Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
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There has been a lot of press in recent times about the RAF fighting with the SA funeral industry. The funeral industry say that people are obliged to use the Road Accident Fund’s panel of undertakers, but the Road Accident Fund says that is not true. They say that people who lose a loved one in an accident can use any funeral parlour of their choice, but that is where they are not telling the whole story. If you choose one of your own choice then the family must pay for it themselves before a claim is lodged with the RAF. In other words, while pretending that people can choose whoever they want to use, the RAF will, if you choose one of their panel undertakers, pay the undertaker there and then and if you don’t use one of their undertakers, then you must pay the funeral costs yourself and claim that back from the Road Accident Fund in your own time through the normal process at a later stage.
The articles went on to explain that the RAF pays for the transport of the body, the coffin or burial shroud, mortuary services, the death certificate, burial or cremation and equipment used to lower the coffin into the grave and grave fees.
What struck me when I read the articles was how bad our death toll in our country is. In other words, we think it is quite normal to read about arguments in the newspapers between funeral parlours and the Road Accident Fund about what is clearly a very big business – and that is burying people who have died in motor accidents. I cannot think of ever having read any such article in my life in the New York Times or any Australian or British newspaper or magazine. That is probably because they do not have 40 people a day dying on the roads in their countries. It is not like the Wild West on their roads. Of course, they have their own dangers, of course people being killed in motor accidents is still a leading cause of death in those countries, but not to same extent as we have in South Africa and it is a tragedy that road safety has not been properly tackled and that it just becomes the flavour of the month every April and December.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Wednesday 25-Oct-17
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Comments
Cornelie said:
on Thursday 02-Nov-17 09:50 AM
It is all good and well that the RAF pays for the funeral expenses but the time frame you wait for the money to get paid back to you makes your stomach turn and do they really pay as quick as they say if you use there services no I don’t think so.
Sinead said:
on Wednesday 01-Nov-17 09:05 AM
I see wreckless driving all the time. If it's not someone ducking and diving through traffic, it's someone speeding unnecessarily on short roads. Being on the road is such a risk but what can we do?
I do agree with Nicolle. Defensive driving is a necessity in this country.
I never thought the death rate could be as bad as it actually is...
Liesl said:
on Monday 30-Oct-17 03:50 PM
Getting away with the fine print and unfortunate public that is none-the-wiser. Can the list of options on the RAF panel provide the same level of service you will get from a private undertaking, if yes, then that's fine but if they cannot you most certainly don't want the last memory you have of your loved one to be one of a disastrous sub-standard burial/cremation.
Liz said:
on Monday 30-Oct-17 09:25 AM
This has been a very disguised aspect of a person's claim against the RAF, not many families are aware that the RAF will pay for funeral costs there and then if one of their undertakers are used, this will be a big help especially in a time of emotional turmoil.
Regarding the state of the driving in our country, one is always on edge and in an effort to save lives the repercussions for bad driving should be more severe. We so often see dockets being opened after fatal and serious accidents and absolutely nothing coming of it as the charges are almost always withdrawn.
Nikita said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 04:49 PM
Spending about 40% of your working time on the roads you really get to see some nasty things. People do not follow road rules in our country. Driving in the CBD is definitely like playing dodge ball. I am always so tense and anxious by the time I park my car that I almost feel sick.
Nicky said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 04:47 PM
I agree with Patrick-as usual the RAF is not telling the whole story and putting its organisation in the best light. I feel that the if the RAF pays upfront for funerals managed by funeral parlours on their panel they should do the same for parlours not on their panel. Why the differentiation?
Nicolle said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 04:43 PM
It's like my colleague David always says: "While driving anywhere, I always consider how all of the other drivers may potentially kill me." We live in a constant state of defensive driving, and, if you cannot conduct defensive driving it would probably better for you not to drive.
patrick said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 04:39 PM
As usual the Raf is playing denial game. The attitude of our drivers needs to be changed. Our Government is also afraid of the Taxi Industry which does as it wishes on the road.
Sarah said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 03:56 PM
Its really sad that our country has so much deaths due to road accidents. When you lose a love the last thing you need is more stress, I hop people are reading the T & C's carefully.
Ashleigh said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 03:48 PM
Everyday its scary to be on these roads. Praying that you get to work and home safely. Its crazy. I can imagine how busy these funeral homes are as well from this alone.
Daniella said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 11:58 AM
I am terrified of the road, people drive so recklessly. I am constantly seeing near misses or fender benders.
Bianca R said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 10:11 AM
Driving on our roads is incredibly scary, you just don't ever know if you will be getting home in one piece or even getting home at all. I think that funeral policies in this case could be extremely beneficial and I know that most of the time it is quite affordable, Clicks even offers a free funeral cover when you sign up for a club card.
