Road Accident Fund Act in South Africa | What Are The Rules for RAF?

The Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996 allows people who suffer bodily injury, and dependants of people who die, in South African motor vehicle accidents to claim specified losses from the Road Accident Fund (RAF) where the injury or death was caused by another person’s negligence or other wrongful act. It covers medical expenses, loss of earnings or support, qualifying funeral expenses and, for a serious injury, general damages; it does not compensate vehicle or other property damage.

What the Act Actually Does (Purpose)

The Act established the RAF and replaced qualifying common-law claims against the negligent driver or owner with a statutory claim against the Fund. Section 21 has directed an eligible claimant to the RAF, rather than the wrongdoer, since the statutory scheme took effect; the Constitutional Court’s 2024 decision in Mafisa v Road Accident Fund concerned judicial treatment of RAF settlement agreements and did not create that direct cause of action.

The RAF is financed mainly through a levy included in fuel prices. Although it gives road users broad social protection, it is not a no-fault scheme: section 17 requires negligence or another wrongful act by the driver, owner or relevant employee. A claimant’s own contributory negligence can reduce compensation under the Apportionment of Damages Act 34 of 1956.

Who the Scheme Covers (Categories of Claimant)

• Pedestrians and cyclists injured through the negligent driving of a motor vehicle;
• Passengers injured through a driver’s negligence, including negligence by the driver of the vehicle carrying them;
• Drivers where another person was wholly or partly at fault;
• Dependants who lose financial support because a breadwinner died in the accident.

A driver whose conduct was the sole cause has no claim because section 17 requires another person’s negligence or wrongfulness. Section 18(2)(a) instead concerns employment-injury compensation. The accident must occur within South Africa and satisfy the Act; property damage is excluded.

What You Can Claim (Heads of Damage)

Head of damage	What it may cover	Important limit
Medical and related expenses	Reasonable past treatment and qualifying future treatment, rehabilitation, services and assistive goods	Future expenses are commonly addressed through a section 17(4)(a) undertaking and paid after they are incurred and proved.
Loss of earnings	Proved past income loss and reduced future earning capacity	The statutory annual cap, adjusted quarterly, applies.
Loss of support	Proved financial loss suffered by legal dependants of a deceased breadwinner	The adjusted statutory annual cap applies per deceased breadwinner.
Funeral expenses	Necessary actual cremation or burial costs	Only qualifying actual costs are recoverable.
General damages	Pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement and loss of amenities	Available only for a “serious injury” assessed under section 17(1A) and the regulations.

Both personal-injury and dependant’s loss-of-support claims derive from section 17. Section 18 limits liability in particular circumstances; it is not a separate general cause of action for death claims.

The Claims Process (Step by Step)

1. Gather evidence. Preserve accident, witness, vehicle, identity, medical and financial records.
2. Complete the forms. For accidents from 1 August 2008, use RAF 1 with its statutory medical report. General damages also require a serious-injury assessment on RAF 4.
3. Lodge a compliant claim. Submit the forms and supporting documents by the prescribed method before prescription, retaining delivery proof and the claim number.
4. Support the investigation. Supply reasonably requested records and attend a reasonable RAF-funded medical examination. Section 19 penalises unreasonable non-compliance.
5. Assess the outcome. Consider the medical, occupational and actuarial evidence, apportionment and any settlement offer.
6. Litigate if necessary. Section 24 generally bars summons for 120 days after compliant lodgement unless the RAF denies liability sooner in writing. Use a court with territorial and monetary jurisdiction.

Time Limits and Prescription

For an identified driver or owner, section 23(1) generally gives a claimant three years from the accident to lodge the claim. The Act does not create a general later-discovery rule for latent injury. Where neither driver nor owner can be identified, regulations impose a shorter two-year lodgement period. Early advice is therefore particularly important after a hit-and-run.

• Prescription does not run against a minor, a person detained as a patient under mental-health legislation or a person under curatorship while that statutory disability continues.
• Once a compliant identified-vehicle claim is lodged, section 23(3) ordinarily allows up to five years from the accident before it prescribes.
• Late statutory lodgement is not safely cured by an application for “condonation”. These are substantive deadlines, so a claimant should never rely on discretion being available.

