Draft bill legally criticised
THE government’s proposed Road Accident Benefit Scheme‚ set to replace the Road Accident Fund‚ will strip accident victims of much of the compensation previously awarded‚ said attorney Ronald Bobroff.
The Department of Transport released a newly drafted version of the Road Accident Benefit Scheme Bill for public comment two weeks ago‚ 15 months after an earlier version was heavily criticised by the legal fraternity.
Bobroff said the new version appeared to show little improvement.
He said the government was using the Road Accident Benefit Scheme to pursue two decades of efforts to remove the rights of road accident victims to fair compensation.
Bobroff said the proposed scheme’s “vast administrative structure”‚ would “gobble up” its multibillion-rand income.
However‚ Bobroff’s comments come despite the Department of Transport saying under the new scheme accident victims would be able to claim for benefits regardless of who caused an accident.
Road Accident Fund chief executive Eugene Watson told Business Day that under the new scheme fault would not be considered. “The focus is essentially on how we immediately assist the claimant.”
The scheme removed the unintended consequences and burden on the families of the wrongdoer‚ he said.
The department said the change introduced a shift from an insurance-based system of compensation‚ operational in South Africa since 1946‚ to a system of defined and structured benefits.
Beneficiaries will be entitled to medical services and income benefit‚ though these are subject to thresholds.
But Bobroff‚ whose law firm Ronald Bobroff and Partners has a long history of thirdparty claims‚ said the new bill watered down compensation considerably‚ which made it even worse for victims than the 2008 amendments to the Road Accident Fund Act.
Bobroff added that if the new draft was enacted‚ it would “crush seriously injured road accident victims into a lifetime of tragedy‚ poverty and suffering”.
“Absolutely no compensation is payable in respect of pain and suffering‚ loss of amenities of life‚ disfigurement and emotional suffering‚” he said.
The draft caps claims for past and future loss of income. Irrespective of a victim’s earnings or prospective earnings‚ Bobroff said no one was able to receive more than about R200 000 a year.
It also does not allow for private healthcare. — BDLive