Case Law[2023] ZAGPPHC 746South Africa
Road Accident Fund v Sheriff of the High Court, Pretoria East and Others (028726/2022) [2023] ZAGPPHC 746 (28 August 2023)
Headnotes
Summary: Practice- Warrants of Execution – Suspension of warrants of execution and attachments- whether writs and attachments should be suspended pending the verification process of the identity numbers of the claimants and/or applications for rescission by the applicant, either in terms of Rule 45A of The Uniform Rules of Court or the common law or section 173 of The Constitution, 1996.
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## Road Accident Fund v Sheriff of the High Court, Pretoria East and Others (028726/2022) [2023] ZAGPPHC 746 (28 August 2023)
Road Accident Fund v Sheriff of the High Court, Pretoria East and Others (028726/2022) [2023] ZAGPPHC 746 (28 August 2023)
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sino date 28 August 2023
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH
AFRICA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF
SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG DIVISION,
PRETORIA
Case no: 028726-2022
REPORTABLE: YES/
NO
OF
INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: YES/
NO
REVISED
DATE:
28/08/23
In
the matter between:
THE
ROAD ACCIDENT FUND
Applicant
And
THE
SHERIFF OF THE HIGH COURT, PRETORIA EAST
First
Respondent
NEWNET
PROPERTIES (PTY) LTD
t/a
SUNSHINE HOSPITAL
Second
Respondent
THE
PARTIES CITED IN ANNEXURE “A”
Third
Respondent
THE
PARTIES CITED IN ANNEXURE “B”
Fourth
Respondent
THE
PARTIES CITED IN ANNEXURE “C”
Fifth
Respondent
THE
SHERIFF, CENTURION EAST
Sixth
Respondent
Summary:
Practice- Warrants of Execution –
Suspension of warrants of execution and attachments- whether writs
and attachments should
be suspended pending the verification process
of the identity numbers of the claimants and/or applications for
rescission by the
applicant, either in terms of Rule 45A of The
Uniform Rules of Court or the common law or section 173 of The
Constitution, 1996.
JUDGMENT
BAQWA J
Introduction
[1]
This matter was launched as an urgent application which was heard on
18 April 2023. The Respondents
opposed the application on the basis
of lack of urgency. After considering the matter, the application was
struck from the roll
for lack of urgency.
The Parties
[2]
The applicant is The Road Accident Fund (RAF), an entity established
in terms of Section 2(1)
of the Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996
(RAF Act).
[3]
The First Respondent is the Sheriff of the High Court, Pretoria East
cited in these proceedings
in his official capacity as the Sheriff
performing the functions assigned in terms of Section 3 of The
Sheriff’s Act.
[4]
The Second Respondent is Sunshine Hospital and the Third Respondents
are the parties listed in
Annexure ‘A’ to the Notice of
Motion.
[5]
The Fourth and Fifth Respondents are the parties listed in Annexures
‘B’ and ‘C’
respectively to the Notice of
Motion.
[6]
The Sixth respondent is the Sheriff of Centurion East cited in these
proceedings in his official
capacity as the Sheriff performing the
functions assigned in terms of section 3 of The Sheriff’s Act.
[7]
Service of the application was effected on the Third to Fifth
Respondents’ Attorneys via
email.
The Relief Sought
[8]
The applicant seeks an order as follows:
8.1. To
suspend the operation and execution of court orders and writs of
execution issued pursuant thereto.
8.2. To
stay the operation of writs of execution referred to above.
8.3. To
direct all respondents to furnish RAF with identity numbers of all
injured persons in support of their
claims within 5 days of the date
of the order.
8.4. To
direct all respondents to furnish RAF with accident report forms for
those claims where no such forms
were submitted within 5 days from
the date of order.
8.5.
Ordering that the interdict and staying of the operation of the writs
referred to above shall operate as
interim relief pending RAF’s
institution of a rescission application, if applicable, alternatively
for a declaratory order
within 30 days from the date on which the
respondents have delivered the identity documents.
8.6.
Costs of the application against any party who opposes the
application.
Background
[9]
A third party supplier has a right to claim from RAF where it has
incurred costs in respect of
accommodation, services rendered goods
supplied to him or herself or any other person if such party complies
with the provisions
of Section 24 of the RAF Act.
[10]
However RAF’s liability to pay is limited to loss or damage
wrongfully caused by the driving of motor
vehicles.
