Road Accident Fund Crisis Deepens: R41M Owed to Medical Experts as Parliamentary Inquiry Reveals Massive Mismanagement

RAF Crisis Escalates: Medical Experts Left Unpaid While Billions Lost to Mismanagement

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) continues to face mounting challenges as a parliamentary inquiry reveals the extent of financial mismanagement that has plagued South Africa’s critical road accident compensation system. Recent developments paint a concerning picture of an institution struggling with debt, operational inefficiencies, and systemic failures.

Medical Experts Owed Over R41 Million

In a shocking revelation before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), representative Mariette Minnie disclosed that 35 medico-legal experts who provided services to the RAF are collectively owed more than R41 million as of September 2025. This debt crisis has forced many medical professionals to downscale their practices, with some outstanding payments dating back to 2014.

The impact on healthcare providers has been severe:

• Medical experts have waited more than 500 days for payment
• At least 40 clients have had to downscale their practices due to outstanding debt
• Current waiting times for payments range between 300-400 days
• A broader group of 47 medical experts are collectively owed more than R120 million

“Intellectual property was stolen. That is the bottom line that happened here. The services that the experts provided to the Road Accident Fund were stolen,” Minnie testified before the parliamentary committee.

Foreign National Payouts Reach R239.4 Million

The RAF has spent R239.4 million on road accident claims by foreign nationals between April and September 2025, according to spokesperson McIntosh Polela. This figure includes all claim expenditure related to foreign claimants and has sparked debate about the fund’s obligations to non-South African citizens.

The controversy intensified following a tragic bus crash in Limpopo that claimed 43 lives, with the bus carrying passengers from the Eastern Cape to Zimbabwe and Malawi. The RAF clarified that it is not automatically liable for all accidents involving foreign nationals, emphasizing that each claim must meet specific legal criteria under the Road Accident Fund Act.

Key Statistics on Foreign Claims:

• R546 million paid to foreign nationals in the 2024/25 financial year
• 222 personal claims registered where the claimant is a foreigner
• Only 17 out of 222 foreign claims successfully settled as of September 2025
• 78 claims have been repudiated, objected to, or flagged as duplicates

R22.8 Billion in Excess Payments Due to Mismanagement

Perhaps the most damaging revelation from the parliamentary inquiry is that the RAF paid an estimated R22.8 billion in excess payments over just two financial years (2020/21 and 2021/22). This massive financial loss resulted from default judgments and inflated claims settlements following the fund’s decision to terminate its panel of attorneys.

Itayi Charakupa, former senior manager of the RAF’s actuarial unit, provided stark testimony about the consequences of operational changes:

Impact of Operational Changes:

• Claims settled decreased from 80,000 in 2020 to 26,000 in 2024
• Average weekly claims processing dropped from 1,545 to 515
• Average claim value increased by 70% from R138,000 to R235,141
• More than 200 claims officers were suspended during 2021-2022

The Panel of Attorneys Controversy

The termination of the RAF’s panel of attorneys in June 2020 has been identified as a critical factor in the fund’s current crisis. The panel previously consisted of more than 100 attorney firms with approximately 500 attorneys who provided essential services including:

• Litigation process management
• Claims investigation
• Settlement negotiations
• Court representation
• Expert witness coordination

Following the termination, fewer than 20 attorneys were available to handle the workload, creating a severe capacity bottleneck that led to default judgments and inflated settlements.

Accounting Standards Manipulation

Victor Songelwa, former RAF GM of finance, revealed that changes to the fund’s accounting policy resulted in significant understatement of claims liability. At March 31, 2021, the entire RAF claims liability should have been R356.1 billion, but due to accounting policy changes, only R29.6 billion appeared in financial statements – an understatement of R326.5 billion.

This manipulation potentially affected funding decisions, as Songelwa noted: “It is a reason for us not getting an increase in fuel levy.”

Current Challenges and Future Outlook

The RAF, funded through the fuel levy, faces multiple systemic challenges:

Operational Issues:

• Severe understaffing with claims officers managing over 2,000 files each
• Massive claims backlog
• Inadequate legal representation
• Vulnerability to fraud in new systems

Financial Pressures:

• Outstanding debts to service providers
• Inflated claim settlements
• Potential liability exceeding R500 billion
• Limited funding from fuel levy

Parliamentary Inquiry Continues

The SCOPA inquiry into RAF’s financial maladministration continues, with more revelations expected. The investigation has already exposed a complex web of mismanagement that has been ongoing for over a decade, affecting thousands of road accident victims who depend on the fund for compensation.

As South Africa grapples with this crisis, the need for comprehensive reform of the RAF becomes increasingly urgent. The fund’s mandate to compensate road accident victims within South Africa’s borders remains critical, but its ability to fulfill this obligation is severely compromised by years of mismanagement and operational failures.

What This Means for Road Accident Victims

For South Africans who may need to claim from the RAF, the current situation presents significant challenges:

• Extended waiting periods for claim processing
• Potential delays in medical expert assessments
• Uncertainty about claim settlement timelines
• Possible impact on quality of legal representation

The RAF’s struggles highlight the urgent need for systemic reform to ensure that road accident victims receive timely and fair compensation. As the parliamentary inquiry continues, stakeholders hope for concrete solutions that will restore the fund’s ability to serve its critical public mandate effectively.

The Road Accident Fund inquiry is ongoing, with further hearings scheduled to continue next week. This developing story will be updated as more information becomes available.