RAF In the News

Written by Abel Mputing | Published on 27 June 2023 The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) concluded its week-long oversight to Gauteng on Friday at the Road Accident Fund (RAF) headquarters. On arrival, the committee was barred from entering the building in Menlyn, Pretoria, despite RAF’s executives being made aware of the visit beforehand.  When the committee eventually gained access after a protracted telephone exchange between the committee, Department of Transport officials and the RAF’s executive, whose absence was conspicuous, SCOPA soon realised why it had struggled to enter the building. The reign of chaotic disorder that characterises RAF’s working conditions soon became apparent. The meandering hallway of RAF’s offices was littered with boxes upon boxes lining the walls, spilling onto the floor in manner that resembled the clutter of a dumping site. The committee also learnt that most personnel are squatting in offices belonging to others and have

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) is conducting oversight on the Road Accident Fund. Video from the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa YouTube channel.

Written by Zelda Venter | Published on 31 May 2023 Pretoria – A judge has endorsed the Mosotho culture that says that it is the duty of a son to support his mother when he starts to earn an income. The court ordered the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to compensate her for loss of support following the death of her son. The mother turned to the High Court in Bloemfontein, where she claimed nearly R489 000 from the RAF for loss of support after her son died in a car crash. The mother is a 61-year-old unmarried pensioner, and the deceased was her second son. The mother resides in an old and dilapidated brick house in Ladybrand, for which she has no title deed. Her eldest son, with whom she does not have much contact, only recently got a job. She last saw the father of the children during or

Written by Tania Broughton | Published on 25 May 2023 Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks The Road Accident Fund (RAF) is refusing to hand over crucial documents required in a court challenge by the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) and the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities (NDPD) against drastic changes to what the fund will pay road accident victims. Pretoria High Court Judge Ingrid Opperman has now told the fund to provide the documents, and has instructed CEO Collins Letsoalo and the chair of the board, Thembelihle Msibi, that when the application is finally heard, they must file affidavits explaining why they should not be personally held liable for the costs. Judge Opperman, in expressing her displeasure with the RAF’s conduct, said it was “not only discourteous and unprofessional, but also the very opposite of rule-abiding”. The court battle has its roots in the promulgation by the

Written by Tania Broughton | Published on 27 May 2023 The Road Accident Fund (RAF) is refusing to hand over crucial documents required in a court challenge by the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) and the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities (NDPD) against drastic changes to what the fund will pay road accident victims. Pretoria High Court Judge Ingrid Opperman has now told the fund to provide the documents, and has instructed CEO Collins Letsoalo and the chair of the board, Thembelihle Msibi, that when the application is finally heard, they must file affidavits explaining why they should not be personally held liable for the costs. Judge Opperman, in expressing her displeasure with the RAF’s conduct, said it was “not only discourteous and unprofessional, but also the very opposite of rule-abiding”. The court battle has its roots in the promulgation by the Minister of Transport of

Written by Corrie Kruger | Published on 21 May 2023 The one criterion of the RAF is that its funding premiums are included in the Fuel levy. This at least takes the country’s total kilometres travelled by motor vehicle into consideration. Photo: Pexels On 19 April 2023, Public Accounts (SCOPA), Chairperson: Mkhuleko Hlengwa from the IFP chaired a meeting with the Deputy Ministry of Transport relating to the Road Accident Fund (RAF) 2020/21 Annual Report and related matters. The RAF is an entity of the Department of Transport’s with a very critical socio-economic mandate of paying compensation to road accident victims for loss or damage wrongfully caused by the driving of motor vehicles, in line with the RAF Act. 1. The country’s high accident rate is a grave concern, and remains the Fund’s biggest cost driver. In South Africa, more than 39 people die daily on the roads due to

Written by businesstech | 4 May 2023 Pick n Pay chairman Gareth Ackerman says that the government is raking in millions of rands as a “windfall tax” because of load shedding. Speaking at the retailer’s annual results, Ackerman noted that 37% of the group’s diesel costs go straight into the government’s coffers through the Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy – something he said was shocking and unconscionable. “In recent months, we have spent around R60 million per month on diesel,” he said. “It is an extraordinary challenge to manage a business on this basis. Without this unnecessary cost, our result would have beaten our own forecasts and those of many external commentators.” For the year ended February 2023, Pick n Pay reported that it spent R522 million on diesel just to keep operating amid record levels of load shedding. On this basis, over R193 million (37%) would have been paid to the

Written by Mandise Ndlovu | Published 20 April 2023 Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) chairperson believes that dismissing the Road Accident Fund (RAF) board will solve an ongoing dispute with the auditor general and have the fund revert to the accounting standards it used before. When the RAF appeared before the parliamentary committee on Wednesday, Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa slammed its board as “unadvisable” and “not fit for its purpose”. Hlengwa said: “We sit here every time, and we are subjected to this painful exercise of arrogance when the things are very simple, when everybody is telling you ‘this is wrong, go and change it’.” In April 2021, the RAF resolved to switch the accounting standard applicable to the compilation of its annual financial statements since 2014 from the IFRS4 standard to the IPSAS 42 standard, which resulted in a difference of some R300 billion in its contingent liability position while its insolvency position

Standing Committee on Public Accounts, (National Assembly), [Hearing: RAF on the annual report and financial statements for the financial year 2020/21 and deviating from the known standards of accounting], Committee Room M514, Fifth Floor, Marks Building, 09:30–13:30