Road Accident Fund and Road Safety in SA (2024)

1. What is the Background of the Road Accident Fund?

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) is a juristic person established by an Act of Parliament, namely the Road Accident Fund Act, 1996 (Act No. 56 of 1996) as amended (RAF Act). It commenced operations on 1 May 1997, assuming at the time, all the rights, obligations, assets and liabilities of the Multilateral Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund.

2. What is the mandate of the RAF?

The RAF provides compulsory social insurance cover to all users of South African roads; rehabilitates and compensates people injured as a result of the negligent driving of motor vehicles in a timely and active manner; and actively promotes the safe use of our nation’s roads. According to the Act, the object of the Fund is the payment of compensation in accordance with the Act for loss or damage wrongfully caused by the driving of a motor vehicle.

Essentially, the RAF provides two types of cover, namely personal insurance cover to accident victims or their families and indemnity cover to wrongdoers.

3. What is the vision of the RAF?

The vision of the RAF is “to provide the highest standard of care to road accident victims to restore balance in the social system”.

4. What is the mission of the RAF?

The mission of the RAF is “to provide appropriate cover to all road users within the borders of South Africa; to rehabilitate persons injured, compensate for injuries or death and indemnify wrongdoers as a result of motor vehicle accidents in a timely, caring and sustainable manner; and to support the safe use of our roads”.

5. What are the values of the RAF?

The following values drive everything that we do and the manner in which we do it:

Ubuntu: We care for and support our customers.
We care for and support each other.
Solution Focused: We offer solutions
We take responsibility for our actions.
Pride in what we do: We commit to and demonstrate integrity, honesty, consistency and fairness in our actions and decisions.
We model the highest standards of personal and professional behaviour.
Excellence: We execute our duties with dedication and fortitude while pursuing excellence across the business.
We are driven by a desire to succeed which we realise through intelligent planning and commitment to delivery.
Efficiency: Doing the right thing with the least amount of resources. In Our endeavours we strive to optimal output from the time, cost and effort invested.

6. What is the value proposition of the RAF?

Government recognises that all citizens need to use South African roads in order to participate in economic activity. People from all demographic and socio-economic groups, the wealthy and poor, the employed and unemployed, are all exposed to risks on the road. In a developing country such as South Africa, a significant proportion of road users will neither have the financial means to access appropriate healthcare and rehabilitation, nor the ability to commence legal action to recover their loss. The RAF acts as a social security safety net to all users of South African roads.

The provision of road accident compensation or benefits could be viewed as a response to specific socio-economic risks associated with road accidents and injuries, including:

The need for trauma and other medical care;
The risk of income loss due to injury;
The risk of unemployment due to temporary or permanent disability; and
The vulnerability of family members who become exposed to financial burdens and dependency if a breadwinner dies.

In essence, the state intervenes in the risks of road use to protect people who have failed, or are unable to provide sufficient cover for themselves, and thereby aims to alleviate disability and prevent impoverishment. Such state intervention is designed to distribute the risks of injury, disability and bereavement more evenly across the disparate socio-economic bands of society. This system also recognises that the majority of drivers may not have asset or liability insurance cover to meet the claims for damages from persons whom they may accidentally injure on the roads.

The RAF, through its current services and proposed forward planning, contributes to these national priorities as follows:

Transforming the economy and creating sustainable livelihoods by ensuring that motor vehicle accident victims are appropriately covered, both in terms of medical needs and in terms of income or support that is lost as a result of bodily injury or the death of a breadwinner;
Improving the health profile of South Africans by ensuring that accident victims have timely access to medical services and on-going medical rehabilitation;
Optimising and expanding its footprint (most notably through Hospital, Community and Mobile Service Centres), thus enabling the RAF to provide services at grassroots level and increase its reach to rural and previously under-serviced areas. As such, the RAF is also able to contribute to the development of caring and sustainable communities;
Building of a developmental state, since the organisation is increasingly aligning its service offering to Government’s emerging Comprehensive Social Security System (CSSS); and
Improving public services, evidenced by its turnaround programme which is already under way.

7. What is the target audience of the RAF?

The “customer base” of the RAF comprises not only the South African public, but all foreigners within the borders of the country too, i.e. all users of South African roads.

