South African road agency owes motorists R22 billion

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has yet to settle nearly 40,000 claims valued at R21.76 billion, dating back as far as 2007.

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy confirmed this in response to parliamentary questions from ActionSA MP and Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) member Alan Beesley.

The MP asked the minister whether the RAF has a complete and accurate record of all finalised claims that have not been paid, and what the total value of unpaid claims is.

He also questioned the total monetary value of the specified claims, the primary reasons for non-payment in each claim category, and the age of outstanding claims.

In response, Creecy confirmed that the RAF does, in fact, have a complete and accurate register of claims that have been requested for payment but not yet paid, known as the Requested Not Yet Paid (RNYP) Claims Register.

By the end of June 2026, the total number of claims finalised but not yet paid was 37,622 claims, totalling R21.76 billion across 47,949 payment transactions.

According to the register, the Road Accident Fund owes each claimant an average of R578,385 across nearly 48,000 transactions.

The minister explained that the primary reasons for non-payment of compensation matters include:

Regarding the age of outstanding claims, Creecy noted that 36,442 of these are for the period 2007 to 2026 and amount to R21,486,384,005.

Paying managers millions while owing billions

While the RAF is technically insolvent, its latest annual report reveals it still managed to pay its top management team R37 million in 2025.

The report showed a breakdown of its personnel costs and performance rewards in the 2025 financial year, which stood at R2.468 billion, accounting for 62% of its total costs.

Basic salaries totalled R1.786 billion, at an average salary of R742,000 per employee, and R232 million paid in performance rewards, constituting 13% of its total personnel costs.

Despite this, one of the single largest costs was the RAF’s upper management team, which consists of 13 employees who were paid a total of R37 million, including R8.2 million in performance rewards.

The fund’s former Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Collins Letsoalo, was paid R9.8 million in the 2025 financial year, including a bonus of R2.8 million.

Beyond this, the SCOPA revealed that Letsoalo spent over R23 million on personal security for himself and his family between 2023 and 2025.

Beesly has previously criticised the former CEO, highlighting the absurdity of paying “a private army” to protect him and his wife.

The MP pointed out that Letsoalo spent around R4.6 million on an armoured BMW X5 SUV for his security detail in 2024.

“The reality is that all South Africans have paid for this exorbitant amount through the fuel levy, and at a time when claim payouts have reduced to a trickle,” Beesley stated.

In late 2024, SCOPA launched an inquiry into the RAF’s financial mismanagement, which ultimately led to an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

Letsoalo was initially placed on special leave before being suspended in June 2025 and contested the suspension in the High Court, but saw his application dismissed.

In August 2025, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy confirmed that Letsoalo’s contract had ended and he had left the Road Accident Fund.