In a January 2025 judgment, the High Court dealt with the issue of professional negligence and prescription in case which revolved around a claim for damages by the claimant, who alleged that the defendant, a firm of attorneys, was negligent in handling her claim against the Road Accident Fund (RAF), resulting in an
Road Accident Fund
Wrong lane car-accidents and contributory negligence

In a January 2025 judgment the high court dealt with a claim for compensation by the claimant, who was involved in a motor vehicle accident on 27 March 2017. The claimant sought damages from the Road Accident Fund (RAF) for injuries sustained in the collision. The central issue in this case was whether the accident…
Under-settled claims and prescription

In a January 2025 judgment the high court a dealt with the prescription of a claim for damages against the Road Accident Fund (RAF) due to an alleged under-settlement. The claimant, who was involved in a motor vehicle accident in 2007, claimed that the RAF failed to exercise its legal duty of care, resulting in…
Subrogation and the deceased insured

Subrogation is a common law doctrine that allows an insurer who has indemnified its insured to step into the shoes of the insured and recover the loss from the wrongdoer. It is a well-established principle of insurance law that has been applied by South African courts for over a century.
In that light, the Road Accident…
Subrogation and Medical Schemes

Van Tonder v Road Accident Fund (1736/2020; 9773/2021) [2023] ZAWCHC 305 (1 December 2023)
The court consolidated two matters against the Road Accident Fund, for payment of each plaintiff’s past medical and hospital expenses, which were rejected by the RAF due to the fact that both plaintiffs were members of private medical aid schemes, who…
RAF Discovers Rough Times Ahead

This blog was co-authored by Hannah Howell, Candidate Attorney.
On 12 August 2022, the Road Accident Fund, in a presumed bid to extricate itself from its ever-expanding pothole of debt, issued a directive instructing its staff to reject any claims made for past medical expenses if a medical aid scheme had already paid for them.
RAF CEO and Board ordered to pay costs out of their own pockets for frustrating the judicial process

The Mpumalanga High Court handed down a ground-breaking judgment on 24 January 2023 in which the court ordered costs de bonis propriis (paid out of their own pockets) against the CEO and the Board of the Road Accident Fund (RAF). The order was based on the conduct of the Board and the CEO conduct which…
Deduction of gratuitous payments received by damages claimants
In the June 2021 judgement of Chantell Martin v Road Accident Fund, the court decided that gratuitous or benevolent payments, received by an injured claimant from her husband, should not be taken into account in the calculation of that person’s damages for loss of earnings.
The accident occurred in 2015, and the RAF had…
Every word must be given a meaning when interpreting a statute

When interpreting a statutory provision, one must proceed from the fundamental premise that meaning must be given to every word (provided the context lends itself to such meaning). The rationale for this principle is that a statute is not taken to use words without meaning. No clause, sentence or word must be construed to be…
Dependants can’t sue Road Accident Fund where breadwinner dies in single vehicle accident

The surviving wife and children of a breadwinner sued the Road Accident Fund for damages when he died as a result of a single vehicle accident in which the deceased’s negligence was the sole cause of the collision.
The court held that the Road Accident Fund does not provide such a remedy and no wrongfulness…