Medical professionals contracted to provide expert opinions in Road Accident Fund (RAF) court hearings have asked Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to withdraw those not yet used, in retaliation for RAF failures to pay, as well as ‘penalties’ levied by the RAF to reduce the amounts owed.

This would mean that RAF cases could not progress until payments were made or opinions obtained.

A template letter by individual experts sent to Zondo informed him of the decision, with the medical experts saying that they had been under the impression they were contracted by the RAF to deliver various services contracted for by the panel of attorneys formerly acting on behalf of the RAF.

These included expert medico-legal services, such as consultations, injury assessments, expert witness reports, as well as attending expert witness meetings, preparing joint minutes of these, and presenting expert evidence in court.

This follows the RAF recently informing medical experts appointed by its former panel of attorneys that they had not been properly authorised to perform these services, which have been conducted since 2015, and would therefore not be paid.

The letter describes the stance taken by the RAF as feeling like ‘blatant theft’ in that the RAF and/or its panel attorneys instructed experts to render services, ‘but were devoid of legitimate process or intention to pay’.

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