[11]
A supplier claim complies with the RAF Act if it is proved that:
11.1. The
party who received goods or services from the supplier was injured in
a motor vehicle accident as contemplated
in the RAF Act;
11.2. The supplier
fully complied with the relevant provisions of the RAF Act such as
Section 24 regarding the completion
and lodging of the prescribed
claim form (Form 2).
[12]
The Applicant submits that supplier claims have been subject to abuse
resulting in financial risks to RAF,
and amplifies the submission as
follows:
[13]
Firstly, the supplier claims have been fraudulently lodged by
suppliers for services provided to people who
have not sustained
injuries in motor vehicle accidents but by other means such as
assault.
[14]
Secondly, in some cases both the suppliers and the injured party have
claimed the costs for the goods or
services rendered, resulting in a
duplication of payments. This could only be detected if a full record
of the injured party is
recorded by the supplier.
[15]
Section 4 of RAF’s supplier claim Form (Form 2) requires the
claimant supplier to provide details of
the accident, including the
date, time, place of the accident, SAPS reference number and the
Accident Report number together with
a copy of the accident report.
This information is utilised to mitigate the risk, for example, where
a claim may be for services
unrelated to a motor vehicle accident.
[16]
The double payment risk is mitigated through section 5 of RAF’s
supplier claim form which requires
a supplier to provide details of
the injured person’s or deceased’s details together with
a copy of the injured/deceased’s
identity documents, or if
applicable, a copy of the deceased’s death certificate, inquest
record or charge sheet. This is
intended to ascertain whether the
injured/deceased falls within the ambit of the RAF Act and avoid a
duplication of claims.
[17]
RAF argues that it is not obliged to compensate claimants in
circumstances where a supplier fails and /or
refuses to submit all
statements and documents relating to the motor vehicle accident that
gave rise to the claim concerned within
a reasonable period after
having come in possession thereof.
The Sale in execution
[18]
Approximately 400 writs were issued by the respondents for the
attachment of RAF’s movable assets in
satisfaction of various
judgments in respect of supplier claims.
[19]
RAF contends that according to its records the supplier claims did
not comply with Section 24 of the Act
in that they were not
accompanied by identity documents.
[20] To
illustrate the point they refer to claims linked to the writs issued
on behalf of Swift EMS Private Ambulance
service in respect of goods
or services rendered to PP Quomome, B Mass P Choba (under case number
15682/20, 16348/20 and 17174/20
respectively) which were submitted
without identity number or documents.
[21]
The claims linked to the writs of Dr Johan Schutte and Associates in
respect of goods or services rendered
to, inter alia, T Mogakane, S
Mafuyeka, J Marais and L Du Preez (under case number 3005/21,
3300/21, 3357/21 and 3296/21) respectively
were submitted without
identity numbers or documents.
[22]
The respondents have been served with a complete schedule of the
judgments and writs issued by Podbielski
Attorneys regarding
non-compliant supplier claims where identity numbers or identity
documents are outstanding.
[23]
Several attempts to engage Podbielski Attorneys to try and resolve
the matter have been unsuccessful. The
respondents have failed and/or
refused to furnish the information requested even when requested by
applicants’ attorneys
of record, Malatji and Co.
Risk Mitigation by RAF
[24]
The RAF has implemented steps to mitigate the risk posed by improper
or fraudulent claims in order to ensure
the claims are valid prior to
processing payments. RAF contends that it is imperative to have the
identity documents in order to
relate the data back to the accident
and confirm that the services were rendered to a person injured in a
motor vehicle accident.
[25] In
order to avoid litigation RAF recorded through their letter, their
willingness to pay the claimed funds
into a trust investment account
as guarantee of payment upon submission of an identity document or
identity number and proposed
the suspension of the sale in execution
pending the completion of that process.
[26]
Podbielski Attorneys responded on the same day to the effect that
‘RAF’s directive did not correlate
with legislation and
is applied [too] retrospectively’. Whilst the precise meaning
of the response was not very clear it
was clear that RAF’s
request was not accepted. The letter went on to record that the
respondents had obtained judgments in
the matters and intended to
proceed with the sale in execution.
[27]
RAF branches continued to engage with the attorneys for various
suppliers from 6 March 2023 to 23 March 2023
to try and obtain the
outstanding information and documents but the attempts were
unsuccessful, hence this application.
Respondent’s
defences
[28]
The respondents raise the following defences against this
application:
28.1. The
application constitutes an abuse of the process of this court.
