Various stakeholders in the legal fraternity are pleading for urgent intervention to get the Road Accident Fund’s (RAF) wheels to turn again.
In a letter to the government and the RAF, they described the situation at the RAF as a “state of emergency”.
Organisations such as the Pretoria and Johannesburg Attorneys Associations, in no uncertain terms, said there was a crisis at the RAF, and that the letter served as an outcry from road accident victims who were mostly left at the mercy of what they call a dysfunctional entity.
They also pointed out that the current state of affairs is crippling the judiciary, as judges simply could not cope with the volumes of RAF matters.
The legal fraternity highlighted the fact that the chairperson of Parliament’s Scopa recently labelled the RAF “a national disaster”.
They also quoted Mpumalanga Judge Francis Legodi, who, in a recent judgment, together with two other judges, raised concerns regarding the fund’s ability to function.
The judges quoted some of the fund’s claims handlers, who described the RAF as “a bus that has no direction”. The judges, at the time, commented that the “chaotic situation was created by the management steered by the fund’s CEO, Collins Letsoalo, and the board.
In the letter, which was also sent to the RAF, the lawyers painted a bleak picture as they set out in detail how the disbandment of the RAF’s panel of attorneys and the fund’s insistence that all case files must be handed back to them had backfired.
This means that thousands of judgments are made without any proper case made out by the RAF, as no one is there to present their side.
Often the judges have to jump in to act as custodian of the public finds. They also said that when it comes to paying, the fund often applies to have the judgments overturned.
In some cases of non-payment, attorneys obtain writs of execution against the RAF, which means that the latter’s assets are attached in a bid to obtain payment. This, in turn, leaves staff without computers or even desks.
No payments of RAF claims after the promised 180 days; a lack of staff to deal with the thousands of claims as many are on suspension; and non-functioning customer care lines are also some of the problems highlighted.
The lawyers called on the fund not to blame the legal fraternity for its problems as it said that they have been working on behalf of the claimants and the fund at this stage.
They said the solutions are quite simple, starting with the RAF electing a new, functional board.
According to the legal fraternity, a new “qualified” CEO should also be appointed in the place of Letsoalo to deal with RAF matters at grass root level and also as manager. They also suggest appointing “qualified” claims handlers and administrative staff to deal with all the claims and to ensure that business basics are in place.
According to the legal fraternity, the panel of attorneys should be brought on board again.
In addition, enough state attorneys should be appointed to deal with matters if they end up in court, the legal fraternity says.
The creation of a special RAF court in Pretoria to deal with these matters would also go a long way in addressing the backlogs, they said.
The Pretoria News did ask the RAF for its comments regarding the letter, but at the time of publishing, no response had been received.
Pretoria News