8. What is the legacy of the Road Accident Fund?

The history of the RAF and its predecessors spans more than 70 years, and commenced with the introduction of compulsory motor vehicle accident (MVA) insurance in 1942. Since its commencement, the compensation system for MVA victims has remained relatively unchanged. Over the years, several problems pertaining to equity, affordability and sustainability of the system emerged. Between 1954 and 2002, seven Commissions of Inquiry assessed structural, financial and other difficulties inherent in the compensation system.

During its lifespan, the MVA compensation system has been plagued by numerous challenges, including service delivery problems, restricted access to medical care, long settlement delays, spiralling costs, insufficient funding to pay claims, an ever-growing liability, multiple, complex and legalistic hurdles due to the adversarial nature of the system, and uncertainty as to whether compensation is ultimately used for the intended purpose.

9. What is the context in which the RAF operates?

Unlike other public entities which serve as pillars of our nation’s social security framework, the RAF operates in an environment where:

Funding, or contributions via the RAF fuel levy, are not associated with claim frequencies and costs;
The beneficiary base is not constituted by past, present or future contributors to the RAF fuel levy;
The benefit available to beneficiaries or claimants is not defined and in some instances is not limited to a maximum value; and
Social security is not limited to protecting income, lending support or funding healthcare needs, but extends to all three key elements of social security.

10. Given this legacy, how is it possible to turn this organisation around?

The RAF declared 2012, 2013 and 2014 ‘The Year of the Customer’, ‘Our Year to Shine’, and ‘Let’s finish what we’ve started’ respectively. The ultimate focus of these declarations was aimed at galvanising all areas of the organisation, including its personnel, towards ensuring improved service delivery, increased visibility and accessibility – and more importantly – assistance to victims of road accidents and their dependants.

11. Provide us with some statistics in this regard.

12. What exactly does the RAF cover and pay for?

The Fund makes payment for various categories of claims. A summary of claim payments over the last five years is listed below:

General Damages (claims for pain and suffering).
Individual claim payments for Loss of Earnings by accident victims (in the event that the road accident victim is no longer able to earn an income due to temporary or permanent disablement).
Individual claim payments for Loss of Support (in the event that a family loses a breadwinner due to a road accident).
Individual claim payments in the Medical Compensation category (assisting injured road accident victims with medical treatment and the costs thereof).
Funeral Benefits (in the event of families not being in a financial position to bury their loved ones following a road accident).
Individual Claimant and Legal Costs (where families resort to lawyers to intervene, or where the RAF is required to defend its stance in respect of claims lodged against the RAF with lawyers and the requested compensation).

13. Economic Development

B-BBEE Spend

The RAF is a public entity and has a duty to ensure that Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) is promoted actively.

Job Creation and Gender Distribution

The RAF has implemented various initiatives to identify and advance talented women in the organisation. Currently, females occupy over 58% of the top three layers of the organisation.

Socio-economic Role

Road transportation is a critical element supporting and directly contributing to growth in any economy. Road accidents are, unfortunately, a negative consequence of this economic growth, affecting both economically active members of our society and other citizens. Free markets, and in particular the private sector, do not fully address the impact of road accidents on society and the economy.

The RAF provides a social security safety net to the country and economy by making available compulsory social insurance cover to all users of South African roads. Contributions to the RAF are done by way of a levy on fuel used for road transportation. The cover extends to all members of society including, but not limited to, the poor, children, legal and illegal immigrants, foreigners, owners and drivers of motor vehicles, as well as their passengers. The social insurance cover, however, does not extend to drivers of motor vehicles that are found to be solely negligent.

The socio-economic role of the RAF is to re-integrate victims of road accidents into society from a health and economic perspective, and to protect at-fault drivers and their families from financial ruin. This is done by the RAF paying medical and related services costs required to restore accident victims to health, compensating the victims or their families for income or support lost as a result of the accident and indemnifying the wrongdoer from liability. In addition, the RAF pays general damages to accident victims as compensation for pain and suffering, loss of amenities of life, disability and disfigurement, as well as funeral costs to families in circ*mstances where the victim of the accident sustains fatal injuries.

Undertakings – medical certificates issued by the RAF to cover future medical costs of claimants - are issued to injured road accident victims and have shown a steady increase over the past couple of years.

Through its Patient Outreach Programme (“POP”), the RAF has managed to employ approximately 800 caregivers, whose main role is to look after seriously injured MVA victims in their homes. This ensures that they are taken care of by trained and qualified personnel. The Fund, therefore, also provides employment to these caregivers.