28.2. The relief
sought is incompetent in that RAF is precluded from requesting the
relief on the basis of the principle
of pre-emption.
28.3. The
amounts claimed are due and payable following judgments granted by
competent courts.
28.4.
Respondents plead non-joinder alternatively a non-service of the
application on a large number of respondents.
28.5. The respondents
dispute that the applicant has satisfied the requirements for an
interdict, namely
prima facie
right or that a reasonable
apprehension of harm exist. They also deny that the balance of
convenience favours RAF and that RAF
has no alternative remedy.
The Law
[29]
Rule 45A of the Uniform Rules of Court provides that:
“
The
Court may suspend the execution of any order for such period as it
may deem fit.”
[30]
In
Van
Rensburg NO and Another v Naidoo NO, Naidoo NO v Van Rensburg NO
[1]
the court held as follows:
“
Apart
from the provisions of Uniform Rule 45A a court has inherent
jurisdiction, in appropriate circumstances, to order a stay of
execution or to suspend an order. It might, not for example, stay a
sale in execution or suspend an ejectment order. Such discretion
must
be exercised judicially. As a general rule, a court will only do so
where injustice will otherwise ensue.”
“
A
court will grant a stay of execution in terms of Uniform Rule 45A
where the underlying causa of a judgment debt is being disputed,
or
no longer exists, or when an attempt is made to use the levying of
execution for ulterior purposes. As a general rule, courts
acting in
terms of this rule will suspend the execution of an order where real
and substantial justice compels such action.”
[2]
[31]
In
Road
Accident Fund v Legal Practice Council
,
[3]
the issue was whether writs and attachments could be suspended. After
considering all the evidence the court found that the requirements
for an interdict had been satisfied and it ordered the stay of the
writ of attachment.
[4]
Sections 3, 17 and 24
of the RAF Act
[32]
RAF’s liability to make payment of compensation is limited
under the Act to loss or damage wrongfully
caused by the driving of
motor vehicles.
[33]
Section 17(5) of the Act entitles third party suppliers to claim from
RAF in circumstances where such supplier
has incurred costs in
respect of accommodation, services rendered or goods supplied him or
herself or to any other person, provided
that such party complies
with the provisions of section 24 of the Act.
[34]
Section 24(5) of the Act provides that “if the Fund or the
agent does not, within 60 days from the
date on which a claim was
sent by registered post or delivered by hand to the fund or such
agent as contemplated in subsection
(1) object to the validity
thereof, the claim shall be deemed to valid in law in all respects.”
[35]
In the matter of
Road
Accident Fund v Busuku
[5]
Eksteen AJA held at paragraph 6 that:
“
The
provisions of the Act must be interpreted as extensively as possible
in favour of third party in order to afford then the widest
possible
protection. On the other hand, courts should be alive to the fact
that the fund relies entirely on the fiscus for its
funding and they
should be astute to protect it against illegitimate or fraudulent
claims.”
[36]
In the
Pretorius
v Road Accident Fund
[6]
at paragraph 8 the RAF 1 Form omitted the name of the person who the
doctor examined. Sutherland J (as he then was) stated in this
regard
that:
“
8.
What is required is not formal mechanical compliance but substantial
compliance.”
[37]
Sutherland J elaborated further as follows:
“
Thus,
a court of first instance is required to enquire into whether, as a
fact, the RAF has been prejudiced by the omission of information
in
the RAF 1 Form, in the sense of being denied information it properly
requires to assess whether or not it is at risk of liability.
Where
the hospital records are provided with the RAF 1 Form, it is
incumbent on the RAF to read such documentation together with
the RAF
1 Form. A reading of those documents would have revealed that the
examination results recorded in the RAF 1 Form correlate
with the
medical records.”
Non-joinder objection
[38]
The respondents have raised a non-joinder objection, alternatively, a
non-service of the application on all
interested parties. Notably,
however, the second and third respondent fail to identify the party
or parties who have a direct interest
and who have not been joined to
the proceedings.
[39]
The test for joinder of parties is set out in
ABSA
Bank Ltd v Naude NO
[7]
is as follows:
“
The
test whether there has been non-joinder is whether a party has a
direct and substantial interest in the subject matter of the
litigation which may prejudice the party that has not been joined.”
[40] In
the present application it would appear as if all the parties with
supplier claims which RAF wishes to
interdict have been cited as it
has confined itself to the parties listed in the Sheriff’s
auction list.
