Poverty blamed for growing trend of people throwing themselves at cars for RAF money

December 13, 2024 80

Social rights activist, Isobel Fyre, says government needs to play a bigger role in creating jobs for South Africans to avoid many resorting to underhanded things.

Her remarks come as the Road Accident Fund (RAF) warned people against deliberately injuring themselves by throwing themselves at cars in order to claim money.

The fund says there has been an increase in this kind of behaviour, which is very concerning and says it will not pay out for accidents caused intentionally, even if they lead to death.

Speaking to YNews, Fyre says this just show how desperate people are and are as a results willing to do anything to make ends meet.

Fyre says many South Africans find themselves in dire situations as there is no income coming in.

She says while there’s many things people can do for themselves, government needs to design and pilot schemes to provide adequate income for those who are unemployed.

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) says it has declined over 49 000 claims between 2021 and 2024, where claimants were responsible for causing road accidents, amongst other issues.

This scam is prevalent in other countries, such as the UK, which has led to many opting to get dash-cams to be used as evidence of the fraud and South Africans are said to also be adopting the trend and getting dash-cams.

RAF says people will wait for vehicles to slow down enough before throwing themselves in front of them to ensure that they don’t get killed on impact.

Spokesperson McIntosh Polela says they won’t compensate people who cause harm to themselves just to cash in on some money.

Pedestrians in South Africa are now throwing themselves in front of moving vehicles in order to claim from the Road Accident Fund. And this have become a trend… 🚗 pic.twitter.com/gaFF2nbjgs

— Charné Mostert 🇿🇦 (@Charne_Mostert) December 11, 2024

We shouldn’t even have a road accident fund, that’s just another pot of tax payers gold for the ANC to Loot freely.
Every driver on the road should be insured for at least three party coverage, so any accident and damages should be covered by insurance, the worse the driving the…

— Douglas Wayne (@Bound2Liberty) December 11, 2024

When the unproductive are not killing spouses and family for life insurance payouts, or extorting monies from citizens making an honest living—including the disabled—they are throwing themselves at cars to claim from the Road Accident Fund. https://t.co/4eUnvlBvJw

— Kung-Fu Joe (@kgoatlapa) December 10, 2024

To claim money. The economy is crazy right now. They choose slow moving vehicles to minimize the risk of death.

— Erick Stwebile 🇿🇦 (@Thekeycritic) December 10, 2024