- APRAV proposes a National Settlement Hub to tackle the RAF's growing claims backlog.
- RAF is spending more money but resolving far fewer claims than before, according to APRAV.
- APRAV urges Parliament's RAF inquiry to deliver urgent reforms for better compensation access.
The Association for Protection of Road Accident Victims (APRAV) has called for the establishment of a National Settlement Hub to clear the Road Accident Fund's (RAF) growing claims backlog and speed up compensation for road accident victims.
The organisation believes this proposal would provide immediate relief to thousands of claimants while broader reforms of the Fund are put in place.
APRAV presented the proposal during a National Press Club briefing in Pretoria, warning that the RAF is spending much more money while resolving far fewer claims than in previous years. The organisation said the current system is failing both road accident victims and the motorists who fund the RAF through the fuel levy.
APRAV raises concerns about RAF performance
APRAV’s concerns are based on information shared by Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) chairperson Songezo Zibi during a meeting with legal and medico-legal professionals in Pretoria on 24 July 2026.
According to APRAV, the RAF used to finalise over 400,000 claims each year on a budget of about R40 billion. Today, it resolves only around 70,000 claims annually, and the average cost per claim has risen by more than 70% over the past three to four years. APRAV said that some victims have waited as long as a decade for compensation they are legally entitled to receive.
APRAV also criticised an unlawful RAF claim form that required expensive medical reports upfront, saying it excluded potentially hundreds of thousands of people from accessing the claims process before the courts declared it invalid. The closure of regional RAF offices has made it even harder for people in remote communities to pursue claims.
They also raised governance concerns, noting that 28 legal managers left the Fund within 18 months, and during one parliamentary hearing, RAF board members could not identify the Fund’s chief financial officer. SCOPA has even laid a criminal charge against former RAF chief executive Collins Letsoalo for allegedly ignoring a legal instruction to appear before the committee.
APRAV chairperson Ngoako Mohlaloga said these figures represent the daily struggles of ordinary South Africans. "The system is spending more to help far fewer people," Mohlaloga said. "Every one of those numbers is a person: someone who cannot work, a family that cannot pay for treatment, a claim that has been sitting in a drawer for years."
APRAV welcomes SCOPA inquiry
APRAV praised SCOPA’s investigation into the RAF, calling it one of the most thorough inquiries ever conducted into the Fund.
Mohlaloga said the inquiry has shown a "genuinely no-nonsense approach" under Zibi's leadership and welcomed the committee chairperson’s willingness to engage directly with legal and medico-legal professionals. "He did not just come to speak. He came to listen too," Mohlaloga said.
APRAV noted that SCOPA plans to finalise its report by the end of August and present it to Parliament by the end of September.
National Settlement Hub proposed
APRAV said the National Settlement Hub would identify claims ready for settlement, consolidate all the necessary legal, medical, and financial documentation, bring together officials with the authority to settle matters, pay undisputed portions of claims promptly, and refer only genuine disputes to court. They said this proposal would improve efficiency without replacing the RAF or the courts.
Pieter de Bruyn, a member of APRAV's executive, explained that the proposal aims to help claimants without compromising the integrity of the compensation system.
"The Settlement Hub does not replace the RAF or the courts," De Bruyn said. "It does not force victims to accept less than they are owed, and it does not let an unproven or inflated claim slip through either... It simply puts people who can actually make a decision in a room, to do what the RAF should have been doing all along."
APRAV wants the initiative to start as a pilot programme focusing on claims already on court rolls or close to settlement, with all outcomes monitored and published.
APRAV calls for broader reform
While describing the Settlement Hub as an immediate intervention, APRAV said long-term reform of the RAF is still essential.
The organisation said the Fund needs stable leadership, strong governance, and sustainable funding. They urged the Minister of Transport, the Department of Transport, and Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport to act on SCOPA's recommendations once the committee’s report is complete.
De Bruyn said Parliament’s work must produce real improvements for road accident victims. "The final report cannot become another waiting room," he said.
Real reform, he added, will be measured by claims being assessed fairly, settlements being reached promptly, compensation being paid, and families finally being able to move forward. "Repair the harm already done. Relieve the people waiting now. Rebuild the RAF so that the same failures are never repeated."
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