[41]
More specifically, the first and sixth respondent have been cited in
their capacities as the Sheriffs who
hold RAF’s movable assets
under attachment.
[42]
The second respondent has been cited as a party which is listed in
the Sheriff’s auction list as having
instructed the Sheriff to
attach RAF’s movable assets.
[43]
The third respondents are listed in Annexure “A” which
was compiled with reference to the Sheriff’s
auction list which
lists the entities represented by Podbelski Attorneys who have been
corresponded with RAF on behalf of the respondents
regarding the
writs.
[44] It
does not seem therefore, that there is any merit in the non-joinder
objection by the respondents. Equally,
the application was served and
received by Podbelski who are on record as the second and the third
respondent’s attorneys
of record who have fully participated in
these proceedings. The non-service objection is therefore also not
sustainable due to
the service of the application on the respondents
in accordance with the provisions of Rule 4(aA) of the Uniform Rules
of Court
which states:
“
(aA)
where the person to be served with any document initiating
application proceeding is already represented by an attorney of
record, such document may be served upon such attorney by the party
initiating such proceedings.”
[45]
The second and third respondents also contend that the relief sought
is not competent and that it constitutes
an abuse of process due to
the fact that the writs were issued pursuant to orders granted by
consent or by default. They also contend
that RAF is precluded from
obtaining relief by the principle of peremption.
Analysis
[46] It
is common cause that some of the orders which resulted in the issuing
of the writs in question were granted
by default or by consent.
[47] It
is also not in dispute that RAF is an organ of state, established in
terms of section 2 of the Act and
that it has to adhere to the
principles governing public administration under the Constitution
which requires in section 195(1)
that “[e]fficient, economic
and effective use of resources must be promoted.”
Orders
granted by consent are not impervious to judicial scrutiny and this
court has an inherent power to regulate its own process
by staying or
interdicting execution of writs pending the delivery of documents and
information sought in terms of section 173
of the Constitution in
line with the values enunciated in section 195 of the Constitution.
See
Maswangayi
obo Machimane v Road Accident Fund.
[8]
Default judgments
erroneously granted
[48]
RAF’s explanation regarding its non-participation in
proceedings prior to the judgments by default
was due to a legal
dispute between itself and erstwhile members of its panel of
attorneys who refused to hand over the relevant
files until the
outstanding accounts were settled. As a result, RAF had been unable
to establish the status of a number of its
ongoing matters, hence its
belated discovery that there were non-compliance issues in those
matters.
Peremption
[49]
The second and third respondents rely on the doctrine of peremption
regarding matters in which there was
partial or full compliance with
the orders in favour of the second to the fifth respondents.
[50]
RAF contends that the partial compliance was due to poor internal
controls within its administration which
had since been strengthened
through, inter alia, auditing all supplier claims. That process had
revealed that the respondents had
potentially failed to comply with
the RAF Act in material respects.
[51]
The approach to peremption is to consider whether
there are overriding policy considerations which militate
against the
enforcement of the doctrine. The enforcement of the doctrine is not
absolute, and this view was endorsed by the court
in
Oppressed
ACSA Minority 1 (Pty) Ltd and Another v Government of the Republic of
South Africa and Other.
[9]
[52] In
this application, such overriding policy considerations (so RAF
argues) are that public funds ought not
to be disbursed where there
is a potential that the recipient of such funds may have obtained the
court orders by consent or default
(both on account of governance
failures and lapses) and without having established RAF’s
statutory liability for same.
[53]
Were this court to find that the claims on which the writs are based
are non-compliant with sections 17 and
24 of the Act that would
constitute a material non-compliance with the Act.
[54]
The respondents contend that RAF is prohibited from pursuing this
application given that it failed to object
to the claims within the
60 days prescribed in section 24(5) of the RAF Act.
[55]
Whist on the face of it, the respondents’ contention might
appear to be a valid one, it overlooks RAF’s
reliance on the
fiscus for its funding and the obligation to protect against the
disbursement of public funds where the claims
are unverified or
unverifiable. In such cases, a claimant would be unable to rely on
section 24(5) for non-compliance with the
RAF Act. From the
records RAF presently holds, it contends that the respondents have
failed to substantially comply with
the substantive requirements upon
lodging their claims.
