Case Law[2022] ZAGPPHC 571South Africa
Mogale v Road Accident Fund (21180/18) [2022] ZAGPPHC 571 (1 August 2022)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria)
1 August 2022
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## Mogale v Road Accident Fund (21180/18) [2022] ZAGPPHC 571 (1 August 2022)
Mogale v Road Accident Fund (21180/18) [2022] ZAGPPHC 571 (1 August 2022)
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sino date 1 August 2022
IN THE HIGH COURT OF
SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG DIVISION,
PRETORIA
CASE NO: 21180/18
REPORTABLE: NO
OF INTEREST TO OTHER
JUDGES: NO
REVISED:
1 August 2022
In the matter between:
MOGALE
SHALATE GLADYS
Plaintiff
And
THE
ROAD ACCIDENT FUND
Defendant
JUDGMENT
FLATELA A.J
[1]
The matter served before me on 29 October
2021 for the determination of quantum in respect of general damages
and loss of earnings.
The plaintiff seeks judgement by default
against the Road Accident Fund (the
Defendant) following an order by Davis J on 18 October 2021.
[2]
Liability was settled at 100% in favour of
the plaintiff. The defendant was ordered to pay 100% of the
plaintiff’s proven
damages by Molopa ADJP on 30 October 2019.
The future medical and hospital expenses was also settled in that
Molopa ADJ ordered
the defendant to deliver to the plaintiff within a
reasonable time an undertaking a certificate in terms of s 17(4) (a)
of the
Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996 (the Act).
[3]
The only issues which remained for
determination was general damages and loss of earnings.
Plaintiff’s
Pleadings
[4]
The plaintiff instituted an action for
damages arising from a vehicle collision which occurred on 30
December 2016 on Emily Street,
Pretoria North, when an insured motor
vehicle with registration BX82 GP driven by Nyeleti Charlotte
Rivombo, (The insured driver)
collided with her whilst a pedestrian
whilst walking towards her vehicle which was parked in the street.
She was 61 years of age and retired at the
time of accident.
[5]
Plaintiff was taken
by ambulance to the Netcare Akasia Hospital in
Pretoria where she
was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit for three days.
It
appears from medical records filed that Plaintiff’s Glycol Coma
Scale (GCS) reading was 15/15.
X-rays
and a CT scan of her brain were processed. She was treated
conservatively. Her right foot was reduced under local anesthetic.
Plastic of Paris was also applied to her right foot and she was
discharged on the fourth day of her admission on 2 January 2017.
[6]
As a result of the collision, the Plaintiff
sustained injuries:
6.1
Head Injury;
6.2
tissue injury to face;
6.3
Multiple abrasions to upper limbs;
6.4
Soft tissue injury to the right knee
and bruising off right leg;
6.5
Soft injury to the right hip;
6.6
Soft injury tissue injury to the
neck;
6.7
Abrasions to the right arm, right
hand and left hand.
[7]
In
her particulars of claim the alleges that the injuries sustained by
her are
SERIOUS
INJURIES
as is contemplated in sec (17) of the Act together with regulation 3
of the Regulations under the Act;
[1]
[8]
The
plaintiff alleges further that a Serious injury (RA4) as contemplated
in Regulation 3 of the Act will be completed by a Medical
Practitioner registered in terms of the Health Professions Act (Act
56 of 1974) and submitted to the Defendant in due course
[2]
.
The allegations remained the same as at the date of trial.
[9]
In
the heads of argument, it
was
submitted that the plaintiff qualifies for general damages. I was
referred to RAF 4 reports of Drs TJ Enslin and Dr JPM Pienaar.
[3]
The reports by an Independent Medical Practitioner and Plastic and
Reconstructive surgery confirmed that the plaintiff’s
injury
falls under a narrative test.
An
amount of R86 384 .00 for past and future loss of earning was claimed
and sum amount of R 600 000.00 is claimed for general
damages.
[10]
At the date of trial there was no
indication as to whether the RAF has accepted or rejected RAF4 forms
and the assessment of the
plaintiff’s injuries.
[11]
Upon consideration of the plaintiff’s
pleadings, it was not clear to me whether the plaintiff had fully
complied with the
procedure set out in regulation 3 of the Act
regarding the serious injury claims or the claims that are deemed as
serious.
