New Road Accident Fund bill is ‘unfair’

Imagine you lose a limb in a car accident, or you are left brain-damaged, can never work again and the maximum benefit you can claim from the Road Accident Fund (RAF) is only R280000 per annum?

Even this amount is not guaranteed. 

This may be the reality for many South Africans if a draft bill on the new workings and name change to the RAF is passed by Parliament. 

Under the proposed legislation, the RAF will become the Road Accident Benefit Scheme and payouts will be capped at R280000 per annum. 

People who are involved in car accidents would no longer be able to claim against the guilty parties and guilty motorists would get the same benefits as innocent victims. 

Benefits would only be paid to persons between the ages of 18 to 60 years. 

If you are unemployed or unable to prove an income, your claim will be limited to the Annual Average National Income, currently R52000 per year, (R4333 per month, which is subject to 25% personal income tax). 

This applies to students about to embark on a career and/or children when they reach the age of 18, regardless of the value of the real earning capacity destroyed.

For those able to prove an income, benefits will be paid based on after tax income. Loss of earnings is capped at Pre-Accident Annual Income, to be determined by the minister, but presumed to be in the region of R168000, (R14000 per month, less 25% tax).

Attorney, Anthony Batchelor, said claims by the RAF that it’s bankrupt is “absolute nonsense”.

“The government wants to get its hands on the funds. It’s the same with the Workman’s Compensation Fund; it’s inept, nobody touches it. The man in the street has a zero chance of fighting this. They (government) will use it to bail out entities like SAA and Eskom,” said Batchelor.

Former head of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and attorney, Janine Myburgh, said she is disturbed by the fact that victims and guilty parties will enjoy the same rights.

“Anthony (Batchelor) is correct. The big thing to punt is the drunk driver and the innocent widow or child are both compensated on the same basis. This is what no fault means.

"In fact, a drunk driver who is employed and drives onto a pavement and seriously injures a child will get a great deal more as the driver’s income is capped at R168000 per annum and the child at R52000,” she said.

At the time of publication, the Transport Department did not respond to queries from  Weekend Argus.

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