On April 30, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) upheld a previous ruling from the Gauteng High Court, dismissing an appeal and ordering the appellant to cover legal costs. The dispute centered on whether the Road Accident Fund (RAF) and the Minister of Transport overstepped their legal authority by complicating the process for filing compensation claims.
The case examined the legality of Board Notices 271 and 302 (2022), which introduced stricter documentation requirements for claimants seeking relief under the Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996.
For years, the RAF 1 claim form followed the standard 2008 regulations. However, beginning in 2021, the RAF sought to implement more demanding criteria through internal mandates and board notices.
The High Court had previously halted these changes, ruling that the RAF did not have the constitutional or statutory power to unilaterally increase the burden on claimants. Furthermore, the court invalidated a specific regulation that claimed to grant the RAF the power to modify the official claim form at its own discretion.
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Watch Gert Nel on SABC as he analyses the recent court ruling that mandates the Road Accident Fund to re-examine hundreds of claims rejected over the last four years.