RAF’s ‘unethical’ handling of case results in claimant being duped
Man dies after three-year wait for Road Accident Fund to pay R2.8m settlement
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) is accused of seducing claimants into submitting their personal injury claims directly to them, resulting in unfair offers of settlement.
Kirstie Haslam, partner at DSC Attorneys, said in some instances accident victims were being solicited to go direct to the RAF, even where they already had legal representation. She said the RAF had also adopted the practice of failing to finalise a claimant’s claim timeously, resulting in expiry of the victim’s claim.
This is shown in the case of Bella Mashabathakga, of Northgate, Joburg, whose brother Moloko was involved in a hit-and-run accident in 2009, which resulted in him becoming a quadriplegic.
Mashabathakga, 54, said she lodged a claim with the RAF consultant, who then came to her house to help her complete forms. She said the consultant also asked to accompany her to the hospital to confirm whether her brother was indeed a quadriplegic.
“At this stage RAF should have settled his claim, as my brother was medically boarded as he could not even brush his teeth,” she said.
Mashabathakga said she was nominated to act on his behalf and the RAF later gave her an offer that she accepted.
She said the RAF then reneged on their offer to pay R2.8-million for general damages and loss of earnings.
“They never paid, and my brother died in 2012.”
When she noticed that they were not paying the money, she hired an attorney, who was appointed a judge and was unable to proceed with her case.
“[The] Road Accident Fund have conceded that the matter was negligently handled by their officials as they should have finalised without delay … Still, they never paid.”
Mashabathakga said after she notified the RAF of her bother’s death in 2012, they only offered to pay R20 000 to bury him.
Haslam said if Moloko was in this condition from the date of the accident, a curatorship application should have been brought as soon as possible. Making the offer two to three years after the collision was simply unacceptable, she said.
Haslam said the RAF’s mishandling of the case had consequently saved them a significant sum of money.
Boniswa Matshoba, the marketing, PR and reputation management specialist at the RAF, said they were conducting an internal investigation on Moloko’s claim and would only respond once it had been completed.