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Keeping you updated on critical developments within the Road Accident Fund.
Pretoria law firm challenges mandatory mediation directive in Constitutional Court
Written by Zelda Venter | Published on 28 April 2025 | IoL A Pretoria law firm has turned to the Constitutional Court for direct access to the highest court in the country in an urgent bid to overturn a directive introducing mandatory mediation in the Gauteng Division of the High Court. Since last week, the Johannesburg and Pretoria high courts no longer allocate trial dates for civil cases (cases where evidence is being led, such as damages claims). Litigants, who in these cases want a judge to determine their issues, must first prove that they have tried to resolve their issues via mediation. A trial date will be allocated only if mediation does not resolve the issues, and they can prove via a certificate that they did try it. Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo in March issued a draft directive and called for objections from the public, lawyers, and interested
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) in shambles!
On Tuesday 18 March 2025, the Deputy Minister of Transport announced that the Department of Transport will withdraw the RAF amendment Bill. The relevance of this announcement is that the RAF 2020-2025 Strategic Plan, on the basis of which their current “Operating Model”, has now been rendered obsolete. The focus of the Strategic Plan was “to transform the RAF into a sustainable entity through system modernisation, improved governance, and enhanced service delivery, with a key target of settling all new claims within 120 days”. The RAF “turn around” strategy proved to be a dismal failure with money and resources spent on promoting an unlawful regime with little or no interest in promoting the interests of road crash victims, entirely focused on the implementation of the Road Accident Fund Amendment Bill, which has now been correctly withdrawn by the Department of Transport. Click here to read the full article.
RAF in financial difficulties, may not be able to pay claims – AG
Written by Koena Mashale | 11 March, 2025 | Sowentan Live The auditor-general (AG) has raised concerns that the Road Accident Fund (RAF) may not remain financially sustainable in the foreseeable future due to severe solvency challenges with liabilities exceeding assets. The AG said this might affect claim payments to road accident victims. This follows the AG’s audit report for the 2023/24 financial year, presented to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) in parliament on Tuesday. The report revealed that the RAF’s liabilities exceed its assets, with an accumulated deficit of R25.5bn, raising questions about its long-term sustainability. “A material uncertainty on going concern was reported as the entity has solvency challenges with liabilities exceeding assets…Solvency challenges may impact the ability of the entity to pay accident claims and fulfill its mandate. These factors are indicators that RAF has financial difficulties and may not be able to pay liabilities
How an important state-owned entity made R300 billion ‘disappear’
Written by Staff Writer | 11 March, 2025 | BusinessTech The Auditor General of South Africa has criticized the Road Accident Fund for its refusal to use approved accounting standards, delivering another adverse audit outcome for the 2023/24 financial year. Presenting its audit findings to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on Tuesday (11 March), the AGSA said the adverse outcome is the fourth in as many years for the RAF. This is tied directly to the RAF’s decision in 2019/20 to unilaterally change its accounting standard from the approved International Financial Reporting Standard 4 (IFRS 4) to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards 42 (IPSAS 42). This resulted in the RAF’s reported liabilities dropping significantly from the R327 billion reflected in the 2019/2020 financial year to only R34 billion in the 2020/2021 financial year – wiping R293 billion in liabilities off the books. IFRS 4 is the accounting standard
The courts have ruled: RAF is still defying the law
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) continues to defy court rulings and unlawfully deny rightful claims, leaving road crash victims without justice. Instead of addressing these clear legal rulings against it, the RAF has resorted to attacking those who expose its misconduct. RAF spokesperson McIntosh Polela recently attempted to discredit me, suggesting that my criticism stems from financial interest rather than legal principle. This is a classic ad hominem attack—a diversion tactic used to attack the person rather than confronting the undeniable legal facts: RAF’s real challenge isn’t fraudulent claims – It is dodging accountability The RAF claims it is being overwhelmed by fraudulent claims. Yet, the law already provides safeguards against fraud through Section 24(5) of the RAF Act. If the RAF simply followed the law, fraudulent claims could be identified and rejected without blocking legitimate victims. Instead, the RAF is using “fraud” as a smokescreen to justify its unlawful refusal
Lawyer calls for intervention at the RAF
Written by Zelda Venter | Published on 2 February 2025 | IOL The time has come for South Africa’s leadership to take action and restore order and accountability to the Road Accident Fund. Without immediate intervention, the RAF will become yet another failed state-owned entity. This is according to attorney Gert Nel who specialises in RAF matters. Nel expressed his concern about how the fund is being operated. “Fuel levy payers’ money is wasted, real lives and livelihoods are at risk, with road crash victims bearing the brunt of systemic inefficiency and bureaucratic indifference.” He said the RAF is an institution charged with compensating road crash victims, yet it is deliberately distorting its purpose by bypassing legal obligations and operating in blatant defiance of court rulings. He accused the fund’s leadership of evading accountability while systematically denying justice to thousands of vulnerable victims. Nel said the cornerstone of the RAF’s
Expert accuses RAF of misrepresenting itself and its purpose
Written by Ina Opperman | Published on 24 January 2025 | The Citizen An expert attorney says the RAF is not doing its job and changed its purpose, despite parliament and the courts challenging the change. An expert says the Road Accident Fund (RAF) is misrepresenting itself and its purpose to avoid accountability while denying justice to vulnerable victims. However, the RAF says the expert is a former employee who set up his business based on the fund’s “inefficiencies.” Gert Nel from Gert Nel Inc., a law firm specialising in personal injury cases, including claims against the RAF, calls on people to imagine an institution charged with compensating road crash victims that deliberately distorts its purpose by bypassing legal obligations and operating in blatant defiance of court rulings. “This is the reality of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) whose leadership has unlawfully redefined its purpose – a calculated misrepresentation designed
RAF in ICU on court crash
Written by Tim Cohen | Published on 17 January 2025 | CurrencyNews How chaos at the Road Accident Fund is jamming up South Africa’s courts – and worsening a self-induced financial crisis. South Africa’s crisis-ridden Road Accident Fund (RAF) has thousands upon thousands of court execution orders against it, crippling the legal process and denying road accident victims compensation, interviews with sheriffs of the court have revealed. The sheriff of the court for Joburg and Pretoria East, Marks Mangaba, said in an interview that in his regions alone, there are 4,200 outstanding warrants of execution. South Africa’s sheriffs, who are responsible for executing court orders, say the RAF is by far their largest problem institution, and that the backlog of execution orders has been rising fast over the past few years. So bad is it that the volume of execution orders, which are effectively the last resort of legal claimants,
Victims fall victim again
Written by Hennie Klopper | Published on 15 January 2025 | News24 Every time you fill up your car, part of your payment is a lifeline for road crash victims – or at least, it should be. South Africans contribute approximately 40% of the total current fuel levy to the Road Accident Fund (RAF), a fund meant to provide medical and financial compensation to victims of road crashes. Yet, despite this substantial public contribution, the RAF is mired in a financial and operational crisis, leaving victims waiting up to eight years for compensation. The reality of these delays is a bureaucratic inconvenience and a direct assault on vulnerable people. Victims suffer untreated injuries, worsening medical conditions, and mounting financial burdens. Meanwhile, the public’s trust in the RAF erodes as leadership deflects responsibility and offers no tangible solutions. This is no longer just a policy failure; it is a moral and