With the festive holidays just weeks away, road safety is fully in the spotlight. While road users are being urged to be cautious, those who have been involved in accidents are also seeking redress.
Many go years without their claims being processed. On an awareness campaign earlier on Sunday, officials from the Road Accident Fund and the Department of Transport visited Qwaqwa in the Free State.
They helped some members of the public with claim inquiries and urged claimants to approach the Road Accident Fund directly. It is a new dawn for some but for others, challenges remain.
Anna Majoro, born in 1944, was involved in an accident in 2002. To date, her claim has not been resolved.
“I am here to ask for my package. I was involved in an accident a long time ago but I haven’t received anything. Every time when I come here I return home with no hope. They say I should have come long time ago.”
There are some who have benefitted. “I’m happy I didn’t struggle at all. RAF is still there for me they are helping me with everything that I need even when I’m in pain I call them. They provide medication,” says Joyce Mokoena.
The campaign provides a platform to disadvantaged communities. “Road carnages are a major cause of death especially of young and productive people, young people who the economy could still benefit from and measures that we have put in place are that we go out throughout the country. Take our services to all parts of South Africa,” says RAF Acting CEO Lindelwa Jabavu.
The Road Traffic Management Corporation also weighed in. “The issue of fatality and crashes on the road relies heavily on the public. It’s an issue of self-constraint and issue of self-education, that’s why we deal with education, mobilisation but the last element, is law enforcement, people don’t comply , we have to arrest them,” says CEO Road Traffic Management Makhosi Msibi.
The transport ministry encourages claimants to approach RAF directly. “If they come through intermediaries like lawyers, at the end those intermediaries take lot of money which is due to the claimants. We are making the system to be more accessible to the claimants. We are there at hospital gates,” says Minister of Transport Joe Maswanganyi.
The minister says discipline is important on the road to avoid accidents.
