Legal Articles and Guides

A man who was a passenger in a car crash is to get about R5.4m from the Road Accident Fund, says a Netwerk24 report. Gerhardus Johannes Brits (28) sustained severe brain injuries and several facial fractures when the bakkie crashed into the back of another vehicle and he was thrown through the windscreen. He had claimed R9.2m from the fund.

Mandie is cruising along at 31 km/h over the speed limit in an attempt to keep up with the rest of the cars on the road. She thinks she is simply going with the flow of the traffic when suddenly she sees flashing lights in her rear-view mirror. Mandie does not take traffic laws seriously and has come to accept traffic fines as a “fact of life”. She regards transgression as bending the rules rather than the commitment of a crime.

Port Elizabeth cyclist Christian Moolman (59) – who suffered severe and debilitating injuries after an unknown vehicle, presumably a truck, crashed into him in November 2013 – has been awarded more than R4m in damages. The Herald reports in addition, the Eastern Cape High Court (Port Elizabeth) ordered the RAF to foot the bill for Moolman’s legal fees, as well as give an undertaking that it would pay any future medical bills or future accommodation in a nursing home.

The Electronic National Administration Traffic Information System (eNatis) has already started crumbling‚ with some vehicle licensing centres affected‚ due to Tasima's stalling in handing over the system to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC). This is according to an affidavit by the corporation's boss‚ Makhosini Msibi‚ filed in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), notes a TimesLIVE report.

Two cases from the 1800s – one involving a stolen ostrich and one a borrowed horse that fell into one of Grahamstown’s potholes – have established that you can sue for damages even when driving a vehicle not belonging to you, says a Daily Dispatch report.

Despite a Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) judgment criticising the practices of the Road Traffic Infringement Agency‚ the judge did not rule that all similar Aarto infringement notices issued since 2008 must be scrapped. This is according to Howard Dembovsky‚ national chairman of Justice Project SA, notes a TimesLIVE report.

The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has ruled that millions of traffic fines issued under the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act since 2008 must be scrapped where authorities did not comply with the Act’s conditions. The Citizen reports the ruling comes after the High Court confirmed traffic authorities have to abide by the letter of the Aarto Act, and ordered that the fines before the court must be cancelled.

The Randburg Magistrate’s Court has dismissed an application for a discharge by Preshalin Naidoo‚ the man accused of causing the death of Top Billing presenter Simba Mhere, says a TimesLIVE report. Naidoo faces charges of culpable homicide and reckless and negligent driving following the death of Mhere and his friend‚ Kady-Shay O’Bryan‚ who was a passenger in the car Mhere was driving.

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has stopped payments because its bank account has been attached by the Sheriff of the Court‚ according to its CEO Dr Eugene Watson. He blamed this on ‘a few legal firms whose actions have disrupted an established cash management plan which now inconsiderately prioritises them over those who have patiently been awaiting payment’ – a claim which set lawyers against lawyers, notes Daily News.

The Gauteng government has concluded a wide-ranging investigation into financial irregularities at 34 provincial licensing centres‚ indentifying a syndicate that could involve hundreds of officials who have been accepting bribes in exchange for clearing unpaid fines.

Ford broke the law when it failed to tell the National Consumer Commission (NCC) of Kuga owner Reshall Jimmy’s death – and potentially jeopardised public safety by not telling the motor industry ombudsman. ‘It is clear that Ford was obliged to inform the commission of Jimmy’s death. They failed to do so. It has failed to comply with the law,’ Colonel Rozelle Kruger‚ a legal officer in the Western Cape Police Commissioner’s Office, is quoted as saying in a BusinessLIVE report.

Sanral has prepared 6 286 summonses in a bid to recover R6.2bn in outstanding e-toll debt from Gauteng motorists, notes a Business Day report. Sanral is also gearing up for its legal fight with Outa over an e-toll test case that could provide final clarity on how the user-pays principle should be applied.

The Consumer Commission is considering a ‘flood’ of complaints against Ford after the decision to recall the 1.6 Ford Kuga Ecoboost, says a Beeld report. The complaints are not limited to the Kuga. Spokesperson Trevor Hattingh said the majority of complaints are about burnt out vehicles and proposed action against Ford, and also proposals about what role the commission is supposed to play in terms of the Consumer Protection Act.

Port Elizabeth’s Pieter Swanepoel (52) wants to stop the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality from fining motorists. He also wants traffic fines he alleges were issued illegally from January 2015 to be scrapped, with the motorists refunded in full. The Herald reports if Swanepoel is successful in his High Court bid, the application could provide relief to thousands of people.

The Constitutional Court yesterday found that a five-year extension won by a private company, Tasima, to run the national traffic information system in 2010 was unlawful, ordering the system be handed over to the Road Traffic Management Corporation within 30 days, notes a BusinessLIVE report. The court concluded that the contract violated the Constitution, the Public Finance Management Act, and Treasury regulations.