Foreign nationals claim R23 billion from South Africa’s Road Accident Fund
Over the past five financial years, South Africa’s Road Accident Fund (RAF) received claims of more than R23 billion from foreign nationals and paid more than R6 billion over the same period.
This is according to Transport Minister Barbara Creecy, who said this in response to MK Party MP Sanele Mwali’s questions in Parliament.
Mwali requested the number of RAF claims lodged by documented and undocumented foreign nationals and the total value of these claims.
Minister Creecy explained that the RAF claim management systems do not differentiate between documented and undocumented foreign nationals and that figures include all foreigner-related claims lodged.
“As at 31 March 2026, the total number of foreigner-related claims lodged over the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2026 was 13,127,” the minister noted.
“The total rand value claimed on foreigner-related claims that were lodged over the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2026 was R23,323,568,682 (R23 billion).”
Below is a breakdown of the total claim amounts for claims by foreign nationals over each of the last five financial years:
| Period | Total |
|---|---|
| 2021/22 | R5,052,711,443 |
| 2022/23 | R5,488,584,950 |
| 2023/24 | R1,353,528,196 |
| 2024/25 | R2,895,476,058 |
| 2025/26 | R8,533,268,036 |
| Total | R23,323,568,683 |
Minister Creecy clarified that these figures do not represent the same as the value of actual payouts, but are rather the sums claimants hoped to receive from the fund.
With reference to the minister’s reply, Mwali sought clarity on the total value paid out to documented foreign nationals in each of the past five financial years.
She revealed that at 31 March 2026, the total value of foreigner-related payments made over the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2026 was R6,334,122,460 (R6 billion), regardless of when they were registered.
Below is a breakdown of the payments made by the RAF to foreign nationals over the last five financial years:
| Period | Total |
|---|---|
| 2021/22 | R2,100,949,837 |
| 2022/23 | R1,963,972,422 |
| 2023/24 | R834,326,099 |
| 2024/25 | R595,882,203 |
| 2025/26 | R838,991,900 |
| Total | R6,334,122,461 |
According to Creecy, these figures may vary from previously submitted figures due to allocation of payments, recoveries or reversals.
She added that the reported figures originate from the Road Accident Fund’s claims systems and are accurate as of 31 March 2026.
Transport Department in court to avoid payments
Earlier this year, Minister Creecy revealed that the RAF owed undocumented foreign nationals R390 million in outstanding claims, which the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) mandated it to pay.
A Supreme Court ruling allowed undocumented foreign nationals to claim compensation from the fund, which the court found includes them.
This ruling followed the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria striking down the RAF directive that requires foreign nationals to prove their legal presence in South Africa at the time of injury when claiming compensation.
As a result, the Department of Transport has decided to challenge the High Court’s decision and is also appealing the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Deputy Minister of Transport, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, revealed the department’s decision to appeal the court ruling.
He was briefing the Portfolio Committee on Transport regarding the 2026 Easter road fatalities at the time.
Hlengwa explained that the court should have taken other considerations into account when it made its ruling.
“We believe it was a wrong ruling, and the court could have applied laws of restriction, even if the department could have been required to provide some rights like healthcare provisioning,” he said during the briefing.
The deputy minister added that he is hopeful that the appeal would be found in the department’s favour and allow the RAF to avoid paying unnecessary expenditure.
Loading ...
