RAF NEWS

The long anticipated Road Accident Fund Amendment Act No. 19 of 2005 came into effect on 1 August 2008, catching many of us by surprise. The now notorious amendment introduces far-reaching changes to the Road Accident Fund Act of 1996.

Some of the more controversial amendments are, inter alia:

• The exclusion of claims for general damages save for “serious injuries”.
• The capping of loss of income/support at “(adjusted to R178 642.00 with effect from 30 April 2010)”.
• The exclusion of damages arising from emotional shock which may be experienced by secondary victims.
• The abolition of the common law right to claim damages (not recoverable from the Fund) from the driver or owner of the vehicle which caused the accident.
• The tariff to be applied for future medical expenses.

On 8 August 2008, the RAF was interdicted from implementing its proposed direct payment system (DPS) to claimants. The application was launched by The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA), SAAPIL and another. A final interdict was granted in the Cape High Court on 11 June 2009. The court declared invalid, and set aside the RAF’s administrative decision of June 2007, to forthwith implement the DPS.Please note that the interdict applies only to the 2007 decision and does not preclude the RAF from making further such decisions in the future.The LSSA and three others have launched an application challenging the constitutionality and validity of the Act and the Regulations. We will report on  further developments .

The Honourable Fabricius AJ dismissed the whole of the application on 31 March 2010.
On Friday 23 April 2010, the Law Society of South Africa, filed Applications for Leave to Appeal at both the North Gauteng High Court, as well as the Constitutional Court. Dates for the hearing of the Applications for Leave to Appeal have not been allocated yet.

Conveyancing matters

Please take note: The Board has resolved to, in the near future,  increase the deductibles payable in respect of conveyancing matters to the same level as the deductibles payable in respect of prescribed MVA matters (as set out the Scheme Policy, Schedule A, clause 8.5.1, Column A ). The deductible will therefore be R35 000 for a sole practitioner, rising to R315 000 for 14 partners/directors or more.