[12]
I issued a directive to the plaintiff’s
attorneys to confirm whether the fund has accepted the plaintiff’s
claim as
it is now trite that unless and until the plaintiff has
complied with procedure set out in Regulation 3 of the Act, the court
has
no jurisdiction to entertain the claim for damages.
[13]
In response to my directive the plaintiff’s
attorneys stated that a tender letter from the RAF dated 11 November
2021 confirmed
that general damages
were
not
rejected. A settlement proposal
letter from the plaintiff’s attorneys on the eve of the trial
and the response received after
the trial was annexed to sustain the
claim that the general damages
were not
rejected. The defendant’s official made a tender to pay
R334 139.05 made up of R84 139.05 for loss of earnings
and
R250 000.00 for general damages. I deal with heads of damages
herein below.
General Damages
[14]
The plaintiff relied
on the reports by several experts but a report of Dr HB Enslin is
instructive.
Report
by Dr HB Enslin, Orthopaedic Surgeon, dated 16 March
2020.
[15]
To Dr HB
Enslin, Ms Mogale complained of:
·
Pain present
inside the left knee;
·
Her knee
swells;
·
She uses a
crutch;
·
Inclement
weather, squatting, kneeling and climbing stairs exacerbate
the
symptoms in her left knee;
·
Pain is
present over the metatarsal heads of the left foot;
·
Her sleep is
disturbed by the symptoms in her left foot;
·
Pain is
present over the lower cervical spine four to five times a week;
·
Occipital
headaches are present every morning;
·
Neck stiffness
is present;
·
Muscle spasm
is present in the left and right trapezius muscle;
·
Back pain is
present;
·
She struggles
to turn her neck;
·
Pain is
present over the lateral aspect of the right hip;
·
She limps;
·
Her sleep is
disturbed by pain and discomfort in the right hip;
·
Pain is
present over the 2nd metatarsal bone of the right foot;
·
Pain is
present over the left and right wrists;
·
Her sleep is
disturbed by pain and discomfort in her left and right wrists;
·
Pain is
present over the lower lumbar spine and mid thoracic spine;
·
Stiffness is
constantly present;
·
Her sleep is
disturbed by pain and discomfort in her back.
[16]
It is noted in
the report of Dr HB Enslin that Ms Mogale has not been left with
serious long-term musculoskeletal impairment. She
does not qualify
for non-pecuniary damages (p.20). He deems her WPI at 10%. He also
made the following recommendations:
a)
Allowance be
made for conservative treatment (p.21);
b)
Allowance be
made for the 4% to 5% possibility of a surgical stabilization of the
cervical spine with time off work of 3 months
(p.21)
c)
Allowance be
made for the 4% to 5% possibility of a surgical stabilization of the
lumbar spine with time off work of 4 months (p.21).
d)
Allowance be
made for the 20% to 25% possibility of an arthroscopic debridement of
the left knee with time of work of 3 weeks (p.22).
e)
She should be
evaluated by a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon (p.22)
Report
by Dr TJ Enslin, Independent Medical Examiner, dated
18 March 2020
[17]
Dr TJ Enslin
reports that Plaintiff has suffered the following injuries:
·
She has
suffered permanent serious disfigurement;
·
A head injury
with loss of consciousness;
·
A soft tissue
injury to her cervical spine;
·
A soft tissue
injury to her lumbar spine;
·
A soft tissue
injury to the thoracic spine;
·
A soft tissue
injury to her right hip;
·
A soft tissue
injury to the right wrist;
·
A soft tissue
injury to her left knee;
·
A fracture of
the metatarsal bone of the right food; and
·
A soft tissue
injury to the left foot.
[18]
It is also
noted in the report of Dr TJ Enslin that Ms Mogale has not reached
the 30% Whole Person Impairment (WPI) but qualifies
under the
Narrative Test, which he submits, warrants an award for general
damages (p.8). According to Dr TJ Enslin, Ms Mogale WPI
is
18%. He further recommended that she would benefit from future
conservative
and
possibly surgical treatment.
Report
by Dr JPM Pienaar, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon,
dated 22 October
2020
[19]
It is reported by Dr JPM Pienaar
that Ms. Mogale’s scarring,
and
disfigurement make her self-conscious. It has affected her confidence
and self-esteem and she has become withdrawn (p.2). The
scarring
affects her appearance and dignity, it causes social anxiety and
embarrassment (p.3).
