Ever-increasing fuel levy makes Road Accident Fund reform critical

The budget speech has come and gone and Tito Mboweni did well under the current financial circumstances save for one area, the dreaded fuel levy, which is now accompanied by a carbon tax to be introduced from June 5. This levy will only make things worse for us as consumers, even before any price adjustments are made for the year. I agree fully with the minister’s sentiments on the RAF (Road Accident Fund); we need a serious rethink of this. The levy has gone up for the umpteenth time but is still not enough to cover the fund’s R215bn liability – the RAF had a net deficit of R26.3bn as at March 2018.

The department of transport has failed to or has delayed resubmitting the Road Accident Benefit Scheme Bill to parliament for consideration. The department is failing the SA public because the bill seeks to bring in some desperately needed changes, like periodic settlement payments for claimants, instead of the lump-sum payouts, and healthcare provision at public facilities.

The other consideration that needs to be looked at is legislation that will force every motorist to at least have thirdparty insurance cover. This cover will assist in payouts to third parties in settlements during accidents.

Can you imagine if every car on SA roads had insurance how that would neutralise the need for a levy hike? This needs to be a serious consideration. The time is now for us to take full responsibility and stop this over-reliance on the government.

Zakes Nakedi, Ennerdale