The reach stacker, a vehicle used for handling cargo containers in terminals or ports, is a motor vehicle as contemplated in the Road Accident Fund (RAF) Act, the SCA held yesterday, according to TimesLIVE.

It dismissed an appeal by the RAF against an order of the full Bench of the Western Cape High Court, which held that the reach stacker is a motor vehicle.

Simphiwe Robert Makutoana was at the multipurpose terminal at Cape Town harbour, where he was employed as a stevedore, when a reach stacker collided with him in 2010.

Makutoana died as a result of the injuries he sustained. His wife Thandiswa Linah Mbele instituted action for loss of support in the High Court against the fund for her and their four minor children.

The fund disputed liability and argued, among other things, that the reach stacker was not a vehicle as defined in the RAF Act.

Judge Siraj Desai originally determined that it was not a vehicle as contemplated in the RAF Act and dismissed Mbele's claim.

However, on appeal a full Bench found it was indeed a motor vehicle, prompting the RAF to turn to the SCA.

In a unanimous judgment written by Judge Dumisani Zondi, the SCA dismissed the RAF's appeal with costs.

Zondi said the RAF Act defined a ‘motor vehicle’ as ‘any vehicle designed or adapted for propulsion or haulage on a road by means of fuel, gas or electricity, including a trailer, a caravan, an agricultural or any other implement designed or adapted to be drawn by such motor vehicle’.

It was clear from its features that the reach stacker fitted this description.

Full TimesLIVE report

Judgment