Road Accident Fund pays out over R45 BILLION in one year: ‘It’s unsustainable’
RAF has paid out billions in an attempt to fix its backlog crisis.
All available resources have been deployed to investigate the fatal shooting of an IFP KZN ward councillor and two schoolchildren. Picture: Pexels
Bongani Bingwa speaks with McIntosh Polela, Head of Corporate Communications at the Road Accident Fund
Listen to the interview in the audio below.
The Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, has demanded a plan to settle billions of rands worth of outstanding claims.
In the past year, the Road Accident Fund (RAF) paid out R45.1 billion in claims.
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Polela says the fund has not yet run out of money but is not in an ideal position.
The fund is allocated roughly R55 billion and still owes claimants R8.3 billion.
“You can see we are in pretty bad shape.”
- McIntosh Polela, Head of Corporate Communications at the Road Accident Fund
He argues the RAF model is unworkable and unsustainable.
This is partly due to the litigation required to claim from the fund, which drags out cases and increases costs significantly.
“Take out the lawyers all together. Let the people of South Africa access this benefit.”
- McIntosh Polela, Head of Corporate Communications at the Road Accident Fund
Instead, he suggests that the system should operate more like NSFAS or SASSA, with actuaries determining how much a person should be paid.
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.