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Further notes and comments on the appearance before the Portfolio Committee of the RAF and its CEO, Mr Modise:
The CEO of the Road Accident Fund appeared before the Portfolio Committee to present the Annual Report of the Road Accident Fund. The report is available on the JAA site.
The CEO said that although they were increasing how many claims they were settling or “trying to take the water out” but that until the Fund “plugged the hole” the RAF would not be able to cope with the increasing number of vehicles and increasing accidents. In the last “financial year” of the RAF over 15 000 people died on the roads.
Modise said that one of the problems was that foreign visitors had increased from 1 million to 8,5 million years and we pay foreigners unlimited amounts in foreign currency. He said almost every week a foreigner was involved in a serious accident. He said South African’s in general claimed for soft tissue injuries where they were not really injured. Foreign claims on the other hand were very serious and we are the only country that allows foreigners to get treatment in any country in the world at whatever cost in a foreign currency. He said we will have a problem at World Cup as close to “40 million people” were expected for the World Cup - the most ludicrous figure ever heard no doubt!
He said all systems throughout the world had limitations, even those based on fault. He said the RAF had no assets or reserves from which to pay the backlog. The fuel levy brings in about R7 billion a year less R1 billion in diesel rebates to SARS. Modise said one of the problems as the industry was not regulated and that there is no model for it or the fuel levy. He said that the fuel levy could easily go from 36 cents a litre to 66 cents a litre and that to pay the legal costs either the motoring public will pay or they will require a capital injection. He pointed out that the current levy was a tiny amount relative to the actual fuel price.
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