RMA registration

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.

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.

Your cover belongs with RMA, but RMA still needs a Compensation Fund reference to register you. RMA told us in writing on 7 October 2026 that a new employer registration is submitted together with the Compensation Fund or Business Partner reference number, and that RMA confirms the sub class with the Fund before completing the registration. Where a new registration has to be confirmed or transferred from the Fund, RMA says it takes at least 14 working days. We confirm the exact order for your business with RMA before anything is lodged.

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. RMA also asks for its earnings declaration form and identification of the director or directors, and it confirms your sub class with the Compensation Fund as part of the registration. The current forms, which RMA sent us on 7 October 2026, are the Employer Registration Form last updated in February 2025 and the Metals Earnings Declaration Form for 2026. A new RMA employer must declare earnings for every period not yet submitted to RMA, going back to March 2020, and RMA asks for the SARS EMP501 reconciliation where the figures differ by more than 10 percent.

Yes. RMA confirmed in writing on 29 September 2026 that a third party does not have to register with RMA just to submit an employer’s registration documents. What it needs is a valid power of attorney from the employer as proof that the person lodging is authorised, and RMA may verify that person’s identity and authority. The letter of good standing is a separate step: RMA issues it only once the earnings declarations have been submitted and processed and any outstanding premiums are paid.

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. RMA told us on 7 October 2026 that it has no fixed turnaround for issuing the letter once everything is in order, so we do not promise one.

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.

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.

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.