Transport minister Creecy pointed to three main categories holding up the money.
Picture: Nigel Sibanda / The Citizen
Nearly 38 000 finalised Road Accident Fund claims remained unpaid as of late June 2026, with the outstanding bill reaching R21.76 billion, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy recently revealed in a parliamentary reply.
Creecy was responding to a question from ActionSA MP Alan David Beesley, who asked whether the RAF kept a complete and accurate record of finalised claims that had not been paid, and if so, wanted details on the numbers, the money involved, the reasons for delays and how old the outstanding claims were.
Register tracks unpaid claims
The RAF did keep such a record, according to Creecy, who explained that it operated through a specific system.
“The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has a register of claims that have been requested for payment but are not yet paid,” she said.
This register is known as the Requested Not Yet Paid, or RNYP, Claims Register.
As at 28 June 2026, the register showed 37622 claims still awaiting payment, spread across 47949 separate payment transactions, Creecy said.
She confirmed that the total value tied up in these claims stood at R21.76 billion as at the same date.
Compliance issues dominate the backlog
Breaking down why the claims remained unpaid, Creecy pointed to three main categories holding up the money.
Compliance requirements accounted for the biggest chunk, according to her figures.
“Compliance Requirements, which amounts to R10 959 635 015,” she stated.
Outstanding documentation was the second reason claims stayed unpaid, worth R1699381665, while the third category concerned payments awaiting due date verification, valued at R9 101 273 055.
Adding these together, Creecy confirmed the combined total came to R21 760 289 734.
Most claims date back years
The minister also gave a sense of how long these claims had been sitting unresolved.
Creecy said the bulk of the backlog stretched back nearly two decades.
“36 442 of these claims are for the period 2007-2026 to the value of R21 486 384 005,” she said, covering both when the claims were finalised and when the underlying accidents occurred.
