Amazingly the answer is no and car insurance is not mandatory.
I was reminded in a comment this evening how few cars on the road in South Africa have insurance. You would just automatically think that no one could be that stupid and irresponsible placing everyone else at risk. A reported 60%-70% of all vehicles in South Africa have no insurance which is an insane statistic when you consider there are an average of 820K accidents every year with more than 500K being uninsured.
May motorists are under the impression they can claim their damage costs via the Road Accident Fund (government) which can take up to 6 years to settle plus you need legal representation. If the accident was your fault then you are not eligible for cover so I guess the 70% will say they were never at fault. I am just astounded that this has been allowed to get to this situation and there must be corruption at the root of allowing this to happen. Normally when nothing makes sense corruption is involved benefitting whoever has the safe keys for the accident fund.
When I lived in the UK it is mandatory to have vehicle insurance or 3rd party insurance allowing you to drive the vehicle if it is not yours. I can recall cars being found o the roads without insurance would automatically be crushed and this is the right and only option. Accidents caused by non licensed vehicles in the UK add an extra £30 a year per premium for each insured driver and this is not fair.
This is why when I returned to South Africa just took it for granted that the other vehicles on the road are insured. How wrong can one be thinking like that when the majority of drivers on the road haven't even done their drivers license legitimately.
What amazes me is that when you are financing your vehicle you have to have insurance as this is mandatory. Maybe the loophole is once the finance is in place they then cancel the insurance as I would not know because this is not something I would ever do. You would have to be a complete moron to even consider doing this especially knowing the number of sub standard drivers there are on the road. Most seem to have a death wish and I kid you not driving on the roads each day you can count how many accidents you avoid by being aware and thinking on their behalf.
Insurance premiums are very high is SA with high excesses as well and I found out how costly an accident can be even when it is not your fault. A driver turned into me thinking the road was clear and broadsided my vehicle. I put the claim in along with the accident report only to find out he was trying to blame myself which was impossible considering where the damage was. I never even thought about maybe he had no insurance and was possibly trying to get his damage paid under my insurance. The loss of a no claim bonus plus the excess was an expensive exercise even when you are not at fault.
During the lockdowns I hardly used my car and sold it soon afterwards mainly down to the insurance premiums being paid each month for something I was hardly using. I could not justify the spend and if I need a vehicle in the future I will just buy one if and when that happens and until then I have the use of two other vehicles.