Is RAF refusing to pay
the supplier claims
[56]
One of the issues to be decided by this court is whether RAF is
refusing to pay the supplier claims or whether
it merely seeks to
verify that the correct claimants are paid.
[57]
RAF has requested the second, third and fifth respondents to provide
it with the identifying numbers of the
road accident victims to
enable it to reconcile a suppler claim to a claimant’s case in
order to discharge its obligations
in terms of the legal prescripts
such as Constitution (Section 195), PFMA (Section 50 and 51) and the
Public Audit Act.
[58]
This application does not seek the setting aside of the various
orders and writs but merely seeks a temporary
halt to the sale in
execution of RAF’s movable assets (in circumstances where
security has been provided) pending the completion
of the
verification exercise.
Interim interdict
requirements
[59] In
order to succeed, RAF ought to satisfy this court that the
requirements to obtain an interdict have been
met, namely:
59.1.
prima facie right to the relief sought;
59.2. a well-grounded
apprehension of irreparable harm if the interim relief is not
granted;
59.3. the
balance of convenience favours the granting of the interim relief;
and
59.4. the
applicant has no alternative remedy.
[60]
RAF has a prima facie right as custodian of public funds to protect
those funds which it obtains through
a Road Accident Fund levy as
provided for in the Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1964 and through
raising loans. RAF is also enjoined
to protect and manage the
fruitless, irregular and wasteful expenditure as provided for in the
Public Finance Management Act (PFMA)
which requires that funds ought
not to be disbursed where a supplier has not met the section 24
requirements of the RAF Act including
exercising caution where this
may be the case.
[61] In
terms of sections 50 and 51 of the PFMA RAF’s accounting
authority must inter alia:
61.1. exercise the duty
of utmost care to ensure reasonable protection of its assets and to
act in the best interests of RAF in
the management of its affairs.
61.2. take effective and
appropriate steps to prevent irregular expenditure, fruitless and
wasteful expenditure, losses resulting
from criminal conduct and
expenditure not complying with the operational policies of RAF; and
manage available working capital
efficiently and economically;
61.3. safeguard the
assets an ensure proper management of RAF’s revenue,
expenditure and liabilities.
Irreparable harm
[62]
RAF contends that the potential irreparable harm is likely to be
suffered not only by it but by also by the
public and fiscus and that
the harm would manifest as follows:
62.1.The Sheriffs
inventory for the scheduled sale in execution lists assets which RAF
relies upon to execute its day -to-day duties.
In the event of the
assets being sold in execution, RAF would be disabled from performing
its duties to those members of the community
who are involved in road
accidents throughout South Africa.
62.2. The assets are
likely to be sold at a loss for an insignificant value and RAF would
be expected to pay the shortfall. Additionally,
it would still have
to incur further expenses to replace the assets sold in execution.
62.3. If RAF were to pay
the funds to the respondent’s attorneys of record and it later
emerges that some of the supplier’s
claims did not comply with
section 24 and RAF was thereafter able to successfully rescind the
underlying orders or judgments, RAF
would be put through the time and
expense of recovering the disbursed funds with no guarantee of
recoverability.
Balance of convenience
[63]
The effect of interdicting the sale in execution can only be that of
a temporary delay which is unlikely
to cause the respondents
irreparable harm or any harm at all. On the other hand, a sale in
execution would potentially have devastating
consequences not only
for RAF but also for millions people who are totally reliant on it
when they get involved in accidents.
Alternative remedy
[64] As
alluded to above RAF made several attempts to engage the respondents
and their legal representatives to
no avail. It has also undertaken
to hold the funds in trust and make payments as soon as the claim is
verified.
[65]
Given the numerous attempts to try and resolve the matter without
litigation it would seem that RAF was
left with no alternative but to
seek an interdict to enable it to complete the verification process
in order to settle the claims
or determine whether or not to rescind
the various judgments.
Stay Application
[66]
Uniform Rule 45A provides:
“
The
court may, on application, suspend the operation and execution of any
order for such period as it may deem fit: provided that
in the case
of appeal, such suspension is in compliance with section 18 of the
Act.”
[67]
Concurrent with the provisions of Rule 45A this court has an inherent
discretion to order a stay of execution
in terms of the common law.
See
Road
Accident Funds v Legal Practice Council.
[10]
[68]
In
Gois
t/a Shakespeare’s Pub v Van Zyl
[11]
the court summarised the general principles for the granting of a
stay in execution as follows:
“
(a)
A court will grant a stay of execution where real and substantial
justice requires it or where injustice requires it or where
injustice
would otherwise result.
