ROAD ACCIDENT FUND TAKEN TO COURT

The Law Society of South Africa has joined with three other applicants to take up the fight against the Minister of Transport and the Road Accident Fund in the Constitutional Court. They are challenging the constitutionality of certain sections and regulations in the RAFAA which they rightfully feel have the effect of unfairly limiting the scope of damages for claims which would be sought against the RAF by those claimants seeking to recover said damages.

Section 9 takes away the common-law right of the claimant to claim compensation from the wrongdoer, which limits the scope of damages which can be recovered.

Section 17 (4) (c) limits a claim for loss of future earnings to R167 000-00 per annum, which means anyone who earns more than this arbitrary amount per annum will not be able to recover full damages from the RAF.

Section 17 (4B) (a) limits hospital and medical expenses to a tariff based solely on tariffs for state hospitals which is obviously substantially less than private sector tariffs, which in turn denies victims access to proper, quality health care which is completely unacceptable.

Regulation 3 (1) redefines what a “serious injury” is and as such many validly serious injuries will no longer be considered as they ought to be. Injuries will also no longer be assessed in relation to each individual claimant’s personal circumstances.

Regulation 3 (1) (b) (ii) and (iii) prescribes that as a claimant claiming for general damages you would have had to have suffered a 30% bodily impairment in order to claim general damages. This excludes many claimants with very serious injuries from claiming for general damages.

Regulations 3 (4) to 3 (13) creates a tribunal to which claimants are supposed to be able to appeal if they are in any way unhappy with the compensation they have received. The impartiality of this tribunal is obviously questionable and there is an unfair deprivation of the right to a fair trial in a court of law.

The new manner of lodging claims against the RAF is particularly complex and involved which has a negative bearing on the ability of claimants to be able to practically enforce their rights.