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The Road Accident Fund (RAF) welcomes the 11% decrease in festive season road fatalities announced by the Minister of Transport, Joe Maswanganyi, for the period 01 December 2017 to 15 January 2018. While the numbers still remain high, the improvement bares testimony to the fact that intensified efforts by law enforcement agencies and transport entities such as the RAF to raise road safety awareness, have had some positive impact.

As the RAF, we would like to send our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the 1 676 who passed away and wish those still in hospital a speedy recovery. These statistics are not merely numbers but precious life’s and as a caring arm of government, we urge qualify claimants to access much needed services directly with the Fund rather than through litigation in order to expedite the claims process.

Road Safety remains a priority at the RAF, with awareness being generated through ongoing campaigns such as #AlwaysRemember which urges road users to always remember to be safe and consider others when on the road. The campaign which is being run on all community, regional, and national media platforms is targeted at all road users. It is particularly relevant as children begin the school year and use public transport.

Drunken driving, speed, unroadworthy vehicles and fatigue also remain a major risk and all road users are urged to work together to ensure that this carnage stops.

Despite its good intensions to ease the financial and emotional burden of accident victims, the RAF’s claims expenditure still remains unacceptably high at over R33 billion per annum. The claims expenditure, coupled with liabilities of more than R188 billion, represent large sums of money which our country could rather target towards valuable services and infrastructure.

The Department of Transport’s proposed Road Accident Benefit Scheme Bill which is currently going through the legislative process, is meant to address this difference, and will ensure thousands currently excluded from the claims process access necessary benefits.

Despite the limitations and challenges, the RAF will honour its commitment to cover, compensate, and rehabilitate all those unfortunately injured or killed on our roads. For more information regarding the claims process, please visit the 100 Hospital Service Centres or five regional offices situated through the country, details of which are available on www.raf.co.za.

Alternatively, contact the RAF Call Centre on 0860 23 55 23 from Monday to Friday, 07h45 to 16h00, where claimants will be assisted in any of the 11 South African languages. You can also follow us on social media: Twitter: @RAF_SA; Facebook: Road Accident Fund; and Instagram: RAF_ROAD.

We thank all those road users who have complied with the rules of the road and #AlwaysRemember to stay safe on South Africa’s roads.

Issued by the Road Accident Fund