When the RAF Can Refuse a Claim (Defences and Exclusions)

• No proved negligence or wrongfulness: a claimant must connect the injury or death to another person’s negligent or wrongful driving.
• No qualifying motor vehicle: the statutory definition and causal connection to its driving must be met.
• Property loss only: repair costs and damaged belongings must be pursued outside the RAF scheme.
• Prescription or invalid lodgement: a late claim, or one that fails the Act’s material form requirements, may be unenforceable.
• Section 19 non-compliance: unreasonable refusal of an examination or failure to provide prescribed medical records, accident particulars or documents can defeat compensation.
• No serious injury: non-pecuniary general damages require an accepted serious-injury assessment, although other proved heads of loss may remain.

Recent Changes to the Act

The main framework applicable to accidents from 1 August 2008 came from the Road Accident Fund Amendment Act 19 of 2005. It introduced the serious-injury restriction for general damages, adjusted caps for loss of income and support, and the present limits on funeral costs. Under the regulations, an injury may qualify through at least 30% whole-person impairment or the narrative test—for example, serious long-term impairment, permanent serious disfigurement, severe long-term mental or behavioural disturbance, or loss of a foetus.

In Mafisa in 2024, the Constitutional Court held that a court may not rewrite an otherwise lawful RAF settlement merely because it takes a different view of the merits; the decision was about settlements, not a new claims defendant or abolition of the serious-injury test. Legislative proposals should not be treated as enacted law. Current forms, caps and amendments must be checked at the time of a claim.

Practical Considerations for Claimants

Medical evidence must establish the injury, treatment needs and functional consequences; employment and actuarial evidence may be needed for income or support loss. Timelines vary substantially with completeness, merits, expert evidence, RAF administration and court availability, so fixed promises such as “12 to 24 months” or “three to five years” are not reliable legal rules.

A claimant may lodge personally, but professional help is often useful where prescription, apportionment, serious injury or future loss is disputed. A contingency-fee agreement must comply with the Contingency Fees Act 66 of 1997; it is not simply an unrestricted percentage arrangement. Burger Huyser Attorneys handles MVA claims through its general litigation practice, headed by Director Nadine Roesch-Prinsloo at the Roodepoort branch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to sue the driver who hit me, or can I claim directly from the RAF?

An eligible claim is made against the RAF. Section 21 replaces the qualifying common-law claim against the negligent driver or owner, subject to limited statutory exceptions; this was already the law before the 2024 Mafisa judgment.

How long do I have to lodge a RAF claim?

An identified-driver claim generally must be lodged within three years of the accident, while an unidentified-driver claim generally has a two-year deadline under the regulations. Statutory protection applies to minors and certain legally incapacitated people.

Can I claim if I was a passenger in the vehicle?

Yes. A passenger may claim where negligent or wrongful driving caused bodily injury. Compensation can be reduced only where legally relevant fault is proved against the passenger; awareness that a driver was impaired may be relevant to that enquiry rather than creating automatic full cover.

What if I was the driver and partly at fault?

A partly at-fault driver may still claim if another person’s negligence also caused the accident, but compensation may be apportioned. A driver who was the sole cause ordinarily has no section 17 claim.

Can I claim for psychological injury only?

The post-2008 scheme excludes loss arising from secondary emotional shock suffered only from witnessing, observing or learning of another person’s injury or death. A psychiatric injury directly caused to a road-accident victim requires careful medical and legal assessment, and general damages still require a serious injury.

How long does a RAF claim take?

There is no reliable universal duration. Completeness of evidence, disputes over fault or value, RAF administration, settlement prospects and court availability can all extend the process.

Do I need an attorney to claim from the RAF?

No law requires every claimant to appoint an attorney merely to lodge a claim. Legal representation is often valuable where deadlines, serious injury, apportionment, expert evidence or litigation are involved, and any contingency-fee agreement must comply with the Contingency Fees Act.

If you have suffered bodily injury in a motor vehicle accident or lost a breadwinner, Burger Huyser Attorneys can assess the available RAF claim and its deadlines. The firm’s general litigation practice handles MVA claims under Nadine Roesch-Prinsloo, Director and Head of General Litigation. Contact the Roodepoort branch on 011 668 0030 or 061 516 0091, or the Linden head office on 011 888 0246. Bring your identity document, accident information, medical records and any RAF correspondence available. The firm has a 4.8/5 average from 250+ Google reviews, verified by Trustindex.