Who Qualifies for A RAF Claim? | Who Can & Cannot Claim in SA?

A person qualifies for a Road Accident Fund (RAF) claim in South Africa if they are a “third party” who suffered bodily injury or death caused by the negligent driving of a motor vehicle that is insured under the compulsory third-party insurance regime administered by the RAF, and the claim is lodged within the relevant statutory limitation period (generally three years from the date of the accident, with narrow exceptions for minors and persons under legal disability). The Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996 (as amended) defines who may claim and who may not, and recent amendments — the RAF Amendment Act 10 of 2021 (gazetted in March 2022) and the 2024 update — have tightened the regime for loss-of-income claims by introducing prescribed income thresholds and by replacing the once-off general-damages tariff with a structured, capped formula.

The Statutory Framework: The RAF Act 56 of 1996 (As Amended)

The Road Accident Fund is a statutory insurer established under the Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996, funded through a fuel levy and tasked with compensating victims of motor-vehicle collisions on South African roads. The Act creates a no-fault compensation scheme in the sense that the wrongdoer does not have to be sued personally; instead, the injured party claims against the statutory fund, which stands in the place of the negligent driver’s liability insurer.

The RAF Amendment Act 10 of 2021, signed into law and published in the Government Gazette in March 2022, significantly restructured loss-of-income claims and general damages — both are now subject to prescribed income thresholds and a tariff-based formula. The 2024 amendment consolidated these reforms and updated the underlying compensation framework. Together, the two amendments mean that the old “actual loss” calculation has been replaced with a capped, tiered approach.

Claims are administered by the RAF itself, but once a dispute arises they are litigated in the relevant High Court division. In Gauteng, the Gauteng Division of the High Court handles most defended RAF matters — the Johannesburg seat for central, western, and eastern Gauteng, and the Pretoria seat for the northern region. The Gauteng Local Division’s practice directives govern motion-court and trial-roll procedure on defended files.

Who Qualifies — The Categories of “Third Party” Who Can Claim

The Act does not use the everyday meaning of “third party.” In the RAF context, a “third party” is anyone who suffered bodily injury or death caused by the driving of a motor vehicle, other than a driver who was solely to blame for the accident. The categories below are the recognised classes of qualifying claimant.

Category	Who they are	What they may claim
The injured person themselves	Any person who sustained bodily injury caused by the negligent driving of a motor vehicle (pedestrian, passenger, cyclist, or non-negligent driver)	Past and future loss of earnings (subject to the tariff), general damages (subject to the cap), medical and hospital expenses (subject to the tariff)
Dependants of a deceased victim	Spouse, life partner, child, parent, or any other person who was financially or otherwise dependent on the deceased	Loss of support, loss of services, funeral expenses (subject to prescribed caps)
A close family member for general damages in a fatal claim	Defined close relatives — spouse, parent, child, and in defined circumstances a sibling	Their own non-patrimonial loss arising from the death
A claimant for loss of parental care	Typically a minor child of a deceased parent	Loss of nurture, guidance, and parental care
A passenger in the negligent driver’s vehicle	Anyone travelling in the vehicle that caused the accident	Full range of general damages and loss of earnings, subject only to the passenger’s own contributory conduct as a reduction

The last category is the most counter-intuitive: passengers in the vehicle that caused the accident can still claim against the RAF, because the Act’s definition of “third party” has consistently been read to include them. The driver’s contributory negligence does not bar the passenger’s claim; the passenger’s own contributory conduct (such as not wearing a seatbelt) becomes a proportional reduction rather than a complete bar.

Who Cannot Claim — The Statutory Exclusions

The eligibility test has a flip side. The following categories of claimant fall outside the regime, either by definition or by express statutory exclusion.

• The negligent driver themselves. The driver who caused the accident cannot claim against the RAF for their own injuries. Their recourse is against the at-fault driver’s separate insurance, if any, under common-law principles.
• Claimants whose injury arises from property damage only. The RAF covers bodily injury; dented panels and written-off vehicles are not recoverable from the RAF.
• Claimants in hit-and-run scenarios involving an unidentified vehicle, unless statutory requirements are met. The 2008 consolidation brought the MVA Fund into the RAF, but the hit-and-run route carries strict requirements (the vehicle must be unidentified despite reasonable enquiries, and the claim must otherwise be in order).
• Claimants outside the limitation period. Generally three years from the date of the accident; extendable only in narrow defined circumstances (minority, persons under legal disability, or where the injury’s seriousness was not reasonably discoverable at the time).
• Claimants whose injuries fall below the statutory threshold for general damages. Following the 2021 and 2024 amendments, certain de minimis injuries no longer attract general damages on the scale previously available.

What the RAF Currently Covers (and Doesn’t)

What the RAF pays for has narrowed under the recent amendments. The current covered and excluded heads of damages are summarised below.

Head of damage	Covered by the RAF?	Conditions / caps
Past and future loss of earnings	Yes	Subject to the prescribed income threshold and a tiered tariff (the higher the income bracket, the smaller the percentage of actual loss recovered, per the 2022 gazetted tariff)
General damages	Yes, in defined circumstances	Subject to a prescribed tariff; serious-injury threshold applies
Medical and hospital expenses	Yes	Subject to a tariff (past medical expenses have been historically ring-fenced; future medical expenses are subject to RAF protocols)
Funeral expenses (fatal claims)	Yes	Capped per the prescribed tariff
Loss of support (fatal claims)	Yes	Calculated per the prescribed formula
Pure property damage	No	Recoverable only from the at-fault driver’s insurer under common law
Pain and suffering outside the statutory general-damages framework	No	Compensated only through the prescribed general-damages tariff
Loss of earnings above the prescribed cap	No	Capped by the 2021/2024 tariff structure

Reduction factors. Contributory conduct — not wearing a seatbelt, an intoxicated pedestrian crossing outside a crossing — reduces the award proportionally rather than barring the claim outright. The juristic test has shifted through the amendments, but the underlying principle of proportional reduction remains in place.

