RAF blocks R65 million worth of fraudulent claims

As part of a crackdown on fraudulent and corrupt activities, the Road Accident Fund (RAF) announced it has blocked the payout of over R60 million in fraudulent claims over the past three financial years.

The RAF reported that a total of 2,031 fraudulent claims were rejected:

• 870 in 2023/2024,
• 713 in 2022/23
• 448 in 2021/22.

Fraud

RAF CEO Collins Letsoalo said that these claims were not processed or finalised due to their fraudulent nature.

“Fraud costs the RAF money and negatively impacts service delivery to road crash victims and their families.

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“It is a national problem that threatens the very mandate which the organisation seeks to deliver on for road users. Partnerships have been forged with various law enforcement agencies and other government departments to verify employment or personal information to resolve each case,” Letsoalo said.  

Billions

The RAF revealed that over R1 billion in fraudulent claims have been identified and rejected over the past three years to safeguard the Fund’s financial resources and redirect them to genuine road crash survivors.

“This also occurred over the past three years. The Fund’s fraud detection strategy aims to enhance the operational plan of ensuring that the RAF reduces the time it takes to pay legitimate claims to claimants that are genuinely impacted by road crashes.”

Fraudulent claim

This month, Siyabulela Kima was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by the East London Regional Court for submitting a fraudulent claim to the value of R8 million.

“In his claim, Kima alleged that an unknown speeding vehicle, overtook a truck, left its lane, and collided with his car. This caused him to lose control of his motor vehicle and bump a nearby house. However, investigations revealed that the accident resulted from Kima having an epileptic attack while driving, and no second motor vehicle was involved,” the RAF said.

The RAF continues to enhance its anti-fraud and corruption efforts throughout the organisation in order to benefit road crash victims whose lives are sometimes changed forever by motor vehicle accidents.

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