Weekly Highlights 15 December 2022

Weekly Highlights 15 December 2022 - Issue No. 166 In this issue Dear Colleagues PRECEDENT-SETTING JUDGEMENT REACHED BY JO- South Africa will mark National Reconciliation Day HANNESBURG LEGAL TEAM on 16 December 2022 to focus on promoting social cohesion, healing, unity, nation-building, and renewal. KEY DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED SINCE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW RAF 1 FORM This year’s Reconciliation Day will be held under the theme: “National Unity, Healing, and Renewal”. MEET OUR RAF FAMILY National Reconciliation Day was adopted at the start of our democracy when it was envisioned that Road Safety Awareness Campaign: cAPE tOWN reconciliation, peace and stability would be the defining reGION characteristics of our new democratic dispensation. Each year we have an opportunity to reach out to one Road Safety Awareness Campaign: eCO gLADES another to deal with our past, reconcile and build a new nation. the fun page This vision of a nation reconciled is embedded in our Letters to the Editor democratic Constitution. In South Africa, we not only commemorate Reconciliation Day but also dedicate the We invite our readers to share their entire month of December to reconciliation. As we do comments, feedback, and suggestions so, we urge RAFzins to reflect on why we celebrate this with us. Readers are encouraged to submit day. their letters, of no more than 200 words, to [email protected], [email protected] Happy Reconciliation Day everyone! and [email protected]. We are looking forward to hearing from you. As we welcome the festive season and the year draws close to an end, this edition of the Weekly Editor: Thabang Mahlatsi ([email protected]) Highlights will be our last for 2022. Sub-editor: Tholakele Radebe ([email protected]) Senior Reporter: Naziphi Mpokela ([email protected]) We would like to thank all our readers and con- Editor-In-Chief: Anton Janse van Rensburg ([email protected]) tributors for the support and feedback received throughout the year. We resume publication of the Highlights in the new year on Friday, 13 January 2023. We wish all Team RAFzin members a joyous fes- tive season and the best for 2023 and beyond! Enjoy this week’s Highlights! Kind regards Internal Communication

PRECEDENT-SETTING JUDGEMENT REACHED BY JOHANNESBURG LEGAL TEAM by Naziphi Mpokela and Thabang Mahlatsi disfigurement. He had lodged a direct claim against the RAF in his personal capacity. The matter was presided over by Judge A.J. Barnes. The RAF was represented by Advocate Ngomana, RAF State Attorney and the matter was heard on 02 November 2022. In his judgement on 06 December 2022, Judge Barnes dismissed aspects of the claim relating to general damages and past loss of earnings. We are delighted to share with you some good news For general damages, the judge was presented with about a successful judgement in favour of the Road documentation which served as proof that “…on 7 Accident Fund (RAF), from the Gauteng Division of February 2019 the defendant made a written offer to the High Court of South Africa. The matter is hailed pay the plaintiff R668, 000.00 in respect of general as having set a precedent regarding the application damages and that the plaintiff accepted the offer in of contingencies in pre-morbid and post-morbid writing on 12 February 2019”. For past loss of earnings, calculations. the judge stated that the plaintiff did not provide sufficient proof of earnings to substantiate his claim in In the matter brought forth by Jabulani Wilton Moncho this regard. (plaintiff), against the RAF (defendant), the plaintiff sought to claim for general damages amounting to R2 For future loss earnings, the judge revised the amount 000 000; for past loss of earnings amounting to R387, brought forth by the plaintiff to R2 341 892.95. This 990; and for future loss of earnings amounting to R4 decision was based on the application of contingencies 443 512.00. in respect of calculations of the pre-morbid and post- morbid scenarios. It is important to note that the RAF This claim arises out of a motor vehicle collision that as the defendant did not dispute the plaintiff’s expert allegedly occurred on/or about 28 May 2016, at/ opinion and actuarial calculations but rather the along the Main Reef Road, Randfontein, Gauteng. appropriate contingencies to be applied. In fact, given Mr Moncho, 21 years old at the time of the accident, the nature of the plaintiff’s injuries, intellectual abilities was a passenger and allegedly sustained a head and and employment status, the RAF had submitted a brain injury; spinal injury, psychological and emotional higher-than-average contingency to the pre-morbid shock; trauma with resultant anxiety; and scarring and calculation, at 65%, which was reduced to 45% by the judge. Please read all the details of the Judgement here. Following this ruling by the court, Thokozani Kunene, Johannesburg Acting Regional Manager (ARGM), congratulated the team. “Great work indeed to the Team, and Excellent stewardship in the preparation of this matter. We are breaking new ground.” Well done again to the Johannesburg Legal Admin and State Attorney Team! Keep up the good work! CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE Naziphi Mpokela is a Specialist: Internal 2 Communication, based in Eco Glades Thabang Mahlatsi is a Specialist: Internal Communication, based in Eco Glades