14. Marketing Initiatives

‘RAF on the Road’

‘RAF on the Road’ is the RAF’s flagship marketing programme and commenced with a community outreach campaign in Soweto during March 2012. In addition to taking our service offering to disadvantaged communities countrywide, the campaign provides a platform to engage with stakeholders from the three tiers of government, as well as national, regional and local media. The benefits of the programme include, but are not limited to:

Taking our services to the doorsteps of communities who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to interact with the RAF;
Promoting direct claims;
Increasing positive publicity;
Assisting with the lodgement and resolution of complaints;
Identifying fraudulent claims;
Exposing our stakeholders to the RAF’s post-crash rehabilitation initiatives through our POP;
Contributing to local economies; and
Showing all RAF employees that the Fund’s business is not merely about administration, but about rendering services to victims of car crashes who desperately need our support.

This campaign has been hailed by high-ranking government officials as “a prime example of taking public services to the people” and exemplifies the Constitutional imperatives of Batho Pele.

To date, the RAF has taken its services to 60 communities countrywide, assisted more than 40 000 claimants and made settlement offers worth more than R800 million.

Other Marketing Initiatives

Prior to the onset of a new financial year, the Marketing, Communications and Media and Public Relations business units outline their calendar for the next financial year. It is normally an extremely busy calendar and features participation in some of the country’s major sporting and cultural events. These include, but are not limited to: The Comrades Marathon; the Two Oceans Marathon; the 94.7 Cycle Challenge; Jazz and other cultural festivals; 702 Walk the Talk; the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Liberation Walk, exhibitions, promotions, etc. In addition, the Department serves as a support business function to the organisation and utilises a number of platforms to communicate to both internal and external stakeholders effectively.

15. Road Safety Initiatives

The RAF continues to place great effort on providing support to the Department of Transport (DoT) and our sister entities in terms of rendering assistance to victims of motor vehicle accidents and promoting road safety.

16. Corporate Social Investment

As a proud and responsible corporate citizen, the RAF’s corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives are meaningful and aim to create sustainability in the lives of those we come into contact with. The Fund will continue to channel its CSI efforts into the following five areas:

Poverty Alleviation;
Education;
Health (Post-crash Care) ;
Road Safety; and
Environment Management.

17. The Future of the RAF: The Road Accident Benefit Scheme (RABS)

The legislative framework within which the RAF currently operates remains a key institutional challenge standing in the way of the RAF delivering on its mandate. The pursuit of legislative enablement to address the aforementioned challenge is therefore one of the key strategic objectives of the RAF.

Consequently, the RAF is committed to support the DoT with the transition of the current fault-based third party compensation system to the envisaged new no-fault social security scheme, which will address many of the existing challenges, inter alia, by:

Providing for a fully funded scheme that is reasonable, equitable, affordable and sustainable;
Expanding access to benefits by removing the requirement to establish “fault”, or prove an income, as a determinant to qualify for benefits;
Making available timely and appropriate healthcare benefits based on a reasonable tariff;
Simplifying claims procedures;
Reducing disputes by removing the “fault” requirement and by providing pre-determined benefits; and
Alleviating the burden on our Courts through the establishment of an internal appeal procedure. It is important to note that almost 50% of Court matters relate to road accidents.

18. Recent Highlights

Since 2012, a significant set of changes were initiated in the Fund.

New Organisational Structure

A new organisational structure was implemented and with it a new set of leadership tiers, segregated structures and efficient processes. New procedures and policies were introduced, and a new modus operandi was set in the bargaining chamber in respect of employee relations, where a significant effort went into ensuring that legitimate grievances are addressed.

The RAF and Batho Pele

A shift was made in respect of the socio-economic impact of crashes on families, homes and communities, and people were put first – exactly as intended where the Constitution speaks to Batho Pele. Importantly, seriousness was introduced in respect of what the Fund is, what it should be and what we, as loyal officers, are required to do.

Value of the Segregated Structure

The Fund’s Claims team went about processing claims under the new structure and we actually see signs of the value of the segregated structure. The regional units were established under the newly created role of General Managers and regional support functions were put in place. A spatial plan was approved for the next five years and a number of teams were moved to Head Office.

Human Capital

The Human Capital function cleared many of the grievances and disputes which existed, whilst also setting in place procedures and protocols in respect of escalating and lodging matters.

Risk Management

The Risk team put in place the new policy framework, register and reporting framework. The Legal team established the Compliance, Complaint and Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) functions. The Fund’s Project office re-established the governance framework and the Road Safety team made the Fund’s presence felt within the Transport fraternity.

