Moves are afoot that will see a
significant overhaul of the Road
Accident Fund (RAF).
The new Road Accident Benefit
Scheme bill (RABS) has been
before the National Economic
Development and Labour Council
(Nedlac) and is set to be referred
to Cabinet soon for approval to be
tabled in Parliament.
The new bill aims to significantly
reduce the burden on the Road
Accident Fund (RAF) which has
been bankrupt for several years.
Mantiti Kola, chief strategy
officer for the RAF, told FTW that
while revenue derived from the fuel
levy (the RAF gets R1.54 from every
litre of fuel sold) was generous it
was simply not enough to cover the
amount of claims being received.
In November last year a total of
R10.79 billion was payable to 5 941
claimants and service providers,
while the RAF’s liability as at 30
September 2015 was R130bn,
indicative of the financial strain on
the organisation over decades.
Claim payments had increased
significantly, said Kola.
“At the same time claimants are
often not the primary beneficiary
and compensation is not always
used for rehabilitation,” she said. “A
large number of claims also end up
in court, adding to the costs.”
RABS, said Kola, was an effort
to address and turn the current
situation around.
“This new scheme will operate
on social security principles, as
opposed to insurance principles,
and is designed to provide
reasonable, equitable, affordable
and sustainable benefits that will be
paid out through a no-fault, fixed
benefit scheme.”
By introducing simplified claims
procedures, the benefits will be
paid in a structured manner on a
temporary and longer-term method.
According to Kola, benefits
through RABS are pre-determined,
recognising need, as opposed to
loss.
While the new bill has not met
with approval on all fronts, Kola
said the RAF was determined to
go ahead with the bill which was
expected to start its parliamentary
process towards promulgation soon.
“Great effort has gone into this
new bill to ensure it is fullfilling the
strategic objectives of the RAF."
Major overhaul of road accident fund moves into motion
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