The Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund is currently reinvigorating itself as it reels through a number of challenges that it went through over years.
As part of its efforts to revive itself, the Fund is said to have launched a fourth strategic plan known as “Kgogamasigo”.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Fund Michael Tlhagwane who was in the country’s second city ÔÇô Francistown this past week said that for the year ended 31 December 2017 the Fund faced triple challenges of road crashes, rising medical inflation and the negative performance of offshore investments perpetrated by currency translation losses.
According to Tlhagwane, the new strategy will provide a clear, long term vision of what the Fund wants to achieve and how the milestones will be achieved. The new strategy will also reinforce our historical focus on a scheme that is simple, affordable and easy to administer. These tenets have underpinned the success of the Fund for the past 30 years and will always be underlying. The Fund family is invigorated and glad to navigate along this new road map,” he said.
Tlhagwane, said the strategy hinges on every aspect of the Fund’s operations and the impact perspectives which are; to assist all eligible claimants(offer 100 percent compensation), reduce fatalities and injuries through road safety and injury prevention, maintain Fund ‘s sustainability and improve post-crash care.
He also said the key aspect of the strategy is that the Fund intends to compensate 100 percent of those eligible for compensation in furtherance of its mandate.
“The Fund has service level agreements with private Emergency Medical Service and Ministry of Health and Wellness to evacuate people injured in road traffic accidents from the scene of accidents to the most appropriate health facility. The Fund now receives names of the deceased and their next of kin (including telephone numbers) from Botswana Police Service to assist to follow up and encourage the next of kin to submit funeral and loss of support claims. The arrangement has greatly assisted the Fund to settle claims faster,” added Tlhagwane.
He however said that their annual report is still to be tabled before the National Assembly hence they are constrained to share the results of the past financial year with the public.
He also said that the Fund is steadfast in the implementation of Talent Management Strategy which will ensure a structured approach towards effective management of talent. The aim of this initiative is to attract and retain staff who works in an environment that unleashes their creativity and allows them to thrive. In addition Tlhagwane said the Fund continues to review its Human Resources policies to align itself with the current practices in the HR sphere and ensure that they are compliant with the relevant legislative frameworks.
“We value the human capital and their labour rights and fully appreciate that the Fund consistently achieves outstanding results because of its highly competent, motivated and engaged workforce,” he said.
He also added that the Fund is a service-oriented organization and recognizes its customers as a key stakeholder, hence the continuous commitment to fulfill its customer needs. He said this commitment is fulfilled through efficient, professional, courteous and equitable, courteous and equitable service delivery. Tlhagwane explained that the Fund continues to deliver comprehensive and integrated quality products and services to meet the unique needs of customers hence giving them a best chance to normal life.
“The primary objective is always being to restore those affected by road crashes to their pre-accident lives,” he said.
Meanwhile Tlhagwane said that the number of claims received by the Fund declined by 3 percent from 3 019 recorded in 2016 to 2 934. He said the decline was attributable to the corresponding improvement in road safety performance during the same period. He explained that the total recorded crashes declined by 3.2 percent from 18 373 in 2016 to 17 786 in 2017, while total recorded fatalities dropped by 1.3 percent from 450 to 444 and total injuries declined by 5.5 percent from 6 237 to 5 981 compared to the same period in 2016.
