The Portfolio Committee on Transport heard on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, that amendments to the Road Accident Fund (RAF) Act are being contemplated and will soon be tabled before the committee.
The Department of Transport’s acting Director-General Mokonyama Mathabatha told the committee that amendments are being considered to four aspects of the legislation, namely capped claims, rehabilitation, mediation and conciliation, and claims by foreign nationals. “All these issues are in the amendment Act that we are finalising. The Act in its current form makes the scheme not sustainable.”
Mr Mathabatha was part of the departmental delegation briefing the committee on the department’s audit outcomes and annual performance plans. Also present in the meeting were the South African National Roads Agency Limited, the Road Accident Fund and Airports Company of South Africa, who also presented briefings on their performance plans.
Committee member Mr Thalente Kubheka said it puzzled him how RAF benefits could be paid to people who living in South Africa country illegally. “We are paying illegal foreigners on RAF; how do you pay criminals using taxpayers money?” he asked. “We should change that; we need to change that. The Minister and DG should look into how we are going to change the RAF Act in such a way that it benefits South Africans.”
Mr Kubheka said the ad hoc approach to claims and payouts was a tax burden on South Africans.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Transport, Ms Barbara Creecy, briefed the committee on the Durban Gateway Terminal, the bus subsidy, the discontinued Bus Rapid Transit Public Transport Network Grant and the Taxi Recapitalisation Grant. She noted that the current loans connected to the Public Transport Network Grant are very expensive.
The idea is to find a new grant mechanism that will give support to commuters who uses buses and taxis on selected routes. “If rail is the backbone of the public transport system, what happens to those passengers who do not have an opportunity to use rail? We do not believe that these grants had been well-performing and are equitable and that they are providing a solution for those who could not access rail,” the Minister said.
Sibongile Maputi
6 October 2026
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