IT Enhancements

IT capacity, people and infrastructure were assessed and all projects were reviewed with a view to working towards successful completion. Numerous system updates took place and a set of clearer strategic and operational plans were approved. Down-time and system availability have improved and necessary updates and upgrades have and are being rolled out.

Clean Audit

The Finance team accounted well and this is evident by two consecutive clean audit awards the RAF received from the Auditor-General. The establishment of an actuarial function was seen and outsourced. Procurement administrators were brought on board to expedite the procurement of goods and services.

Marketing & Communications

The Marketing and Communications team put the Fund on the map. ‘RAF on the Road’ continued to raise brand awareness and showed citizens that the Fund is indeed writing a new legacy of service delivery for and to claimants. At a corporate level, the RAF enjoyed good media coverage.

Ethics Office

The Company Secretariat established the Ethics Office and we now see more pointed visibility of action lists, draft minutes and resolutions.

Resolved Audit Findings

At a leadership level, the Fund has seen a large number of audit findings resolved and many risk mitigation measures implemented, as captured in the risk register. Leadership Forum meetings involving top leadership levels have been held and there is a better appreciation of the need for leaders to lead.

Communication

Communication between divisions and within divisions has improved.

Performance Management System

At a staff level, the Fund has seen the adoption of a performance management system, a reduction in the number of grievances and an improved recognition of what standards are required of RAF employees.

Constitutional Court Ruling in respect of Contingency Fees

Contingency fees charged by plaintiff attorneys have long exceeded the 25% maximum cap as stipulated by the Contingency Fees Act.

Following various Court rulings that these agreements could not exceed 25%, one law firm, Ronald Bobroff & Partners, proceeded to elevate the appeals right up to the Constitutional Court. On Thursday, 20 February 2014, the Constitutional Court delivered judgment in respect of the constitutionality of the Contingency Fees Act. At issue was whether it is justifiable for personal injury lawyers to charge contingency fees outside of what the Act provides. Personal injury lawyers typically assist road accident victims to claim from the Road Accident Fund (RAF).

Notwithstanding the provisions of the Act, certain Law Societies made provision, in their rules, for members to charge in excess of the percentages prescribed by the Act. Many attorneys disregarded the law, and the fundamental rights of victims of road accidents. Bobroff and Partners was one of the firms which charged more than the Act permitted in accordance with the rules of its professional association.

In particular, Ms Juanne de la Guerre, who suffered head and spinal injuries in a motor vehicle accident, was charged 30% as a contingency fee, instead of the maximum of 25% allowed under the Act. She was awarded R2.5 million by the Court. It came as a shock to her when she realised that her attorneys, Ronald Bobroff & Partners, had charged her R868 000 in professional fees, excluding disbursem*nts, when they had done no more than R250 000 in legal work.

The judgment was in respect of two interwoven cases. The first was that of Ronald Bobroff & Partners who challenged a Full Bench of the North Gauteng High Court who had ordered them to provide an itemised account to De la Guerre and to refund what they had overcharged her. The second was that of the South African Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (SAAPIL), of which Bobroff is the president, which challenged the constitutionality of the Contingency Fees Act. Both cases were heard simultaneously by the Full Bench of the High Court.

The Constitutional Court found no merit in Bobroff and SAAPIL’s challenge as a whole, dismissing the argument that the Contingency Fees Act was irrational because it applied only to lawyers. In handing down judgment, the Court pointed out: “The right of access to justice is that of the legal practitioner’s clients, not that of the legal practitioners themselves.”

In the Constitutional Court, SAAPIL and Bobroff applied for leave to appeal. Ms De La Guerre, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and the RAF all opposed the applications for leave.

The application for leave to appeal was dismissed with costs.

The ruling by the Constitutional Court paves the way for road accident victims to pursue claims amounting potentially to millions of rand against lawyers who assisted them to successfully claim from the RAF, but then charged fees in excess of the law. Future road accident victims will also be far more cautious in approaching personal injury lawyers rather than the RAF directly.

This is indeed a major feat for the RAF and a great step forward for the rights of claimants.

20. Contact Details

For more information, visit our website: www.raf.co.za

Facebook: Raf SA Road

Twitter: RAF_SA

Instagram: RAF_ROAD

Also view:

Road Accident Fund and Assistance to Road Crash Victims

Safety with Settlement Funds after Road Crashes

Post accident Medical claims and the RAF

Road Accidents and Personal Accident Insurance and Benefits