(b) The court will
be guided by considering the factors usually applicable to interim
interdicts, except where the applicant
is not asserting a right, but
attempting to avert injustice.
(c) The court must
be satisfied that:
(i)
The applicant has a well-grounded apprehension that the execution is
taking place at the instance
of the respondent(s); and
(ii)
irreparable harm will result if execution is not stayed and the
applicant succeeds in establishing
a clear right.
(d)
irreparable harm will invariably result if there is a possibility
that the underlying causa may
ultimately be removed, i.e. where the
underlying causa is the subject matter of an ongoing dispute between
the parties.
(e)
The court is not concerned with the merits of the underlying dispute-
the sole enquiry is simply
whether the causa is in dispute.”
[69] It
cannot be disputed that the respondents are entitled to enforce the
judgments obtained against RAF but
in my view the applicant is
entitled to verify the claims by ensuring that the identity of the
persons to whom services were rendered
are the correct ones and that
their injuries arose out of motor vehicle accidents.
[70]
This court is empowered in terms of section 173 of the Constitution
to stay execution of it is in the interest
of justice to do so. In
Road
Accident Fund v Legal Practice Council
[12]
section 173 was invoked to stay execution where the full court held
as a general rule that the court will grant a stay of execution
where
real and substantial justice requires real and substantial justice
requires such a stay or, put differently where injustice
would
otherwise be done.
[71]
It has also been held that a court will grant a stay of execution
where the underlying causa of the judgment
debt is being disputed or
no longer exists, or when an attempt is made to use the machinery
relating to the levying of execution
for ulterior purposes. See
Bestbier
v Jackson.
[13]
[72]
The respondents have to put up a strenuous opposition to this
application despite the attempts by the applicant
to persuade them
that they merely desire to verify the claims and that upon failure to
do so it would apply for rescission of the
judgments.
[73]
The requirements for an enforceable claim are that it must be proven
that the claim results from a motor
vehicle accident and the supplier
has fully complied with the provisions of the RAF Act. The fact that
an order was granted by
consent or default does not exclude RAF’s
validation process at payment stage which is what this application is
all about
and it is concerning that the respondents are not willing
to participate or co-operate in that validation process.
[74] In
the letter of Malatji & Co (RAF’s Attorneys) addressed to
Podbielski Mahlambi on 27 February
2023 (paragraph 5 & 6). The
following was stated:
“
5.
There are currently a number of supplier claims being executed by you
where there is no ID document to enable our client to positively
identify the persons who received the treatment as a person in fact
injured in a motor vehicle accident. Our client is willing
to pay the
funds into a trust investment as a guarantee of payment on submission
of an ID document and/or ID number to positively
link the services to
a claimant.
6. We kindly enquire
whether the above will satisfy your requirements to halt execution
pending the matters being processed as ID
documents/number are
submitted to our client.”
[75]
Podbelski responded as follows:
“…
3. The
RAF’s directive does not correlate with legislation and is
applied retrospectively. We wish to confirm
that we have
obtained judgment on the abovementioned matters…”
[76] It
cannot be disputed that the request for an identify number or
document is consistent with what is required
under legislation and
for substantial compliance with the RAF Form. The fact that there is
a judgment or settlement does not imply
that RAF must effect payments
without verifying the amounts and allocating them to the relevant
claims.
[77]
RAF has a statutory obligation to protect public funds from being
spent fruitlessly, irregularly or wastefully
in terms of the PFMA
which would include payments of claims which RAF is not statutorily
obliged to pay. For this court to compel
RAF to do so would be
tantamount to enforcing an illegality.
Conclusion
[78]
Having considered all of the above, I am satisfied that the applicant
has proved that it has prima facie
right to protect the funds that it
administers in terms of the relevant legislation and that the sale in
execution of RAF’s
movable assets in the current circumstances
would cause severe irreparable harm on RAF’s operations, the
public and the fiscus.
I find the respondents’ response
regarding their failure to co-operate in the validation process to be
unsatisfactory and
unconvincing.
I also
find that the balance of convenience favours the granting of an
interdict pending an interrogation of the respondents’
claim
after which the claims will be processed for payment or rescinded by
RAF. In the result, I make the following order:
ORDER
1.
