RMA registration
Every employer in South Africa must be covered for workplace injuries, but not everyone is covered by the Compensation Fund. If your main business is mining, or iron, steel, galvanising, garages or metals, your cover sits with Rand Mutual Assurance instead. Employers in these trades register with RMA, declare earnings to RMA and get their letter of good standing from RMA. We confirm which one you belong to first, then register you with the right one.
Why you may be with the wrong one
The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, usually shortened to COIDA, lets the Minister licence a mutual association to carry the cover instead of the Compensation Fund. Rand Mutual Assurance, RMA, has done that for the mining industry since 1894.
In 2014 the Department of Labour extended that licence to class 13, which the gazette describes as iron, steel, artificial limbs, galvanising, garages, metals industries and similar. Existing class 13 employers were moved across from March 2015. The part that still catches people is the next line in the same notice: all new class 13 employers who are not already registered with the Compensation Fund go to RMA immediately.
So an engineering works, a fabrication shop, a galvaniser, a foundry, a panel beater or a motor repair workshop that opened after 2015 was never a Compensation Fund employer at all. Plenty have registered with the Fund anyway, because that is what everybody tells you to do, and only discover it when a letter of good standing does not arrive.
What we do for R1 290
- Your class confirmed first, in writingBefore anything is lodged. Class is decided on what the business mainly does, not on its name, so we test the actual work against the classes rather than guessing from your CIPC description.
- The registration form completed properlyRMA wants a detailed description of the nature of the business, the materials used in manufacturing and the type of any construction or erection work. A one line answer here is the commonest reason a file goes quiet.
- The right founding documents attachedThe CK1 or CK2 for a close corporation, the CM1 and CM29 for a company, the trust deed for a trust, or the non profit certificate. RMA states plainly that these must be attached.
- Existing registrations declaredAny Compensation Commissioner number you already hold, your Unemployment Insurance Fund number, and your branches, so you are not left registered in two places and assessed twice.
- Change of ownership handledIf the business changed hands, RMA asks for the previous trading name, the previous owner and the date of take over. Missing this creates a gap in cover that surfaces at claim time.
- Lodged and chasedSubmitted to RMA and followed until your registration number comes back, then the earnings declaration routine set up so the assessment and the letter of good standing do not stall.
How it works
- 1Order and tell us what the business actually doesIn plain detail. What you make or repair, what materials you work with, and whether any of it is construction or erection on site.
- 2We confirm your class in writingRMA, the Compensation Fund or the building industry mutual. If it is not RMA we tell you before you have paid for the wrong thing.
- 3We register you and set up the earnings routineThen hand you the annual cycle so the letter of good standing stays current instead of being chased before a tender.
Not sure which fund covers you? Ask us first and you get a written answer within one business day.
What we will need from you
- Your trading name and legal name, and whether the business is a company, close corporation, trust or sole proprietor
- Your company or close corporation number, with the founding documents
- Postal and physical addresses with postal codes, and a contact person with telephone, cell and email
- A detailed description of the work, including the materials you use and any construction or erection you undertake
- The responsible person’s details, meaning full name, identity number, position and residential address
- Any registration numbers you already hold with the Compensation Commissioner or the Unemployment Insurance Fund, and the details of every branch
- Your earnings figures for the declaration that follows registration
Not sure whether it is RMA, FEM or the Compensation Fund?
Three bodies carry COIDA cover in South Africa. The Compensation Fund takes most employers, the building industry mutual takes class 5, and RMA takes class 4 and class 13. Registering with the wrong one costs money and fixes nothing, so we establish which before anything is lodged.
See COIDA registrationFrequently asked questions
What is RMA and why am I not with the Compensation Fund?
Rand Mutual Assurance is a licensed compensation insurer. The Department of Labour extended its licence under section 30 of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act to cover class 13 employers, by Government Notice 565 of 2014 in Government Gazette 37826 of 14 July 2014. RMA already covered class 4, mining. So if your main business is in either class, your COIDA cover sits with RMA rather than the Compensation Fund, and section 84 of the Act means you do not pay Fund assessments as well.
Which businesses are class 13?
The gazette names iron, steel, artificial limbs, galvanising, garages, metals industries and similar. In practice that catches engineering works, sheet metal and fabrication shops, foundries, galvanisers, motor repair workshops and panel beaters. It is decided on what your business mainly does, not on what you call yourself, which is why the nature of business section on the form matters more than people expect.
I am a brand new business. Do I register with the Fund first?
No, and this is the part that costs people time. The same gazette states that all new class 13 employers who are not currently registered with the Compensation Fund are to be transferred to RMA immediately. A new engineering works or motor workshop goes to RMA from the start. Registering with the Compensation Fund first means waiting to be moved, and in the meantime your letter of good standing is with the wrong body.
What does RMA need to register me?
RMA’s employer registration form asks for your trading and legal name, postal and physical addresses, contact details, the company or close corporation number, a detailed description of the nature of the business including materials used and any construction work, and the responsible person’s name, identity number, position and residential address. Your founding documents must be attached: the CK1 or CK2 for a close corporation, the CM1 and CM29 for a company, the trust deed for a trust, or the non profit certificate. It also asks for any existing Compensation Commissioner number and, if the business changed hands, the previous owner’s details and the date of take over.
How do I get a letter of good standing from RMA?
The same way as with the Compensation Fund: registration first, then your earnings are declared, RMA assesses and invoices, and the letter follows once that assessment is settled. A letter of good standing is never issued off a registration alone, which is why a tender deadline and a fresh registration are an uncomfortable combination. We tell you the realistic sequence before you commit to a closing date.
I already pay the Compensation Fund but I think I am class 13. What now?
Then you may be paying the wrong body, and possibly paying twice. Establishing which one you actually belong to is the first thing we do, before anything is lodged. If you are genuinely class 13 or class 4 your cover belongs with RMA, and section 84 exempts employers fully insured with it from paying Fund assessments. Sorting this out early is far cheaper than discovering it through a rejected letter of good standing.
Do you handle this for accountants and bookkeepers?
Yes, and it is a common one to hand over because it sits outside normal payroll work. We invoice you rather than your client at the partner rate, so the client relationship and the margin stay yours. Tell us what the business actually does and we confirm the class in writing before anything is lodged.
Does registering with RMA cover my UIF and PAYE as well?
No. RMA covers workplace injuries and diseases only. Registering employees for the Unemployment Insurance Fund, and for PAYE, the skills levy and UIF with SARS, are separate registrations with separate bodies. If you are setting up as an employer for the first time, do all of them together rather than one at a time.
Related
We confirm your class and lodge the registration under your written authority. RMA decides registration and sets the assessment. Sources: Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993, sections 30 and 84; Government Notice 565 of 2014, Government Gazette 37826 of 14 July 2014, transfer of class 13 employers to RMA; RMA Employer Registration Form 2023, administered by Rand Mutual Admin Services (Pty) Ltd, FSP number 46113. RMA rebuilt its website during 2026 and its public form library was unavailable when this page was written, so the form detail above is taken from the 2023 version and we confirm the current requirements with RMA on every file rather than relying on this page. This is information, not legal advice.