Road accident victim Ntokozo Mgaga (21) has accused Literatim Legal Services – appointed by the court to administer a trust for her benefit – of unlawful delays.

A TimesLIVE report says Mgaga was severely injured in a hit-and-run that led to her spending seven months in hospital when she was 11. She was paid out R6.2m from the Road Accident Fund, which the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) ruled be held in a trust to be administered by a law firm until she was 21.

However, Mgaga is now embroiled in a dispute with Literatim, which she has accused of being ‘selfish, refusing to listen to her and delaying dissolving the trust’.

According to a clause of the December 2017 order by the High Court, ‘the minor shall be tested by appropriate experts upon attaining the age of 21 years, with a view to determine whether she will be capable of managing her own affairs’.

Mgaga turned 21 in June and now wants the trustees to dissolve the trust and go their separate ways after a stormy relationship.

She told TimesLIVE that, despite her having been assessed by a neurologist who found her mentally sound in June, Literatim had deliberately delayed dissolving the trust and seemingly insisted on managing her funds for her against her will.

Literatim pays her a monthly R9 400 stipend which covers her medical and other expenses. She said her monthly stipend was R12 000, but if they have paid her tuition fees, they reduced her monthly stipend to repay the money used to cover her college fees. 

Mgaga said she was now an adult and was capable of handling her money, which was now about R3m.

However, Literatim’s Mari Claassen said Mgaga’s allegations were ‘at best, based on misunderstandings of the facts and the process and, at worst, not truthful’.

Claassen said that, upon turning 21, Mgaga was seen by two experts who provided ‘contradictory opinions’ which delayed the dissolution of the trust as that ‘necessitated a determination by the Master of the High Court’.

She said the Master’s Office only replied to their letter two months ago, which delayed the process of dissolving the trust.

‘Upon receipt of the Master’s reply, we commenced with the process of dissolution of the trust. As you will know, the process of dissolution is a process and does not happen in an instant,’ she said.

Full TimesLIVE report