A Constitutional Court challenge against practice directives which place hurdles in the way of the public claiming against the Road Accident Fund (RAF), an application to have specified medical tariffs overturned, and the possibility of the fund’s executives being personally slapped with legal costs in two cases are among several challenges facing the RAF this year.

A report in The Mercury notes the Mpumalanga High Court is expected to deliver its judgment within the first court term of the year on whether the fund’s CEO, Collins Letsoalo, and some of the senior management should personally be held liable for the legal costs in two cases.

The RAF has had to answer to three judges of that division, regarding its non-participation in cases and for settling claims at the last minute.

Mpumalanga Judge President Frans Legodi ordered the RAF to answer questions raised by the court regarding the functioning of the fund when it came to claims. These included the procedures followed by the RAF when it was called on by courts to attend pretrial conferences or judicial case management conferences in cases due to be heard, and why the fund wasted costs by first opposing cases and then settling matters on the steps of the court.

Legodi, on the RAF's absence in the two cases in question, wanted to know why he should not award costs against the entity’s officials personally. Judgment was reserved, but it is expected to be delivered soon. 

The Western Cape High Court last year also gave the RAF a tongue lashing in a matter in which the entity wanted to rescind an order that it had to pay R6.7m to a claimant. In that case, the RAF also did not go to court to defend the matter.

The problems facing the fund and the claimants who are awaiting justice are now such a serious concern that the Constitutional Court is to be asked to step in. In some cases lodged with the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), the backlog is so large that new matters cannot get a trial date before 2026, notes The Mercury report.

lf left unchecked, the High Court would reach the point of total collapse, attorney Gert Nel reportedly said. He has filed papers with the Constitutional Court for direct access to the court for it to declare that the civil trial date and default judgment application process adopted and implemented in the High Court regarding RAF matters be overturned.

He is asking the court to declare the practice directives constitutionally invalid, and he called on the court to order that a new directive be drafted to regulate case flow management.

Meanwhile, the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) will hear an application in May to overturn new medical tariffs promulgated by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula and implemented by the RAF. The court last year suspended the implementation of these tariffs, pending the outcome of this year’s review application. The new tariffs were promulgated by Mbalula in August for medical professionals in the private sector to be paid reduced tariffs.

The court was told that, should the new medical tariffs not be scrapped, they would see thousands of vehicle accident victims having to turn to the already overburdened public health sector.

The National Council for Persons with Disabilities and the Law Society launched the application as they are of the view that the new tariff structure would have disastrous consequences for road accident victims in need of emergency or specialised care.

Full report in The Mercury