Transport Minister Barbara Crisi reported that over the last five financial years, foreign nationals have filed claims with the Road Accident Fund (RAF) amounting to a total exceeding 23.3 billion rand. The minister clarified that this figure represents the claimed value, not the actual paid amount.
These figures were disclosed by the minister in a written response to parliament after a uMkhonto weSizwe party MP, Sanelani Mali, requested the total amount of claims submitted by legally documented foreign nationals during the specified period.
Crisi emphasized that the RAF claims management system does not differentiate between foreigners with documentation and those without. She explained that the provided figures include all claims related to foreigners, along with the amounts they claimed.
As of March 31, 2026, the total claimed value of claims related to foreigners submitted between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2026, amounted to 23,323,568,682 rand.
Claims peaked at 8.5 billion in 2025/26
Analysis showed significant fluctuations in the number of claims related to foreigners over the five-year period. In 2021/22, the total claim amount was 5.05 billion rand, which increased to 5.49 billion rand in 2022/23. Subsequently, the claim value decreased to 1.35 billion rand in 2023/24 before rising to 2.89 billion rand in 2024/25. The largest increase was recorded in 2025/26, when foreign citizens' claims reached 8.53 billion rand.
Court ruling allows claims from undocumented foreigners
Previously, the publication IOL reported that the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruled that the Road Accident Fund is obliged to compensate all victims of road accidents, including undocumented foreign nationals. The court found that the phrase 'any person' in the RAF Act includes them among the recipients of compensation.
This decision followed the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria overturning an RAF directive that required foreign nationals to prove their legal residency in South Africa at the time of injury to receive compensation. The full bench of three judges, led by Judge Norman Davis, overturned this directive regarding foreign applicants, requiring proof of identity to be accompanied by documentary evidence of the applicant's legal presence in South Africa at the time of the accident.