Randolph Our Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel, has pretty much stated that the Road Accident Fund should not pay out anyone who has a medical aid, if they are involved in an accident.
His excuse is that the RAF has become a “remarkable honey pot” for lawyers, crooked doctors and greedy claimants (notice how my use of “lawyer” doesn’t need a negative adjective), and that private insurance should cover the costs.
While I may not be wealthy, I do have medical aid. Having been involved in two separate life-threatening accidents (and being saved by the fact that I was in an Audi and Mercedes-Benz respectively), and also having been the recipient of compensation from the RAF, I think Mr Manuel is oversimplifying the problem.
My medical aid only covered the basics of my claim: pain and treatment there and then – the RAF on the other hand has undertaken to pay 90% of all future medical attention I might require for my neck and back. That’s something the medical aid won’t necessarily cover; besides which, even if they do, they can receive 90% of it back from the RAF in any event, keeping my costs down.
It was not my fault that I was T-boned by a getaway car in 2001, or that I was T-boned by an impatient driver taking a gap and jumping an intersection 3 years later. Increased medical aid rates become my problem though, and I end up paying for it. I also paid for it with decreased mobility, headaches, neck and back pain.
Sure, when I claimed I was rather shocked at the number of people who would get a payout from the RAF (and how I was “educated” on what to say), but then a proper investigation into the running of the RAF needs to take place. I believe they were extrmely corrupt at one stage, taking kickbacks from lawyers and doctors, and now the Finance Minister looks at the numbers and says the victims must pay.
Ah, South Africa, where I am not allowed to defend myself during a robbery unless I am attacked first, in case the burglar is in fact simply lost, and using my TV as a landmark. Make it the victim’s problem.