From
a plastic surgery viewpoint, the following scars were noted:
a)
a scar over
her left wrist
f)
a scar In her
right lateral eyebrow that causes distortion of her eyebrow and is
very visible and unsightly
g)
minor abrasion
scars on her legs and arms (p.3)
[20]
He concluded
that from a plastic surgery viewpoint, she will not benefit from scar
revision surgery due to the nature and extent
of her scarring (p.3).
Further reported is that Ms. Mogale has reached Maximum Medical
Improvement but she scores a 9% Whole Person
Impairment rating but
qualifies under the Narrative Test in terms of serious permanent
disfigurement and under paragraph 5.2 qualifies
under general damages
(p.2)
Legal Principles
Applicable
[21]
In
M
S v Road Accident Fund
[4]
Fisher
J neatly summarised the legislative framework and legal principles
regarding general damages as follows:
21.1
For accidents that occurred after 1 August 2008, general damages are
only paid if a serious injury has been sustained, which
is in line
with the RAF Amendment Act
[5]
(the Amendment Act).
T
he Amendment
Act amended the RAF Act to limit the RAF's liability for compensation
in respect of claims for general damages to
instances where a
"serious injury" has been sustained.
[6]
21.2
A medical practitioner has to determine whether or not the
claimant has suffered a serious injury by undertaking an assessment
prescribed in the RAF Regulations. The practitioner performing
the injury assessment has to prepare an RAF 4 report which
deals
with the assessment of the injury in terms of the
American
Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent
Impairment
(
AMA
Guides
). If
the injury is found to have resulted in 30% or more the whole person
impairment (WPI) according to the methodology provided
for in the
AMA
Guides,
the
injury should be assessed as serious.
[7]
21.3
If
the evaluation is that the
30% of WPI cannot be reached, non-patrimonial loss may still be
claimed if the injuries fall within the
“narrative test”,
namely (a) resulting in a serious long-term impairment or loss of a
body function; (b) constituting
permanent serious disfigurement; (c)
resulting in severe long-term mental or severe long-term behavioral
disturbance or disorder;
or (d) resulting in the loss of a foetus. A
plaintiff may use either of the two tests to establish serious injury
and in such a
manner qualify for compensation for non-patrimonial
loss.’
21.4 A
medical practitioner must complete and submit a serious-injury
assessment report on the RAF. If the RAF is not satisfied
that
the injury has been correctly assessed it must reject the
serious-injury assessment report within 60 days and furnish reasons
for the rejection; or direct that the third party submit himself or
herself, at the cost of the Fund, to a further assessment.
Thereafter, the RAF must either accept the further assessment or
dispute the further assessment within 90 days. An Appeal Tribunal,
consisting of three independent medical practitioners, has been
created to hear these disputes.
[8]
[22]
In
RAF v Faria
[9]
the Supreme Court
of Appeal stated the following regarding the amendment Act:
“
The
amendment Act, read together with the Regulations, has introduced two
‘paradigm shifts’ that are relevant to the
determination
of this appeal: (i) general damages may only be awarded for injuries
that have been assessed as ‘serious’
in terms thereof and
(ii) the assessment of injuries as ‘serious’ has been
made an administrative rather than a judicial
decision. In the past,
a joint minute prepared by experts chosen from the contending sides
would ordinarily have been conclusive
in deciding an issue between a
third party and the RAF, including the nature of the third party’s
injuries. This is no longer
the case. The assessment of damages as
‘serious’ is determined administratively in terms of the
prescribed manner and
not by the courts. Past legal practices, like
old habits, sometimes die hard. Understandably, medical
practitioners, lawyers and
judges experienced in the field may have
found it difficult to adjust. As the colloquial expression goes, ‘we
are all on
a learning curve’.
[23]
In this matter the plaintiff’s
experts differ fundamentally on whether the plaintiff qualifies for
narrative test. I doubt
that the Fund has accepted the assessment in
terms of Regulation 3 of the Act.
[24]
Is a tender to settle by the fund after the
trial date a proof that the fund has accepted that the plaintiff’s
injuries has
been correctly assessed?
