The new interim board of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) has been true to its commitment to aggressively pay out claims older than 180 days, disbursing R17.3 billion in compensation to road accident victims and service providers in the past six months.
The RAF also reported that the fund on Friday “celebrated a record one-day payout of R694 million, highlighting the positive impact of fast-tracking initiatives on daily payment volumes”.
It said the RAF’s payment performance has reached record levels in recent months and in September paid out R4.18 billion, the highest amount disbursed in a single month during the 2025/26 financial year.
It said that by 17 October, the fund had already paid out R2.57 billion in claims for the month and was on track to surpass September’s record by the end of the month.
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Commitment to expedite payments
The RAF stressed it has fulfilled its commitment to expedite payments to claimants and enhance service delivery.
“These figures demonstrate a significant improvement in payment speed and capacity, reflecting the RAF’s concerted efforts to reduce the backlog and enhance turnaround times.
“Claimants, their attorneys, and medical service providers are witnessing firsthand the benefits of faster and more reliable settlements,” it added.
“The RAF will continue to prioritise efficiency, transparency, and fairness in claims processing, while strengthening governance and controls to ensure sustainable payment levels.
“This approach addresses the urgent needs of claimants and ensures that the fund remains focused on delivering timely settlements, while safeguarding its long-term financial sustainability.”
The RAF added that this rapid payout underscores its dedication to providing timely and fair compensation to all those injured on South Africa’s roads and marks a significant milestone in the fund’s ongoing turnaround strategy.
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“Building on these improvements, the organisation aims to maintain high payment levels in the coming months, continuing to reduce claim processing times, and uphold public trust in its services,” it said.
The RAF board expressed its “heartfelt gratitude to the dedicated staff” whose hard work it said has made these disbursements possible, especially during challenging circumstances.
The accelerating increase in the payout of claims older than 180 days follows Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy on 8 August appointing the new interim RAF board chaired by Kenneth Brown, a Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) board member who previously spent almost 20 years at National Treasury.
Creecy said at the time the interim board had been appointed for a period of six months, or until a new board is appointed, “whichever comes first”.
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Plans to address outstanding claims
Brown told Moneyweb after an urgent meeting on 5 September with attorney associations and sheriffs the RAF’s new interim board has plans to fix the organisation and intends, from October 2025, to “aggressively” start paying the outstanding claims older than 180 days.
The meeting was convened to discuss the implications on the RAF of the high court’s dismissal of the fund’s urgent application for an extension of the 180-payment moratorium.
“We, as the board and the RAF, have put our heads on the block that if we can’t fix this thing in the shortest space of time, or over a prolonged kind of period – whether it’s a year or whatever – we will have to look at ourselves,” said Brown.
“We can’t have people who are being paid big money and they are just not doing their work, so we have to evaluate basically everything.”
The increased frequency of payments also follows the RAF’s unsuccessful application to the High Court in Pretoria for the extension, revival, or reinstatement of a 180-day moratorium on the execution of writs and warrants for capital and interest against the fund.
The moratorium provided temporary legal protection from the immediate enforcement of court-ordered payments, allowing the RAF up to 180 days to settle claims.
Judge Jabulani Nyathi on 2 September 2025 struck the application from the court roll, with costs, because of a lack of urgency.
The dismissal means the RAF now has to pay claims within 14 calendar days, instead of the previous period of almost six months.
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Former CEO faces possible Scopa subpoena
Meanwhile, former RAF CEO Collins Letsoalo is facing the prospect of being subpoenaed to appear before parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) inquiry into the fund.
Scopa confirmed on Friday that it has resolved to send a final letter to Letsoalo “to secure a firm undertaking of his appearance as a witness in the oversight inquiry”.
Scopa said it has to date sent three letters to Letsoalo in an attempt to secure his “voluntary participation”.
It added that Letsoalo has, in various letters to Scopa chair Songezo Zibi, challenged the authority of Scopa to conduct the oversight inquiry into the financial matters of the RAF, claiming that only parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport has the authority to conduct the inquiry.
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Scopa stressed that the scope of the inquiry concerns financial management, financial losses, and related maladministration, which is in line with its overall mandate in terms of the rules of the National Assembly and South Africa’s Constitution.
It said the committee remains firm in its view that it has the necessary authority to conduct the oversight inquiry.
Zibi reiterated his commitment that this is an enhanced oversight inquiry conducted by the committee in order to make detailed recommendations that will assist the RAF in its turnaround and the delivery of its mandate.
Zibi said during a Scopa meeting in July, at which the terms of reference of its inquiry into the RAF were adopted, that while parliament has a power of subpoena, it does not do that at the first instance but first requests the information.
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
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