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Without a lawyer, your RAF claim may be under-settled: Join Gert Nel & Ngoako Mohlaloga on the King David Studio podcast
Gert Nel recently joined Ngoako Mohlaloga, Deputy Chairman of the Association for the Protection of Road Accident Victims (APRAV), as guests on the King David Studio podcast hosted by David Mashabela. They discuss and clarify some important points and considerations around the RAF Fund, the claims process, and what victims can expect when they make an RAF claim. Watch the episode here so that you can be informed should you or a loved one face the unthinkable on our country’s roads.
Draft bill proposes restructure of RAF
Written by Zelda Venter | Published on 13 Set 2023 WHILE the Road Accident Fund (RAF) has been criticised and come under immense pressure over the years for failing to execute its mandate, an amended bill proposing changes is in the pipeline. The Department of Transport gazetted the draft RAF Amendment Bill, 2023, last month. It proposed changes to how the RAF will operate in South Africa in future. The Department of Transport has called for public comment on the bill by October 8. Shift from Compensation to Restricted Social Benefits The proposed amendments include a complete restructuring of the RAF, moving away from a “compensation” to a “social benefits” structure. Gert Nel, the head of a law firm that specialises in RAF matters, said the proposed amendments were a watered-down version of the erstwhile Road Accident Benefit Scheme. One of the proposals is to replace compensation with structured benefits.
Chaos as attorneys seek to have RAF cases settled in city
Written by Zelda Venter | Published in Weekend Pretoria News on 24 June 2023 While the legal fraternity describes the claims process as chaos, the Road Accident Fund (RAF) says order has been restored. The lawyers camped outside Sammy Marks Square for two days this week to try to get a spot to settle RAF claims on behalf of their clients. Attorneys are so upset about the fact that there was no structure to the process of block settlements to which they were invited by the RAF, that the Pretoria Attorneys’ Association asked the Legal Practice Council to intervene in the “unfortunate situation”. In a letter sent to the Legal Practice Council, the association said it had taken note, “with utter dismay, of the indignation that members of the legal profession have had to suffer at the hands of the staff of the RAF this past week”. Attorneys Camp in
RAF beneficiaries in long wait for justice
Written by Zelda Venter | 12 May 2023 SIX months after a Pretoria law firm launched a Constitutional Court challenge on behalf of six road accident victims in an effort to secure trial dates for their matters, they are still waiting to hear whether their case will be entertained or not. Gert Nel, of the law firm, Gert Nel Incorporated, said in filing the application on an urgent basis, the applicants had yet to hear from Chief Justice Raymond Zondo on the matter. Nel said in many cases, claimants had been waiting years, and in some cases, claimants had died before their claims could be finalised. Fuel Levy Windfalls vs. Unsettled Claims for Crash Victims He referred to an article in a business publication earlier this month in which Pick n Pay chairperson Gareth Ackerman said that the government was raking in millions of rand as a “windfall tax” because
RAF appeals ruling that its non-payment of medical aid-covered claims is unlawful
Written by Roy Cokayne | Published 13 Mar 2023 The financially distressed Road Accident Fund (RAF) is appealing a judgment that declared unlawful its directive that no payments be made to claimants if their medical aid scheme has already paid for their medical expenses arising from a road accident. Discovery Health CEO Dr Ryan Noach told Moneyweb the RAF applied to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on 20 February for leave to appeal the judgment. Discovery has filed its answering affidavit and expects a ruling from the SCA within four to six weeks,” he said. In addition, on 3 March Discovery Health applied to the Pretoria High Court in terms of Section 18(3) of the RAF Act to compel the enforcement of the unlawfulness of the RAF’s directive, Noach added. Responding to a request for comment, RAF senior manager media & PR Linda Rulashe said: “The RAF has no comment on this
RAF mum on whether it’s halted contentious tariffs for accident claimants
Written by Bongani Hans | Published Mar 12 2023 THE Road Accident Fund (RAF) has been accused of trying to defy a court order that interdicted it and the Department of Transport from implementing medical tariffs that might leave road accident victims under-compensated for injuries. Pretoria High Court Judge Ronel Tolmay late last year interdicted the RAF from implementing the tariffs that were promulgated on August 19 by then Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula. The matter against the RAF and Mbalula had been brought to court by the National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) and the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA), who opposed the new tariffs. New RAF Policy Sparks Fears of Reduced Victim Compensation The new RAF policy, which is meant to prescribe a set of standardised medical tariffs that victims of car accidents submit to the fund, is allegedly prejudicial to the victims whose injuries left most
Road Accident Fund backlog matter still unresolved
Written by Zelda Venter | Published Feb 28, 2023 Pretoria – Obtaining court dates for trials involving Road Accident Fund (RAF) matters still remains an uphill battle. In this regard, Pretoria law firm Gert Nel Incorporated is still awaiting word from the Constitutional Court (Concourt) on whether it will entertain this constitutional challenge. It filed an application with the Concourt in December, in a bid to access the highest court in the country directly. The legal challenge involved the legality of court directives that legal practitioners have to navigate to attain court dates for their clients in claims against the RAF. Systemic Hurdles Threaten Total Collapse of High Court According to the head of the law firm, Gert Nel, the hurdles caused delays, and in some cases, claimants had to wait years before their cases were dealt with by the court. He said in some cases lodged with the Gauteng
Teenager Mmakgoshi Edith Molala involved in accident waits 12 years for justice
By Zelda Venter Pretoria – Nearly 13 years ago, a teenager was about to start her matric year when she was a passenger in a car which was involved in an accident. Mmakgoshi Edith Molala, who was 17 in January 2008 when the accident occurred, waited more than 12 years for justice. At first, she lodged her claim directly with the Road Accident Fund (RAF). Nothing came of it, and the fund later told her the claims had expired. Seven years later, an attorney took up her case, resulting in a judge recently ordering that she receive more than R8-million from the RAF. Long-Term Impact of Severe Accident Injuries Molala sustained a severe head injury with facial scarring that resulted in mood disturbances, memory and concentration difficulty, personality and behavioural changes as a result of her injuries. She was at the time hospitalised for more than a month. Shortly after
Personal Injury Specialist Attorney Wins Industry Award
DURBAN, 20 June 2019 – Media Release by LexisNexis Pretoria based attorney, Gert Nel of independent law firm, Gert Nel Inc, recently scooped the 2018 LexisNexis Prize for Legal Practitioners for the best article by a practising attorney published in De Rebus, the official journal of the attorneys profession. His winning article, Decoding s 2(1)(a) and (b) of the Contingency Fees Act, was published in the June 2018 edition of De Rebus. It focused on several issues, including the origin of contingency fees, foreign law, incentives for legal practitioners, the reasonability of fees and how the fees should be calculated. Nel said he wrote the article to serve as a reference and a practical guideline to be used by any practitioner engaging clients on a contingency fees basis. “The correct interpretation of Section 2(1)(a) and (b) of the Contingency Fees Act 66 of 1997 (CFA) has always been a contentious