A octogenarian North West granny did not stand back yesterday when it came to locking horns with a judge of the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria). According to a report on the IoL site, she wants the judge to personally pay her about R1.2m which she claimed she was entitled to as he allegedly failed to act on her Road Accident Fund (RAF) claim nearly 30 years ago, when he still had his own law firm.

Koketo Frieda Moreotlotlo’s case against Judge Ramarumo Monama was postponed on several occasions in the past due to a number of reasons, including that a judge from another division had to be appointed. Moreotlotlo’s case is that on 5 August 1989, she and other passengers were on their way to a political rally held by then Bophuthatswana President, Lucas Mangope.

The bus driver allegedly lost control and was involved in an accident during which Moreotlotlo was injured. She said she approached Monama, who at that time was an attorney practising in the area, to handle her claim against the RAF. After nothing happened for several years, the plaintiff became disillusioned during 2009 and subsequently instructed another lawyer to establish from the defendant the status of her claim.

She is now claiming the damages directly from the judge as she blames him for not acting within the legal time frame.

Monama, however, testified that by the time the woman’s claim against the RAF had reached his then law firm in Mafikeng, it had already lapsed.

The judge was also adamant that Moreotlotlo never properly instructed him as to the way forward. ‘The problem is this happened 30 years ago and I no longer have the file on this,’ he said.

Full report on the IoL site