Johannesburg - The Road Accident Fund (RAF) acknowledges that at times its litigation management has been “sub-optimal”, but it is working hard to improve the way it handles claims.
This is according to chief executive officer of the RAF, Dr Eugene Watson, in response to criticism against the fund last week by an acting judge in the high court in Pretoria.
Judge Brenda Neukircher, in awarding R1.2 million in damages to a rural woman who was run down by a car, gave the RAF a tongue lashing for, among others, offering defences to claims which are “carbon copies” of each other.
She also pointed out that, in many cases, the RAF persisted in opposing clear-cut cases, prolonging the matters (sometimes for years) and incurring wasted legal expenditure, only to concede the merits on the day the trial was due to go ahead.
The judge added that the “complete lack of thought” that went into holding pre-trial conferences was a big source of frustration. These meetings were held prior to a trial to try to streamline the upcoming trial.
Watson responded in a media statement, saying that “cognisant of an unfortunate legacy of sub-optimal performance, the RAF has worked tirelessly to improve its claim and litigation workflows to reduce the turnaround times and cost of claim settlements”.
Watson said measures had been introduced to improve litigation management and court performance.
Pretoria News