ActionSA wants Finance Minister to explain R180bn RAF shortfall

ActionSA wants the Finance Minister to explain to Parliament how the national fiscus plans to carry the liabilities of the Road Accident Fund (RAF), considering last week's Supreme Court of Appeal ruling confirming its claim form to be unlawful.

With budget documents indicating the RAF's liabilities to be more than R400 billion, ActionSA MP Alan Beesley is raising the alarm about the impact this court ruling will have on unprocessed claims, which the party estimates to be in the region of R180 billion.

Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) is currently finalising its inquiry report into the RAF, during which MPs lambasted the fund for appealing the High Court ruling on the illegality of the form.

ActionSA estimates that around 600,000 claims were rejected as a result of the RAF claim form it unlawfully introduced in 2022.

Last week’s court ruling means these claimants can resubmit their claims.

Beesley believes this could push the RAF's liabilities to more than half a trillion rand and cause it to exceed the financial burdens posed by parastatals like Eskom and Transnet on the public purse.

“ActionSA has estimated that this court ruling could have implications close to R180bn. The RAF certainly does not have the money to fund these claims, and they will place the national fiscus under huge, huge pressure,” said Beesley.

In a separate ruling from the same court, it last month also upheld another High Court ruling that the RAF cannot exclude foreign nationals from claiming from the fund.

Beesley expects the additional influx of applications will result in not only an additional financial burden but also an operational one on the RAF to process a higher volume of claims.

“The lack of rationality has had huge consequences not only to the RAF and road crash victims but also to the national fiscus.”

ActionSA said it will be exploring all available legal avenues, including the potential for criminal charges, against those responsible.