The Eligibility Test in Practice — Three Questions a Claimant Should Answer

Before lodging anything, a claimant can usually answer these three questions for themselves.

1. Was the injury caused by a motor vehicle? The definition covers cars, trucks, motorcycles, and motorised vehicles in defined categories; it does not extend to all off-road recreational vehicles in every circumstance.
2. Was the vehicle insured under the RAF-administered compulsory third-party regime? This is the case for almost all registered on-road vehicles. Some categories are excluded by regulation.
3. Did the injury arise from the negligent driving of that vehicle (or another identifiable cause directly linked to its use on a public road)?

If all three are answered in the affirmative, the claimant is within the qualifying category. The next step is to address limitation, not eligibility.

Limitations, Prescribed Times, and the Practical Glide Path

The general limitation period is three years from the date of the accident — claims lodged outside this window are time-barred unless the claimant falls within a defined exception. For minors, the period begins to run at majority; for persons under legal disability at the time of the accident, the rule turns on whether the legal disability has been lifted.

The first step on the practical glide path is to lodge a claim form directly with the RAF (Form 1), supported by medical and accident reports. The second step, if the RAF disputes liability or quantum, is to issue summons in the relevant High Court division. The RAF’s current settlement posture means that many claims are resolved on the pleadings through settlement offers; disputed matters run through the High Court motion or trial process.

When the Eligibility Question Hands Off to Litigation

Eligibility — the statutory question of “who qualifies” — is the threshold test. Once eligibility is confirmed, the substantive question becomes quantum: how much the RAF owes, and for how long. That is where Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Litigation practice becomes relevant: the team handles the disputed-quantum work that follows once the eligibility hurdle has been cleared. Director Nadine Roesch-Prinsloo heads the General Litigation practice from the Roodepoort branch and her specialisation includes MVA claims and insurance repudiations — the exact category of work a litigated RAF file becomes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a passenger in the vehicle that caused the accident claim from the RAF?

Yes — the most counter-intuitive feature of the regime. The “third party” definition in the Road Accident Fund Act includes passengers, and a passenger who was injured by the negligent driving of the vehicle they were travelling in can claim against the RAF. The driver’s contributory negligence (such as speeding) does not bar the passenger’s claim; the passenger’s own contributory conduct (such as not wearing a seatbelt) may reduce the award but not bar it.

Can a pedestrian claim from the RAF if they were hit by a car?

Yes — a pedestrian is a “third party” under the Act if struck by a motor vehicle and is entitled to claim against the RAF for bodily injury caused by the negligent driving of that vehicle. Contributory conduct by the pedestrian (such as crossing outside a pedestrian crossing, or being intoxicated) is taken into account as a reduction, not as a complete bar.

Can the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident claim from the RAF for their own injuries?

No — the negligent driver cannot claim from the RAF for their own bodily injury. Their recourse is generally against their own insurance policy (if any) under common-law principles, not against the statutory fund. This is the clearest “who cannot claim” example.

How long do I have to lodge a RAF claim?

The general rule is three years from the date of the accident. For minors, the period only begins to run when they reach majority. For persons under legal disability at the time of the accident, separate rules apply. A claim lodged outside the limitation period without a recognised exception is time-barred and extinguishes the right to claim.

Can I claim from the RAF if the other driver was uninsured or fled the scene?

In defined circumstances — yes. The 2008 consolidation of the MVA Fund into the RAF brought the previously separate “hit-and-run” fund under the RAF’s umbrella, and a claimant injured by an unidentified or untraced vehicle can in principle claim against the RAF, subject to the statutory requirements (including that the vehicle was unidentified despite reasonable enquiries, and that the claim is in other respects in order). This is one of the more fact-specific areas of the regime and worth confirming with an attorney before lodging.

Does the RAF still pay for loss of earnings after the 2021 and 2024 amendments?

Yes — but the amount is now subject to a prescribed income threshold and a cap. The RAF Amendment Act 10 of 2021 (gazetted in March 2022) restructured loss-of-income claims to a tariff-based formula with defined maximums, replacing the previous “actual loss” model. A claimant whose income exceeds the threshold will not receive the full difference between pre- and post-accident earnings; a claimant whose injury falls below the threshold for general damages may receive no general damages at all.

Do I need a lawyer to claim from the RAF, or can I lodge it myself?

A simple, undisputed claim can be lodged directly by the claimant using the RAF’s Form 1, supported by medical and accident reports. The threshold for needing a lawyer is generally when the claim is disputed — either on liability (the RAF denies the driver was negligent) or on quantum (the amount owed). Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Litigation practice takes instructions on the disputed-quantum work, which is the majority of defended files.

If you have confirmed that you qualify for a RAF claim and your matter is disputed — either on liability or on the amount the RAF is offering — Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Litigation practice handles disputed-quantum RAF claims across Gauteng. The natural first points of contact for Gauteng-based claimants are the firm’s Bedfordview office (45A Florence Avenue, 011 201 7190), Alberton office (28 Nelson Mandela Avenue, Randhart, 011 439 3990), Roodepoort office (16 Galena Avenue, Helderkruin, 011 668 0030), or the Linden/Randburg head office (49 First Avenue, 011 888 0246). The firm carries a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews (Trustindex verified “Top Rated Law Firm in South Africa”). The Road Accident Fund’s own claims portal (raf.co.za) remains the right starting point for an as-yet-unlodged claim; the firm’s role is on the litigation side once a dispute arises.