Public Accounts’ (SCOPA) inquiry had brought together evidence that paints the clearest picture yet of an institution struggling to fulfill its constitutional mandate while billions of rand continue flowing into the fund through the fuel levy. Speaking at a National Press Club briefing, APRAV chairperson Ngoako Mohlaloga said the organisation wanted South Africans to understand what had emerged during a recent stakeholder engagement hosted by SCOPA chairperson Songezo Zibi, where Parliament

Written By Abongwe Kobokana | Published on 29 July 2026 | SABC News The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) Chairperson Songezo Zibi says previous Road Accident Fund(RAF) executives and board members must personally pay back the unaccounted money spent during their tenure. Zibi says this is part of the recommendations that the committee plans to make in its report in the inquiry into the affairs of the RAF. He says the committee is compiling its report, which it plans to finalise soon on its inquiry into allegations of governance failures, procurement irregularities and deteriorating financial management at the state-supported insurance fund. Zibi says, “In such cases the committee may then, pursuant to legal advice, recommend all of those monies be recovered from the responsible officials and the board members. There are many decisions like that where we are going to look carefully at each one and determine if recovery

Written By Lindsey Schutters  | Published on 3 June 2026 | Daily Maverick The debate was inconclusive, but the vote affirmed that the Standing Committee on Public Accounts will lay criminal charges against subpoena-dodging former Road Accident Fund CEO Collins Letsoalo. We need to go back to November last year to trace the original source of the debate among the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) members when deciding whether to lay criminal charges against former Road Accident Fund (RAF) CEO Collins Letsoalo. Scopa summoned Letsoalo to answer questions about his management decisions on 25 and 26 November 2025, but on the first day, he did not appear. Instead, his legal team, Sithi & Thabela Attorneys, issued a formal demand to the Scopa chairperson (Songezo Zibi) to “cease and desist from [the] unlawful ‘oversight inquiry’”. They argued that Scopa’s mandate was restricted to financial accountability, while operational and governance oversight of the RAF fell

Written By Kabous Le Roux  | Published on 9 June 2026 | EWN South Africans could face new vehicle licence fees as government reviews RAF funding. Experts warn the fund is under severe strain, with hundreds of billions in outstanding claims. South African motorists could face additional costs when renewing their vehicle licence discs as the government explores new ways to fund the embattled Road Accident Fund (RAF). The possibility emerged after Transport Minister Barbara Creecy reportedly indicated that her department was considering an overhaul of how the RAF is financed. The proposal comes as the fund faces mounting financial pressure, longstanding concerns about governance and questions over its long-term sustainability. The issue has also been linked to changing vehicle trends, with more electric vehicles on South African roads reducing fuel sales. The RAF is currently funded through a levy on petrol and diesel, meaning EV charging does not contribute