Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has rejected a proposal by the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to raise the RAF levy on fuel to R3.00 a litre, offering some relief to motorists already paying record prices at the pump.
In an interview with eNCA, Creecy said she would not apply to National Treasury for an increase for as long as she held the transport portfolio. She argued that consumers were under enough pressure and that the priority was to deal with long-standing mismanagement at the fund.
The RAF set out its case in its 2025/26 annual report, saying static levies and lower fuel volumes had eroded its funding base. It has submitted a proposal through the Medium Term Expenditure Framework for a levy of up to R3.00 a litre, alongside capital support from Treasury. The levy rose in the 2026 Budget for the first time in five years, by 7c to R2.25 a litre, after being frozen at R2.18 since 2021/22.
| Item | Figure |
| Current RAF levy | R2.25 a litre |
| Levy proposed by the RAF | Up to R3.00 a litre (+75c) |
| General fuel levy | R4.29 a litre |
| 95 petrol, inland, October 2026 | R30.25 a litre |
| RAF revenue, 2025/26 | R47.8bn (down 4.6%) |
| RAF total liabilities, 31 March 2026 | R452.4bn |
| RAF deficit, 2025/26 | R145.7bn (R64.3bn in 2024/25) |
| Claims paid, 2025/26 | R43.3bn, of which R8.2bn legal and processing costs |
The proposal would have added 75c a litre, a 33% increase in the levy, at a time when the inland price of 95 octane petrol has crossed R30 a litre for the first time following a R3.33 increase on 7 October. Oil was trading at $103.40 (about R1,705) a barrel on 12 October, with prices driven higher by the war in the Middle East. The Automobile Association estimates that about a quarter of the fuel price goes to tax and has urged Treasury to cut the general fuel levy by R3 a litre, as it did in April.
The fund’s finances explain the pressure on the levy. Revenue fell 4.6% to R47.8 billion in 2025/26 from R50.1 billion. Its annual report, prepared again under the prescribed GRAP accounting framework, puts total liabilities at R452.4 billion, almost all of it claims liabilities, and records a deficit of R145.7 billion, more than double the previous year. Of the R43.3 billion paid in claims, R8.2 billion went to legal and processing costs. The audit outcome improved from adverse to unqualified with findings.
The fund has been run by an interim board since August 2025 and has a new chief executive, Waseem Carrim. Besides the levy request, management is examining longer-term reforms, including paying settled claims in instalments rather than as lump sums. The 2026 Budget raised the general fuel levy by 9c and the carbon fuel levy by 5c a litre for petrol, alongside the 7c RAF increase. At the time, Treasury estimated that taxes made up 32.9% of the pump price of 93 octane petrol, a share that has fallen as the basic fuel price has climbed.
Creecy said the RAF’s laws and regulations had to change to stop the fund losing large sums in drawn-out litigation, and described the amounts being claimed from a taxpayer-funded scheme as unacceptable. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse has previously argued that the levy is sufficient if waste is brought under control.
Motorists are not off the hook. The department is investigating other revenue sources, including applying the levy to foreign-registered vehicles entering the country and a separate RAF fee tied to vehicle registration and licence-disc renewals, which Creecy said in July had merit. The department argues that a vehicle-linked levy would capture electric and hybrid vehicles, which contribute little or nothing through fuel taxes.