Angelique Jurgens said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 09:37 AM
Of late I have been even more terrified travelling on our roads. People drive reckless and disregard rules of the road which is there to protect us. Guaranteed potholes are there and the government need to take responsibility for those deaths but we can prevent a lot of accidents if everyone just drives more carefully and considers other users. Taxi's play a huge role in accidents - often causing accidents claiming many lives and sometimes causing accident that they are not even involved in. They drive negligently then the two other vehicles have to try think fast and end up causing an accident.
Melissa van Tellingen said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 08:58 AM
Very interesting blog. I know that we have claimed for funeral expenses in loss of support matters but I've never heard of the RAF paying the families upfront for the funerals. It's very sad to think about the death tolls. There has to be something we can do to prevent so many deaths each year.
Jessica M said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 08:58 AM
This is actually very sad to say the least. However who are these funeral parlours?? I would like to give them a piece of my mind. Ya so why don't they offer the people to cover the costs and claim it from the RAF themselves. Funerals are not exactly cheap and the last worry the people need is to worry how they going to afford it. So shame on them.
Jolene said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 08:28 AM
This is very interesting, I was not aware that the RAF will pay the funeral costs upfront. This option can help a lot of families, funerals can be very expensive. Our death toll is shocking, it is very sad.
Helen said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 08:21 AM
Does not look like we have really strict rules on our South African roads, if Metro stops you and you have some cash in your wallet, then you will get away of paying fine! When there is accident, all cars are proceeding to drive behind yellow line, which is unacceptable! Lot's of people even do not have drivers licence to be able to drive?!
Prishani said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 08:13 AM
This is very depressing to think about, but it’s a sad truth our country is faced with and we really have to think of ways and take active steps to deal with this issue.
Zindy said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 07:52 AM
It is sad the daily death toll. People speeding busy on there phones not concentrating and taking someone's life because they were irresponsible. I don't think a lot of people are aware that they can claim the expenses back for the funeral and those that do also don't know all the T & Cs.
Angelique P said:
on Friday 27-Oct-17 07:52 AM
It's terrible how people drive in South Africa. Most of them bought their driver’s license by the nearest place they could find and that's why this country has so many deaths on the roads. I know that is just ridiculous how much funerals cost these days and people will go above and beyond to give their best to the loved one that passed away. I guess everybody needs to make money somehow.
Clare said:
on Thursday 26-Oct-17 09:43 AM
People don't care in general, Taxis, Motor Bikes, cars, Trucks, Busses don't care everyone is just so consumed in there own life that they don't care about others they just rude.
Alexis said:
on Wednesday 25-Oct-17 04:40 PM
This is SA - nobody cares....it is all about corruption and what you can get out of it.
Nina said:
on Wednesday 25-Oct-17 11:12 AM
It is terrible to hear how bad South Africa's accident rate is. But if you just take into account the fact that every time a taxi is involved in a very serious accident, there are usually more than 10 people that dies. And we all know how often we hear about serious taxi accidents.
Jadine Richards said:
on Wednesday 25-Oct-17 09:56 AM
What saddens me most is that in many instances it is innocent lives that are lost on our roads on a daily basis. It is one thing when a driver does something silly and dies and a completely different story when there is an innocent party. People jump into taxi's everyday and put their lives in the hands of an individual who has no regard for the rules of the road; his life ; or the lives of others. There are those who get behind the wheel and are sloshed out of their mind because they know that there are likely to be no consequences for their actions.
Thabitha said:
on Wednesday 25-Oct-17 08:55 AM
I don't think they will afford to use their panel only otherwise people will wait for a long time, the dead toll is too much in this country
Lucretia said:
on Wednesday 25-Oct-17 08:22 AM
The sad thing is, it is not only April and December it is everyday. They only highlight April and December. Maybe they should start highlighting it on a monthly basis so people can see how bad things really are. I cannot believe my eyes what I see on the roads. We were backed up on the highway the other day because a pedestrian was killed while crossing the highway. Even though JMPD was there with Metro police, the taxis were still committing illegal driving moves and no one battered an eyelid. Have we lost the war.................
Jessica Apfel said:
on Wednesday 25-Oct-17 08:14 AM
I dont think that many South Africans are aware of this option - it would alleviate a lot of pressure on the bereaved family. The high death toll on our roads is due to a sheer lack of law enforcement - we need not follow the rules of the road because we know that there won't be any repercussions - sad but unfortunately true!
david said:
on Wednesday 25-Oct-17 08:06 AM
280 people per week.
that's like a 747 going down each week, except people would actually care if it was a plane going down each week.
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
