subject: Challenge To The Road Accident Fund By The Law Society [print this page] Stating that the amendment not only radically reduced the benefits that RAF paid to road traffic accident victims, the Law Society of South Africa - LSSA has added that it also deprived them of their right to claim for compensation.
"If the application for direct access is granted, the appeal will be heard then and there," said Jacqui Sohn, chairwoman of the LSSA's road accident fund committee.
Each month, about 20,000 people become the victim of a road traffic accident.
The Road Accident Fund Act of 1996 came into effect in August 2008 having been changed by the Road Accident Fund Amendment Act of 2005.
Before the amendment came into effect, motorists and public carriers were liable for the full compensation of their passengers for the injuries sustained and subsequent damages.
It's certainly true that in this situation most drivers and pubic carriers hold the relevant insurance policy to protect them from being left at risk.
With regards to the new Amendment, Sohn has stated that drivers have now been completely absolved from any financial liability to the victim.
In petition to the Constitutional Court, ten other applicants have now joined the LSSA.
"Victims of other recklessness such as hospital negligence, train accidents, airplane crashes... can all claim for compensation for personal injuries suffered by them from the person at fault.
"Victims of road accidents can no longer do so, even if the reckless wrongdoer is the wealthy driver of a luxury car or a profitable bus company," added Sohn.
Amendments facing challenge include abolition of common law right to claim damages from the party at fault, the introduction of set tariffs to govern medical treatment needed to treat injuries, and when a loss of earnings claim is made, this is capped at R160000 and not paid directly in relation to a person's previous earnings. Currently financed by a levy on fuel, the fund pays out to victims of road traffic accidents.