[25]
Dealing
with this question in special sitting of a Full Bench Easten Cape
Division Maqhutyana and Another v RAF
[10]
Hartley J writing for the court said that:
[123] In my view it would
not be an unreasonable inference to draw in all the circumstances
that in such a scenario the relevant
jurisdictional fact for the
court to adjudicate a claim for general damages in a default judgment
application has been established,
otherwise a court should leave the
resolve of this aspect of the plaintiff’s claim where it
belongs, namely in the administratively
realm, reserving the right of
the plaintiff to pursue it in court again at the appropriate time.
[26]
As at the date of trial there was no tender
of settlement. There was no allegation that the fund had accepted the
assessment of
the plaintiff’s injuries as serious. The said
letters were not part of the pleadings.
[27]
I am of the view that I no jurisdiction to
determine general damages. The determination of the quantum in
respect of general damages
is postpone
sine die.
Loss of Earning
Capacity
[28]
The plaintiff claims an amount of R45 408
for the past loss of income. According to the calculations obtained
from Mr. Greg
Whittaker from Algorithm Consultants &Actuaries the
plaintiff’s loss on the uninjured income is R72 566 .00 and on
injured
is R24 769 minus 5% contingency deduction.
[29]
With regard to loss of future loss of
earnings, the plaintiff contends that her future loss of income on
uninjured income will be
R65 951 and post-accident he will earn
R20 110 subject minus 15% contingency pre-morbid and 25% for the
post-morbid. The estimated
future loss of income is R40 976.00
[30]
The actuary relied on the report of
Industrial Psychologist Ms. R van Zyl dated 22 October 2022. The
assumption is that had the
accident not occurred, Ms Mogale would
have opened a Spaza Shop from 1 March 2017. The Actuary valued the
pre accident earnings
from 1 March 2017 and it was noted that there
does not appear to be loss prior to this date).
[31]
It is stated that earnings at 1 March 2017
are taken at R15, 100 per annum (in 2017 monetary terms increasing in
line with the headline
inflation to give earnings at R18 037 per
annum at 1 December 2021 until retirement at the age of 70.
[32]
The post-accident earnings at 1 March 2017
are taken as R5 500 per annum (equal to reported average profit
of R1000 per month
less the costs of R250 per fortnight in respect of
an assistant, remaining at that level until the calculation date
minus 25%contigencies
due to covid-19 pandemic.
[33]
I now deal with the main report being that
of an Industrial Psychologist.
Industrial
Psychologist
[34]
The
Plaintiff’s Industrial Psychologist, Ms Renee van Zyl, render a
36 pages industrial projection report (excluding referencing
and
bibliography) as to Ms Mogale’s supposed diminished earning
capacity occasioned by the accident. In reproducing the summary
of
the report, I propose to only extract those salient points that will
be pertinent for discussion and determinative of Ms Mogale’s
claim against the Defendant for loss of earnings and/or earning
capacity.
[35]
Of critical
importance, the Report notes that at the time of the accident, Ms
Mogale was a pensioner, having retired from her position
of a
Supervising Cleaner at Medunsa Dental Hospital in 2015 at the age of
60 because she was tired (p16).
[36]
According to a letter
from the Government Employee Pension Fund, signed by the Principal
Officer and dated 3 September 2018, Ms
Mogale’s gross pension
amounted to R4 167.00 per month translating to earnings of R50 004.00
per annum. This pension remains
payable to Ms Mogale until her
demise.
[37]
In analysing Ms.
Mogale’s employability profile, Ms Van Wyk opined that it is
evident that Ms Mogale presented with the
Employment
Potential Capacity
to have functioned in an unskilled / low-level semi-skilled capacity.
Ms. Mogale’s career history is indicative of someone
who
functioned in unskilled and low-level semi-skilled occupations with
associated earnings. Furthermore, Ms. Mogale functioned
in the
withdrawal
career phase and was already a pensioner at the time of the accident
in question. (my emphasis)
[38]
In the Pre-Morbid
Scenario, Ms Van Zyl opined that Ms Mogale would probably have
remained functioning as a Pensioner. She would
probably have started
augmenting her pension income by functioning as a self-employed Spaza
Shop Owner for as long as physically
possible.