KEY DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED SINCE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW RAF 1 FORM by Operations Department On 04 July 2022, a new RAF 1 Claim Form was gazetted to enable the RAF to only accept and register claims that are compliant with the minimum information required as set out in the new form. The imple- mentation of this new form would better enable Operations to make a determination in line with the strate- gic objective to settle claims within 120 days. With the implementation of the new RAF 1 Form, a pre-assessment system has been launched to allow for the cap- turing and recording of all claims received, and to further indicate whether these claims are compliant or non-com- pliant. To make a determination as to whether a claim is compliant or not, the system requires the user to indicate which of the standard required documents and product-required documents have been submitted or may still be outstanding. Depending on whether the particular document is compulsory or not, the system will define the compli- ance status of the matter. Against this background, this article will take a look at the impact and developments that have occurred since the implementation of the new RAF 1 Form as of 04 July 2022. Number of claims pre-assessed The total number of claims that have been pre-assessed on the new pre-assessment system in line with the new RAF 1 Form is a total of 6,191 of which: • 81% contain a General Damages (GD) product; • 72% a Loss of Earnings (LoE) product; • 66% a future medical expense product; • 51% a past medical expense product; • 11% a funeral product; and • 11% a Loss of Support (LoS) product. On a claim basis, 18% (2,431) of the pre-assessed claims (13,655) were for death benefits, and the balance of 82% (11,224) were for injury benefits. Table: Number of pre-assessments from 01 July 2022 to 30 November 2022 by region and product Pre-assessment status A total of 13,338 (98%) of claims were identified as being non-compliant, while from all the claims that have been assessed 2% (317) were identified as being fully compliant with the minimum requirements to allow for registration and further processing on the claims system. Table: Pre-assessment compliance status CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE Continues to the next page 3

KEY DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED SINCE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW RAF 1 FORM Standard compliance: document status of non-compliant claims In total, there are 13,338 claims that are non-compliant, where the difference in documents indicated as submitted would indicate that: • 32% (4,256) of these claims do not have a fully completed RAF 1 Form. • 69% (9,248) do not have a certified copy of the deceased’s/injured’s ID document. • 27% (3,624) do not have a certified copy of the claimant’s ID. • 26% (3,452) did not provide permission for the Fund to obtain and inspect hospital/medical records. Table: Non-compliance standard documents status The introduction of the new RAF 1 Form continues to play a crucial role in the transformation journey that the Fund is currently undergoing and in fulfilling its mandate of the payment of compensation for loss or damage wrongfully caused by the negligent driving of a motor vehicle in an efficient manner that is client centric. Where can one find the new RAF 1 Form? Staff can access the Claim Form from the RAF’s website at: www.raf.co.za. CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE 4

MEET OUR RAF FAMILY by Social and Digital Media As the festive season approaches, we brace our- selves for the sad reality of increased road crashes. Despite our best efforts, there are more crashes and fatalities on the roads at this time of year. The RAF helps those who are affected when these unex- pected, tragic incidents occur. It’s part of our RAF family culture: taking care of each other, and of the nation’s road users. In this week’s edition of the Weekly Highlights, we continue to introduce you to our RAF family who con- tinue to fulfil our mandate and provide a much-needed service to South Africans who have been in serious road accidents. “Living the RAF Values means moving a life to the next step by moving a file to the next category of assessment.” “My favorite ICARE Value is Ac- Alex Miya, Direct Claims Officer in the Durban Regional countability: accountability plays a Office of the RAF has many hopes for South Africa and huge role in the workplace. I believe the people who call this country home. “I wish we all that I have to take responsibility for understood the importance of putting road safety first. all that I do and instead of trying to Please be aware on the roads: as a driver, pedestrian, justify my mistakes, I own them and or passenger. Take care of yourself and others on the road.” find a solution to remedy them.” He loves being part of the larger RAF family because Badeeah Solomons is driven to learn, grow profession- his job gives him the opportunity to serve the people of ally and personally, and serve the public as a Senior South Africa with passion. This involves helping victims Officer: Finalisation, Legal Costs Validation, in the Cape of road accidents by means of compensation, rehabili- Town Regional Office of the RAF. tation and taking care of the families left behind when family members lose their lives in road crashes. “I’m a proud member of the RAF family because my job allows me to interact daily with people from various His work teaches him every day that life is all about walks of life and different cultures,” said Badeeah growth, moving forward and the small, everyday steps of self-improvement: “Our ICARE Values mean we care about every claimant, and we work together as a team and as the RAF family to honour our obligations and promises to the public. We must move forward in every- thing we do. Not doing so is letting ourselves and other people down.” RAFzins, please like and follow our RAF LinkedIn Page, where you can get access to more employee- related information and exciting campaigns. Let us all be safe this Festive Season!! #FromOurFamilyToYours #ICARE CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE 5

