Only Parliament can shut down RAF
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) says threats to have it wound up are impossible.
In its urgent application for the demise of the RAF, Johannesburg personal injury law firm Maponya Attorneys – appointed to the RAF’s panel of attorneys in 2014 – argued the entity was insolvent.
But, notes a report in The Mercury, RAF chief executive Collins Letsoalo, in an answering affidavit filed at the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), said the only way for the entity to be disbanded, either by way of liquidation or by abolishing it, was for the legislator to amend or repeal the RAF Act.
‘An entity created by the legislator can only be eliminated by the legislator,’ he said.
Maponya Attorneys will next week ask the court to declare the RAF insolvent and unable to pay its creditors.
According to the firm, the RAF is unable to pay nearly R20.6m in fees owed.
Baitseng Rangata, co-chairperson of the law firm, said in the application the RAF was hopelessly insolvent. She said this led to creditors resorting to individual debt-collecting remedies that include the issuing of writs of execution in an attempt to get their money.
Letsoalo, arguing the application was defective as it was impossible for a court to order the end of the RAF, said the fund’s financial position was therefore irrelevant.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
