RAF vindicated by court judgement reducing grossly inflated claim

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) welcomes a recent Limpopo High Court judgement in which an overexaggerated claim was reduced by over 90%, after some of the documentary evidence submitted was found to be inaccurate and contradictory.

The original claim, which came to a staggering R11 million, was submitted by a mother on behalf of her daughter who was hit by a car while walking to a shop in 2015. This was fueled by documentary evidence from psychologists, surgeons, and a therapist, which were used by lawyers to support the claim.

The child was four years old when the accident occurred. She was apparently rushed to a clinic by the driver of the car involved, treated and discharged the same day. In their submis-sion, the mother’s legal representative argued that various specialists had suggested various ways in which the accident had affected the child, compiling reports that the mother used to claim R11 million for her child’s loss of earnings.

However, the judge disagreed. Handing down his judgement, Judge E Mashamba decreased the amount to R800 000 after the court found disparities in the medical specialists' reports. The court decided that the child’s injuries were unlikely to adversely impact her school perfor-mance, or future loss of earnings. The only information the court found credible was that of the clinical psychologist, who stated the child has post traumatic disorder and psychosocial problems. The court found these problems probably only have a slight effect on the child’s future income.

Based on the judgement, it is abundantly clear that lawyers who represented the claimant recommended and guided the mother for the child to be sent to many specialists, despite the injuries being minor. RAF Chief Executive Officer, Collins Letsoalo, said, “This is a common problem for the RAF. Most legal practitioners attempt to extract as much cash as possible from the State entity, an unethical and sometimes criminal practice that affects the RAF and is grossly unfair to other claimants.”

While the Fund is not apportioning criminal blame to the law firm that represented the woman, they should nevertheless be ashamed of themselves for creating expectations to the mother that she was in for a huge cash windfall. The disparity between the R11 million and R800 000 is proof enough that there was probably unethical conduct involved.

The court decision is a vindication of the Fund’s position that claimants, primarily guided by lawyers, are involved in the grand scale looting of the public entity. From 2021 to 2023, the Fund stopped R2,6 billion’s worth of claims from being paid. This is a result of the commend-able work done by the organisation’s forensic investigation department, in partnership with various law enforcement agencies.

Last year, the RAF submitted the Draft Road Accident Fund Amendment Bill, 2023, to Parlia-ment which among other things calls for the discontinued use of lawyers. It is the Fund’s wish that lawmakers will accede to the proposals in the Bill. Removing legal practitioners will ad-dress a large portion of the problems visited upon the RAF.

In the unfortunate event of being involved in a motor vehicle accident, the RAF Contact Centre is reachable on 087 820 1 111 from Monday to Friday, 07h45 to 16h00. The RAF can also be reached through its offices countrywide, details of which are available on its website on www.raf.co.za.