[39]
The conclusions of the writer were that
Ms Mogale was a Pensioner at the time of the accident in question and
therefore suffered
no
loss of earnings during this time
(My
emphasis). However, purely for quantification purposes, Ms Mogale’s
Pre-Morbid
Earnings Growth
earning potential as a Spaza Shop Owner, prior to the accident in
question, should be based on that of a Spaza Shop Owner (scale
point
1) of R15 100.00 p.a. (fifteen thousand and one-hundred rands) as
from 2017, followed by annual CPI percentage increases
until
retirement at seventy (70) years of age. Ms Mogale is rated at
this scale because she reported to the Ms Van Zyl that
the current
profit generated from her spaza shop varies between R500.00 to R1
500.00 per month due to the nature of the industry.
Ms Mogale pays
her sister between R200.00 to R300.00 per fortnight. This translates
to average earnings of R500.00 per month after
her sister has been
remunerated.
[40]
I extract below only those relevant
recommendations of Ms Van Zyl’s report that pertain to Ms.
Mogale present claim. The recommendations
read that:
[41]
Based on available
information the following recommendations are made:
[42]
Ms. Mogale’s
loss of earnings as a result of relevant career impediment
(compromised performance and diminished access to
work opportunities)
will be addressed through the quantification of the pre- and
post-morbid earnings growth scenarios. Ms.
Mogale’s loss
of earnings as a result of her non-sustainability should
be
addressed through the application of a higher post-morbid contingency
deduction. It is recommended that the normal pre-morbid
contingency
deductions be applied. Taking the expert opinions into consideration,
a higher post-morbid contingency than the pre-morbid
contingency
should be applied with regard to the Ms Mogale’s post-morbid
occupational functioning. In this regard, the writer
refers to Ms
Mogale’s
Pre-morbid
scenario
for
the factors to be considered in determining the contingency
deduction.
Ms
A Wyrley-Birch (Bester Putter), Occupational
Therapist, report
dated 14 October 2021
[43]
Ms Wyrley-Birch
reported that Ms Mogale does present with cognitive fallouts,
however, the exact relation and / or apportionment
of the accident
ought to be established. Considering the reported change in mood and
fear of a recurrent accident, it seems that
Ms Mogale’s mood
and emotional functioning has changed since the accident. Her
emotional sequelae seem to have a negative
impact on her social
skill, cognitive functioning, and general level of motivation (p.19).
[44]
With regards
to the accident’s impact on her employability and work
capacity, Ms Wyrley-Birch reports that:
a)
The work of a
Domestic Worker and Cleaning Supervisor is considered as mostly
medium in nature but may also have involved aspects
of heavy work
(p.40).
b)
Due to the
right knee replacement, Ms Mogale would have been advised to limit
her weight handling to that of a sedentary and light
nature, and to
avoid frequent handling of medium weights. It is noted that she was
however still able to handle these weights prior
to the accident
(p.42).
c)
Ms Mogale’s
work as a Spaza Shop Owner prior to the accident required sedentary,
light, and medium exertion. Reportedly to
Ms Wyrley-Birch, Ms Mogale
indicated that she established her shop in 2016. Now her work as a
Spaza Shop Owner post-morbidly requires
sedentary and light exertion
as she refrains from performing medium work on the doctor’s
advice (p.28).
d)
Her sister
assisted her once a week prior to the accident but now assists her
daily. From the information available and observations
made, she
probably relies on her sister for physical and cognitive assistance
in running the business (pp.28, 41).
e)
Since the
accident she however refrains from handling weights of a medium
nature due to the multiplicity of her injuries. She has
adjusted her
physical demands since the accident and now relies on her sister for
performing work
she is unable to do, or which exacerbates her
symptoms with increased costs and therefore decreased profitability.
f)
Considering
her presentation on the day of the assessment and her reporting, she
probably also relied on her husband for emotional
support and
physical tasks, such as driving her to get her stock and probably to
rely
on her sister for mental skills, to run the business.
g)
It is noted
that her husband passed away in 2020 and it should be taken into
account that this might impact on her ability to continue
with the
business (pp.29, 42).
h)
She is capable
of sedentary and aspects light work as a result of her limited
mobility due to her decreased balance.
i)
Due to her
cognitive and psychological sequelae, probably at least partly
related to the accident, her ability to run her own spaza
shop is
probably also negatively affected and also increases her reliance on
her sister in this regard. Ms Wyrley-Birch is of the
opinion that she
would need to be reimbursed for these costs (p.42).
