RAF In the News
Keep Updated
We invite you to keep abreast of the latest updates on the Road Accident Fund’s New Strategy.
In 2020, Collins Letsoalo, Acting CEO of The Road Accident Fund (RAF) introduced a new strategic plan that involved moving away from litigation to claims management. This strategy had been adopted as, according to Letsoalo, “the current operating model has left the RAF unsustainable”. Moving forward, the priority is early investigation and settlement of claims within 120 days.
We’ve kept a collection of audio clips, video and news articles for you to keep abreast of RAF’s new strategy.
Road Accident Fund is wasting millions on “chaotic” court cases
Written by Tania Broughton | Published on 10 June 2025 | GroundUp Lawyers aren’t sent to court, resulting in default judgments. A judge of the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has blasted the Road Accident Fund (RAF) for its “chaotic approach to litigation” which has resulted in huge losses of public money. Courts are swamped with RAF cases, many of them without merit or with over-inflated claims for compensation. But “the main problem lies with the RAF”, said Judge Jan Pretorius in a recent judgment. The RAF does not deal with its matters properly, does not send lawyers to court to oppose applications or, if it does, does not provide them with any instructions. This results in “default” judgments. The fund would then apply to rescind the judgments, often on baseless grounds. “In this manner huge sums of money, public money, it must be emphasised, are lost,” said Judge Pretorius.
Law Firm Denies Road Accident Fund CEO’s Allegations of Irregular Profits
Written by SAT – International | Published on 9 June 2025 | MSN Gert Nel, CEO of Gert Nel Incorporated, has dismissed claims by suspended Road Accident Fund (RAF) CEO Collins Letsoalo that his law firm irregularly benefited from the fund, calling the allegations “baseless.” Letsoalo, currently suspended amid an investigation into the RAF’s affairs, previously accused Nel’s firm of pocketing over R2.2 billion from the fund over five years, suggesting the firm took excessive fees from settlements meant for accident victims. In an interview, Nel refuted the figures, stating Letsoalo’s calculations were flawed. “He incorrectly assumes we charge 25% of every settlement, which is not how contingency fees work,” Nel said. He emphasized that his firm’s fees are strictly regulated under the Contingency Fees Act and subject to court scrutiny. Contingency Fees Explained Nel clarified that contingency fees—payable only if a case succeeds—are capped at 25% of the settlement
State capture allegations come back to haunt RAF acting CIO
Written by Roy Cokayne | Published on 9 June 2025 | Moneyweb While RAF CEO launches legal bid to overturn his own suspension. The Road Accident Fund (RAF) board placed its acting chief investment officer (CIO) Sefotle Modiba on precautionary suspension following allegations that parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) was given misinformation about Modiba’s departure from the City of Johannesburg (CoJ). It has also emerged that RAF CEO Collins Letsoalo has lodged an urgent high court application to review and set aside last week’s decision by the fund’s board to suspend him with immediate effect for insubordination for defying a board instruction for him to attend a Scopa meeting on 28 May. Letsoalo is alleging the decision is unlawful, irrational, and unreasonable and is requesting the court to order his immediate reinstatement as RAF CEO. The application is scheduled to be heard next week. RAF board deputy chair Dr Nomonde
Gert Nel dismisses RAF allegations
Law firm Gert Nel Incorporated CEO Gert Nel has dismissed allegations by suspended RAF CEO Collins Letsoalo, who accused the firm of irregularly benefiting from the Road Accident Fund. Nel says the claims are baseless and insists that its 25-year track record is proof of its ethical and lawful practice. Watch the full interview of Gert Nel on the Newzroom Afrika YouTube channel:
RAF CEO Collins Letsoalo’s special leave ‘not legally sound’, board tells MPs
Written by Luyolo Mkentane | Published on 03 June 2025 | BusinessDay Executive suspended for insubordination related to his refusal to appear before Scopa, says deputy chair Mabuya-Moloele The Road Accident Fund (RAF) board admitted on Tuesday its decision to place CEO Collins Letsoalo on special leave was “not legally sound”. Briefing parliament’s portfolio committee on transport on the developments at RAF, deputy board chair Nomonde Mabuya-Moloele said the board had resolved in meetings on May 30 and June 2 to rescind its decision on May 27 to place Letsoalo on special leave… Read the full article here.
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