How Much Does the Road Accident Fund Pay for a Leg Injury in South Africa?

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) pays compensation for leg injuries under four heads of damage — past loss of earnings, future loss of earnings, past and future medical expenses, and general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenities of life — each calculated separately and then aggregated into a single award. The amounts payable vary materially depending on the injury’s severity, the claimant’s pre-accident earning capacity, and (for general damages) whether the leg injury crosses the “serious injury” threshold the regulations require. Claims must be lodged with the RAF on the prescribed form within three years of the accident or of the date the injury became reasonably discoverable, and most leg-injury claims are litigated in the Magistrate’s Court of the district where the accident occurred or where the claimant resides.

The Four Heads of Damage the RAF Pays

The RAF framework divides any personal-injury award into four distinct categories. Each head is calculated on its own evidence and produces its own figure, and the four figures are then added together into a single award.

Head of damage	What it covers	Evidence typically used
Past loss of earnings	Actual income lost from the date of the accident to the date of settlement or trial.	IRP5s, payslips, employer records, bank statements.
Future loss of earnings	Present value of future lost earning capacity, calculated on an actuarial basis using Patterson scales, adjusted for age, contingencies and post-accident prospects.	Actuarial report, medical evidence on impairment, pre-accident income trajectory.
Past and future medical expenses	Incurred costs (invoices, hospital accounts, proof of payment) plus discounted future costs of rehabilitation, prosthetics, assistive devices and ongoing treatment.	Medical invoices, hospital accounts, treating-doctor and specialist reports, prosthetic or rehabilitation quotations.
General damages	A once-off amount for pain, suffering, loss of amenities of life, and psychological scarring. Only recoverable where the leg injury crosses the “serious injury” threshold in the regulations.	Orthopaedic and psychological specialist reports, AMA Guides assessment, life-impact evidence.

The first three heads are recoverable regardless of how minor the injury looks on the day of the accident. General damages are different: the law reserves them for injuries that meet the serious-injury bar set out in the regulations, which is why the threshold question tends to drive the size of an RAF leg-injury award.

How the “Serious Injury” Threshold Works for Leg Injuries

The “serious injury” requirement was introduced by the Road Accident Fund Amendment Act 19 of 2005 and is now embedded in the RAF framework. The claimant must show that the leg injury meets the threshold prescribed in the regulations — currently framed as a percentage of whole-person disablement, typically assessed using the AMA Guides or another accepted methodology. Where the percentage crosses the threshold, general damages become recoverable; the other three heads of damage are payable regardless of severity.

Likely to cross the threshold	Often does not cross the threshold
Above-knee amputation	Simple hairline fractures
Severe crush injuries with permanent mobility loss	Soft tissue injuries with full recovery
Complex fractures with non-union	Minor bruising resolving within weeks
Traumatic shortening of the leg	Pulled muscles or sprains
Permanent limp or permanent assistive-device dependency	Short-term discomfort without lasting impairment

This list is illustrative, not a tariff. Every claim turns on the medical evidence and the percentage of disablement the orthopaedic specialist assigns, read against the current regulatory threshold.

How Each Head of Damage Is Calculated in Practice

The four heads are not calculated by the same method, and each carries its own evidentiary requirements. Past loss of earnings is the most straightforward of the four — the RAF pays back the actual income lost, supported by IRP5s, payslips and bank statements for the relevant period. Future loss of earnings is the most technical: it is an actuarial calculation that uses Patterson scales and takes into account the claimant’s age, pre-accident income trajectory, contingency deductions, and the percentage impairment likely to translate into diminished earning capacity. Medical expenses are split into past costs (calculated from invoices at tariff or actual cost) and future costs (discounted to present value and supported by a medical report quantifying ongoing treatment needs). General damages are derived from the RAF’s published tariff, which links specific injury classifications to a range of amounts; the actual figure depends on the leg injury’s classification, severity, recovery period and impact on daily life.

What Is Leg-Injury-Specific About the Calculation

Leg injuries have a clear functional and often visible impact, which generally helps when the serious-injury assessment is being made. The loss-of-amenities-of-life component — the part of general damages that compensates for the way an injury changes everyday life — tends to be higher for leg injuries that affect mobility, work activities, recreational pursuits and self-care. Amputation cases typically carry the largest general-damages awards because of the permanent prosthetic and rehabilitation costs and the long-term psychological impact. A leg-injury assessment will usually look at:

• Ability to drive, climb stairs, walk long distances, and sit or stand for extended periods
• Capacity to participate in sport, exercise or recreational activity at the same level as before the accident
• Presence and severity of any scarring, permanent limp, or chronic pain
• Permanent reliance on assistive devices such as a cane, crutch or prosthesis

These are not just medical questions — they are the daily-life questions that translate into the general-damages figure.

The Current Statutory Framework

The primary statute is the Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996, in force since 1 May 1997, with the Road Accident Fund Amendment Act 19 of 2005 (effective from 1 August 2008) introducing the “serious injury” threshold that gates general damages. The Constitutional Court’s 2017 ruling in Road Accident Fund v AA-Mutual Insurance found the deeming provisions relating to the threshold to be unconstitutional and reshaped how the RAF processes general-damages claims. The 2024 RAF Amendment Act introduced further changes to the framework, including revised administrative-claim limits and reform options; the current state of the framework should be confirmed with the RAF before relying on any figure or step in this article. The Regulations on Compulsory Third Party Insurance, read with the Act, govern the medical assessment and the serious-injury certification process that precedes any general-damages award.