The second and third respondents’
legal representtives are directed to provide the first respondent
(i.e. the Sheriff) and
the applicant (i.e. the RAF) with all the
identity numbers of the injured persons (i.e. the claimants) in the
matters listed in
annexure “FA8” of the applicant’s
founding affidavit (attached as annexure “A” hereto),
annexure
“WN2” of the second and third respondents’
answering affidavit (attached as annexure “B” hereto) and
annexures “RA1” to “RA2” of the applicant’s
replying affidavit (attached as annexures “C1”
and “C2”
hereto).
2.
The fifth respondent’s legal
representative is directed to provide the applicant with the identity
number of the claimant
identified in annexure “C” to the
applicant’s notice of motion (i.e. ZE Nomanyana).
3.
The second, third and fifth respondent’s
legal representives are directed to furnish the first resondent and
the applicant
with such identity numbers within 10 days of this
court’s order.
4.
On receipt of the claimant’s identity
numbers as set out in pragraph 3 above, the applicant is hereby
directed to reconcile
the respective supplier claims against the
identity numbers provided. Upon the applicant’s completion of
the audit and reconciliation
process, which must be finalised within
5 days of receipt of the informationn in paragraph 3 above, the
applicant’s legal
representatives are directed to send the
reconciled report to the Sheriff, who is hereby authorised and
directed to remit the outstanding
amounts in respect of the supplier
claims (against the respective claimants files) into the respective
trust accounts of the second,
third and fifth respondent’s
legal reprsentatives, within 5 days of receipt of the reconciliation
report.
5.
Until the process in paragraph 1 to 4 above
is finalised, the operation of the writs issued `by the second, third
and fifth respondents
is stayed and Sheriff is hereby interdicted and
restrained from proceeding with the sale in execution of the
applicant’s
movable property or disposing of such movable
property which is under the attachment in terms of the writs listed
in annexure “RA1”.
6.
7.
It is ordered that prayer 5 above shall
operate as interim relief, pending the finalisation of the processes
listed 1 to 4 (where
applicable), or the RAF’s institution of a
rescission application, alternatively, an application for appropriate
declaratory
relief within 20 days from the date on which the
respondents have delivered the identity documents.
8.
The order in paragraph 5 shall remain in
enforce for all such matters where a rescission application or
declaratory application
has been issued within the time period
stipulated in paragraph 6 above.
9.
The second and third respondents are
directed to pay the costs of the application including the costs of
two Counsel, one of whom
is Senior Counsel.
SELBY BAQWA
JUDGE OF THE HIGH
COURT, PRETORIA
Date
of hearing:
5
June 2023
Date
of Judgment:
28
August 2023
APPEARANCES:
Counsel
for the Applicant:
Advocate
M Rip SC
Advocate
R Tshetlo
Advocate
Z Ngakane
Instructing
Attorneys:
Malatji
& Co
Counsel
for the Second and Third Respondents:
Advocate
J.G Cilliers SC
Advocate
M van Rooyen
Instructing
Attorneys:
Podbielski
Mahlambi
[1]
[2010]
ZASCA 68
,
[2010] 4 ALL SA 398
(SCA),
2011 (4) SA 149
(SCA).
[2]
Id
at para 52.
[3]
2021
ZAGPPHC 173, [2021] 2 ALL SA 886 (GP); 2021 (6) SA 230 (GP).
[4]
Id
at para 2.
[5]
2000
ZASCA 158
(1 December 2020).
[6]
(35303/2028) [2018] ZAGPJHC 293 (26 August 2019).
[7]
[2015] ZASCA 97
at 12.
[8]
(1175/2017)
[2019] ZASCA 97
(18 June 2019 at [33]).
[9]
(Case no.898/2020)
[2022] ZASCA 50
(11 April 2022) at para. 22.
[10]
2021 (6) SA 230
(GP) para [31] to [32], Brothers Property holdings
(Pty) Ltd v Dansalot Trading (Pty) Ltd t/a Chinese fair (unreported
wcc case
no 6149/2021) (1 September 2021) [40].
[11]
2011
(1) SA 148
(LC) at 155H-156B.
[12]
Id
at para 33.
[13]
1986
(3) SA 482
(W) at 484G-485C; Brummer v Gorfil Brothers Investments
(Pty) Ltd
1999 (3) SA 389
(SCA) at 418 E -G; Road Accident Fund v
Strydom
2001 (1) SA 292
(C) at 300B.
sino noindex
make_database footer start
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