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Over 250 000 claims from the Road Accident Fund (RAF) remain either unpaid or unresolved. This was revealed by Transport Minister Ben Martins on Friday in a reply to a DA parliamentary question.

This means that over 250 000 people, many of whom are victims of, or who have suffered injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents, have and will continue to wait for their claims to be paid out or resolved.

The RAF is mandated to provide “compulsory cover to all users of South African roads, citizens and foreigners, against injuries sustained or death arising from accidents involving motor vehicles within the borders of South Africa; this cover is in the form of indemnity insurance to persons who cause the accident as well as personal injury or death insurance to victims of motor vehicle accidents and their families.”

The fact that the number of unpaid or unresolved claims has been allowed to grow to such an extent is a travesty.

With the RAF bleeding funds due to a backlog of claims estimated at well over R42 billion, it is clear that not enough is being done to manage the situation.

Recent news reports have also indicated the RAF has been accused of continuously losing files and letting down road accident victims. Case in point are the Zithwane orphans from the Eastern Cape, who, according to reports, have been waiting for the past three years to get compensation from the RAF after their mother had been killed in a road accident during July of 2008. This is but one example and my Shadow Deputy Minister, Greg Krumbock and I receive countless requests and complaints about claims being ignored.

Transport Minister Ben Martins must step in to rectify the situation.

I will be raising the DA’s concerns and will call on Minister Martins to put forward solid and urgent proposals as to how the situation will be addressed during a meeting of the Transport Portfolio Committee, scheduled for Wednesday 25 July 2012, where committee members are set to be briefed by the Department of Transport on the RAF transitional provisions bill.

The situation cannot be allowed to continue. The Department must act urgently to ensure that the victims of accidents on our road are properly taken care of.