ROAD SAFETY TIPS Researched by Thabang Mahlatsi What Drives You? As the RAF, we are driven to encourage all road users to be safe and obey the rules of the road. This festive season, we urge you to practise road safety to make sure you arrive safely at your destinations. So RAFzins, here are some common mistakes that drivers commit when driving in wet weather. Mistake No. 1: Not adjusting speed to conditions tyre, which ends up having to do the most when a driver attempts to do more than one thing at a time, such as The speed limit is just a start; drivers need to adjust turn and brake. In wet weather driving, the risk of losing their speed to match their immediate driving conditions. traction is increased significantly when a driver attempts The three factors that should always be considered are to force the vehicle to do two or more things at once. visibility, traffic, and traction. Solution: Do one thing at a time – brake, then steer or Solution: If visibility is minimised or if the road is wet, turn, then accelerate. This helps prevent demanding snowy, or icy, you should slow down significantly. This too much of the tyre that takes the brunt of the traction will give you more time to respond to any incident and requirements, thereby reducing the chance of a loss-of- help prevent a loss-of-traction situation. traction situation. Mistake No. 2: Doing more than one thing at a time Mistake No. 3: Not looking far enough ahead Even in clear, dry conditions, it is easy to overload one Too many drivers only look just ahead of their vehicle, CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE Continues to the next page 6

ROAD SAFETY TIPS (CONT.) often not detecting a change in conditions down the other tasks to driving, such as using a cell phone or road to which they need to respond. A lane change or changing the radio station your risk increases dramati- pre-emptive braking could be just the thing needed to cally. prevent an incident. Solution: Stay focused on driving. Get there, and then Solution: Heads up: get those eyes moving. Work get busy with non-driving activities. Common sense on looking further ahead (12 – 15 seconds), and also precautions include programming navigation systems predicting what other drivers might do that could create and adjusting music selections before driving, and, of problems. Detecting potential problems ahead as early course, ignoring the cell phone. as possible can make the difference between a collision and a near miss, especially during wet weather driving. So, even if you are an expert driver, we are sure that the reminders noted above are worth sharing with Mistake No. 4: Not maintaining enough space colleagues, family and even friends to prepare for wet weather. Most drivers fail to maintain enough space between their vehicle and other vehicles around them. Frequent- ly, drivers position themselves too closely to the vehicle ahead. Yet, maintaining ‘open’ space to the sides is also critical – you may need to move into that space quickly. If you don’t have that space, you’ll be without an effec- tive option to prevent a crash. Solution: Back off a bit and lift up on the accelerator to keep open space to at least one side of the vehicle. Space is your best friend out on the road – to the front, sides, and rear. It’s hard to collide with something if you have plenty of space around the vehicle. Mistake No. 5: Not giving the road your full atten- tion Driving in poor weather requires your undivided con- centration so you can constantly adjust your speed and position and detect any potential problems as early as possible. A ‘shiny’ patch on the road ahead – a diesel spill – could indicate tyres possibly losing traction, or another vehicle pulling out into your lane. If you add Thabang Mahlatsi is a Specialist: Internal Communication, based in Eco Glades CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE 7

Road Safety Awareness Campaign by Cape Town Regional Marketing Unit Driver Behaviour and Passenger Safety Awareness Western Cape 06 – 08 December 2022 CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE 8

Road Safety Awareness Campaign by Eco Glades Marketing Unit Road Safety Awareness Campaign, in collaboration with the North West Department of Community Safety, Provincial Traffic Department, South African Police Service (SAPS), Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA), AngloGold Ashanti and Sibanye-Stillwater Rustenburg 15 December 2022 CLICK HERE FOR NEXT PAGE 9

THE FUN PAGE NOTE TO READERS: What kind of content would you like to see on this page in future editions? We would love to hear from you! Kindly send your suggestions to: [email protected]