The Claims Process, Step by Step

1. Lodge the claim. Lodge the claim with the RAF on the prescribed Form 1 within three years of the accident or of the date the injury became reasonably discoverable.
2. Serve the parties. Serve the claim on the RAF and on the driver and owner of the negligent vehicle.
3. Medico-legal assessment. Attend a medico-legal assessment with an orthopaedic specialist, who assigns a percentage of whole-person disablement using the AMA Guides or an equivalent methodology.
4. Statutory offer period. The RAF has a statutory period (currently 120 days from the date of service, depending on the current regime) to investigate and make a settlement offer. If no offer is made, the claimant may issue summons.
5. Litigation in the Magistrate’s Court. If the matter is not settled, it proceeds to the Magistrate’s Court of the district where the accident occurred or where the claimant resides, for pleadings, discovery, expert conference and trial.
6. Settlement or trial. Most leg-injury claims are settled out of court after expert conference and mediation. Matters that proceed to trial are usually decided on the papers and on the expert evidence.

What Compensation Ranges Look Like in Practice

There is no single answer to “how much does the RAF pay for a leg injury” because the four heads are calculated separately and then aggregated. As a general framing rather than a tariff, the ranges tend to look like this:

Head of damage	What drives the figure	Typical range in practice
Past loss of earnings	Documented income and the period off work.	Modest for short absences; larger for extended inability to work.
Future loss of earnings	Actuarial calculation, age, pre-accident income, contingency deductions, percentage impairment.	A few hundred thousand rand for modest impairment; several million rand for severe impairment in a high-earning claimant.
Past and future medical expenses	Invoices for the past; present-value calculation of rehabilitation, prosthetics and assistive devices for the future.	Past costs tied to invoices; future costs vary widely and can be substantial for serious injuries.
General damages	Classification of the leg injury under the RAF’s published tariff; severity, recovery period, impact on daily life.	Consult the current RAF tariff; do not rely on a generic figure.

The overall award depends on the combination. A leg amputation in a young, mid-career professional with a substantial post-accident income loss will produce a substantially larger award than a partial fracture in the same age group with little or no income loss. Each claim is its own calculation, and the figures above are framing only — they are not a tariff.

If you have suffered a leg injury in a motor vehicle accident and need to claim from the Road Accident Fund, Burger Huyser Attorneys’ General Litigation team can guide you through the entire process — from lodging the Form 1 and arranging the medico-legal assessment to negotiating with the RAF and, if necessary, issuing summons and proceeding to trial. Files are run by directors with specific experience in motor-vehicle accident claims and insurance repudiations; the work is led through the firm’s Roodepoort branch under Director Nadine Roesch-Prinsloo, with support across the firm’s Gauteng branches. Initial consultations can be booked through the Roodepoort branch on 011 668 0030, the head office on 011 888 0246, or any of the firm’s branches in Sandton, Bedfordview, Alberton, Midrand, Centurion or Pretoria. The firm carries a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews (Trustindex verified “Top Rated Law Firm in South Africa”) and offers the personalised, plain-spoken service the clinical and actuarial aspects of an RAF claim require.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does an RAF claim for a leg injury take in South Africa?

Leg-injury claims typically take 18 to 36 months from lodgement to final settlement or judgment, depending on whether the RAF makes a settlement offer within the statutory period, the complexity of the medico-legal assessment, whether the matter is litigated, and the court roll at the relevant magistrate’s court.

Can I claim from the RAF for a leg injury if I was partially at fault?

Yes. The RAF regime is a no-fault scheme, so compensation is recoverable as long as the negligent driver was the cause of the accident, regardless of the claimant’s contributory negligence. Contributory negligence may reduce the amount of damages where the claimant was also a negligent driver, but the claim is not barred.

Do I need an attorney to claim from the RAF for a leg injury?

Legally, you can lodge the claim yourself. In practice, the serious-injury assessment, the actuarial calculation, the medical-evidence collation, and the negotiation with the RAF all require specialist input, so most claimants instruct an attorney — particularly for injuries that cross the serious-injury threshold or where the dispute is likely to be litigated.

What if my leg injury gets worse after the RAF settlement?

The original claim cannot generally be reopened after settlement. If the settlement or court order expressly reserved the right to claim additional future medical expenses, those can be pursued later, but future medical expenses must be specifically dealt with in the original settlement document.

How is the serious-injury threshold assessed for leg injuries?

An orthopaedic specialist evaluates the leg injury using the AMA Guides (or another accepted methodology) and assigns a percentage of whole-person disablement. That percentage is then compared against the threshold set in the regulations; the assessment is a medical-legal exercise, not a clinical-only one, and the specialist’s report is a key piece of evidence in the claim.

Can Burger Huyser Attorneys help with an RAF leg injury claim?

Yes. The firm’s General Litigation practice handles RAF claims, with files run by directors who have specific experience in motor-vehicle accident claims and insurance repudiations. Initial consultations can be booked through the head office on 011 888 0246 or the Roodepoort branch on 011 668 0030, and the firm will assess whether the claim is worth pursuing at the first consultation.