WHAT if the RAF levy disappeared from your FUEL bill?
Every time you fill your car, R2.18 per litre goes to the RAF levy, a government entity being looted by fraud and corruption …
Black News 
The RAF levy – as in Road Accident Fund – is meant to compensate people injured in road accidents in South Africa. However, the Democratic Alliance (DA) transport spokesperson Chris Hunsinger thinks it is time to see it scrapped entirely.
Put simply, the party believes the RAF levy has forfeited its right to taxpayer money by being a service that’s no longer beneficial. “The Road Accident Fund is a failed entity. Not only is it wracked by corruption, but it is unable to deliver settlements to hundreds of thousands of real road accident victims,” Hunsinger said in the week the fund’s former chief executive faces possible criminal charges …
END THE RAF LEVY
Firstly, if the RAF levy were to be shelved, fuel would get cheaper immediately. R2.18 per litre is not an insubstantial amount at a time when fuel prices are already under strain and temporary government relief measures are slowly being phased out.
However, road accident victims still need a new safety net. As ever in South Africa, the RAF levy isn’t a bad idea, it’s just a badly run one. It was designed to protect people who are hurt in accidents caused by drivers who can’t afford to compensate them. Therefore, the DA’s answer is compulsory third-party insurance for all motorists.
MANDATORY THIRD-PARTY INSURANCE
In theory, this shifts the financial responsibility from every motorist at the pump, to individual drivers through insurance premiums. Of course, it would act as another incentive to drive safer. For example, a young man with a poor driving record might pay more in compulsory insurance premiums than he currently contributes through the RAF levy.
Likewise, an older, lower-risk driver will likely pay less. What’s certain is that costs would no longer be spread equally across all fuel purchasers. Instead, they would be tied to individual risk profiles of motorists.
CRITICS OF RAF LEVY
Nevertheless, Hunsinger’s critique of the current RAF levy system is damning. He says accident victims wait years for settlements. They get dragged through court battles and often end up with less than they deserve. “Meanwhile, unscrupulous individuals have established entire business practices aimed at milking the RAF for the most minor traffic incidents,” explained Hunsinger.
Currently, the RAF still owes enormous sums to hundreds of thousands of claimants whose cases are stuck in the queue. So, if and when something were to replace the RAF, the backlog would need to be addressed. As such, the DA has said it plans to engage Transport Minister Barbara Creecy on the proposal and pursue legislative amendments, though no timeline has been given.
But what do you think? Should the looted RAF levy be given the boot and replaced with mandatory third-party insurance? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below …
