BY MBONGENI NDLELA
EZULWINI – Road accident claims have ballooned from E252 million to over half a billion in the last five years.
These figures were revealed today by Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg when addressing stakeholders and attendees of the Road Injury Prevention Indaba 24 at Happy Valley Hotel today.
The minister stated that the Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund, which is a statutory body and Category A Public Enterprise, has played a crucial role in cushioning or raising awareness of road injuries.
“Funded through a fuel levy, the MVA Fund compensates victims and their dependents following motor vehicle accidents. Their claims liabilities have increased significantly, from about E252 million in 2019 to over half a billion Emalangeni by 2023. Despite recent increases in the fuel levy, the funds generated would be constrained to cover the escalating liabilities if the issue is not addressed,” the minister said.
He explained that the MVA Fund strongly believes that reducing fatal and serious road accidents can lead to a better-managed Fund that can adequately and timely pay benefits to claimants.
“Consequently, the Fund has resolved to play an active role in joining stakeholders in reducing fatalities and serious injuries, aiming for a 10 percent reduction over the next four years,” he said.
Rijkenberg stated that the Indaba is a crucial platform for MVA to facilitate dialogue across all the post-crash value chain actors in the country.
He said these include actors within the road safety space, the law enforcement, the evacuation of the accident victims from the accident scene, the medical treatment of the victims, as well as their rehabilitation and restoration back to their communities.
“I am confident that the interaction will provide us with a clear action plan or framework to enhance partnerships and resource mobilization towards addressing these issues,” he said.
Attendees of the Indaba include three Sister MVA Funds in the region namely, South Africa (RAF), MVA Botswana, and MVA Namibia, the Road Management Traffic Commission from RSA, as well as the Traffic Accident Commission (TAC) from Australia. In addition, there are various local stakeholders including the Road Safety Council, the Royal Eswatini Police Service, the Judiciary, the Law Society of Eswatini, the Media, and the health service providers.
