Your licence disc could carry a RAF levy. Here's what's decided so far

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy says her department is working out how to make electric car owners pay towards the Road Accident Fund (RAF), and one option is a charge added when you register a vehicle or renew your licence disc. Nothing has been decided. There is no amount, no start date and no law yet (BusinessTech).

"We have to look at the fact that there's a big shift to electric vehicles," Creecy said on the Sunday World podcast. "So how are they going to contribute to the fund? This is research that we're doing" (BusinessTech).

Why does the RAF want money from licence discs?

The fund lives off a levy of R2.25 on every litre of petrol and diesel sold (SARS). Electric cars don't use fuel, so their owners pay nothing into the RAF, yet they are covered in the same way if they are hurt in a crash (MyBroadband).

In its 2025/26 annual report, the RAF board said fuel sales were falling and that it was investigating other sources of income (MyBroadband).

What exactly is on the table?

The annual report lists three ideas (MyBroadband):

• a levy on vehicle registrations and/or licence disc renewals, aimed at electric and hybrid vehicles
• a levy on every foreign-registered vehicle entering South Africa
• a 33% increase in the fuel levy, from R2.25 to R3 a litre

The board gave no amount for the licence disc charge. It also didn't say whether owners of petrol and diesel cars would pay it too (MyBroadband).

Deputy Transport Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa has backed a mixed model, where the fuel levy could come down while other income is added. Compulsory third-party insurance tied to vehicle licensing is being looked at as a separate option. The department has commissioned a cost-benefit study, which will accompany the Road Accident Benefit Scheme Bill when it goes to Parliament (IOL).

Will the RAF fuel levy go up to R3 a litre?

Not while Creecy is in charge, she says. "As long as I'm in this job, we will not apply to National Treasury for an increase in the fuel levy. I think consumers are under enough pressure," she told eNCA on 11 October (eNCA).

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has gone further, saying government's long-term plan is to remove levies on petrol, though he gave no timetable (EWN).

How much would a licence disc levy cost?

Nobody knows yet. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has estimated that a yearly vehicle-linked payment could be R1,000 to R2,000, but that figure is speculation. The department hasn't released any numbers (IOL).

OUTA's concern is the lump sum: paying a little each time you fill up is easier than one large annual bill (IOL).

When could it start?

There is no date. Creecy says the law has to change first. "Until we bring in those amendments, there's a limit to which there can be managerial solutions to some of the broader financial problems that the fund faces," she said (BusinessTech).

Until that happens, your licence disc renewal costs what your province charges, and the RAF fuel levy stays at R2.25 a litre.