High Court ruling provides relief for RAF

© Sergii Gnatiuk – 123RF.com

In a statement on Monday, the Minister said the judgment is a step in the right direction in government’s efforts to ensure that those who fall victim to accidents on the roads continue to benefit from the social security net RAF provides.

On Friday, the court ruled in favour of the RAF, granting suspension of warrants of execution and attachments, whether writs and attachments.

In handing down its judgment, the court ruled that, amongst others:

• All writs of execution and attachments against the RAF based on court orders already granted or settlements already reached in terms of the Road Accident Fund Act, 56 of 1996 are suspended until 30 April 2021.
  
• Those that are not older than 180 days as from the date of the court order or date of the settlement reached, are suspended from 1 May 2021 until 12 September 2021.

“This is an important step in placing the RAF on a sustainable path and ensure that it is able to provide the much-needed relief, to those who need such relief as a consequence of the position they find themselves in due to road accidents.

“It also gives impetus to our interventions, which started with the appointment of a new board in 2019, followed by the appointment of a CEO in 2020, who will then drive the implementation of a new operating model for RAF,” the Minister said.

He said the dire financial situation of the RAF, exacerbated by the disruptive effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, requires creative ways to ensure the taxpayer receives the value on the investment it makes through the fuel levy, without government abdicating the responsibility to provide a social security net to those affected by road accidents.

“We are confident that this judgment enables us to implement those measures in a sustainable way,” the Minister said.