j)
Ms Mogale has
therefore been rendered a more vulnerable individual on a physical as
well as mental level, in the informal labour
market, where she relies
on the extra income that she is able to secure by selling vegetables
fromher home. She will probably also
need to discontinue this
business prematurely as a result of the accident or need to appoint
someone like her sister to run the
business on her behalf due to the
physical as well as the psychological and mental sequelae as a result
of the accident. This would
have a further negative effect on the
profitability of the business (p.42).
k)
Had the
accident in question not taken place, Ms Mogale would probably have
continued with her business even if her husband passed
away. Her
physical and mental vulnerability since the accident may cause that
she discontinues this business in totality (p.43)
The
Legal Principles
[45]
The
legal principle in respect of a claim for diminished earning capacity
is trite in that the Plaintiff must be placed in the position
he
would have been in had the injuries not occurred. To succeed in the
claim for loss of income or earning capacity, the Plaintiff
has to
establish on a balance of probability that as a result of the
accident, he has lost future earning capacity
[11]
.
[46]
On
the claim for loss of earnings Gough
[12]
states: ‘If one were to regard the loss as one of future
earnings one may ask the question “what income will the
plaintiff
actually lose as a result of the defendant’s wrongful
act?’.
[47]
The plaintiff was 60
at the time of the accident and was retired because she was tired of
working, by her own admission she retired
because she was tired then
it cannot be said that her earning capacity has been diminished.
[48]
Whether the plaintiff
will not be able to gain meaningful employment is neither here nor
there. She was already in the withdrawal
phase premorbid scenario.
[49]
The plaintiff
retired in 2015 at the age of sixty years and the accident only
happened a year thereafter when she had not been working for a
full
year and reliant on government pension. Pension of which she would
get till age of her demise. She opened her shop almost
near to two
years after her retirement and three months after the accident.
[50]
Ms A Wyrley-Birch
reported that Ms. Mogale started functioning as an Spaza Shop Owner
in 2016 and that her sister assisted her one
(1) day per week.
But
during a follow-up telephonic discussion with Ms. Mogale on 20
October 2021, Ms Mogale confirmed that she only started functioning
as a Spaza Shop Owner in 2017, after the accident in question.
[51]
After the
accident in question on 30 December 2016, Ms Mogale recuperated for
four (4) days. Ms Mogale was a Pensioner at the time
of the accident
in question and therefore suffered no loss of earnings during this
time. In 2017, Ms Mogale and her husband started
their own spaza shop
from home. Ms Mogale’s husband used to take Ms Mogale to buy
the goods in Brits on Fridays. She would
then sell the goods from
home. In 2020, Ms Mogale’s husband passed away and her son
started fulfilling the role of taking
her to Brits with their bakkie
to buy goods. Her sister has been assisting her in the spaza shop and
her home ever since. Ms Mogale’s
working hours are from 9:00 to
17:00 Monday to Saturday
[52]
I am of the firm view that the
recommendations by the Industrial Psychologists are inconsistent and
are not supported by facts,
Thus the plaintiff has failed to prove on
a balance of probabilities that she has lost earning capacity.
Costs
[53]
It
is an accepted legal principle that costs are at the discretion of
the court. The basic rules were stated as follows by the
Constitutional Court in
Ferreira
v Levin NO and Others
[13]
‘
The
Supreme Court has, over the years, developed a flexible approach to
costs which proceeds from two basic principles, the first
being that
the award of costs, unless expressly otherwise enacted, is in the
discretion of the presiding judicial officer, and
the second that the
successful party should, as a general rule, have his or her costs.
Even this second principle is subject to
the first. The second
principle is subject to a large number of exceptions where the
successful party is deprived of his or her
costs. Without attempting
either comprehensiveness or complete analytical accuracy, depriving
successful parties of their costs
can depend on circumstances such
as, for example, the conduct of parties, the conduct of their legal
representatives, whether a
party achieves technical success only, the
nature of litigants and the nature of proceedings.’
[54]
Although the Plaintiff has not won
substantially, it has not lost the quantum on damages which is
largest amount claimed, I will
not upset the cost order proposed in
the draft order paragraph 4,5 and 6. The conduct of the RAF officials
in these proceedings
leaves much to desire, from not responding to
the plaintiff’s attorney’s correspondence to ignoring the
court orders,
thereby allowing the matters to proceed unopposed. The
plaintiff is entitled to sue the RAF for general damages. The claim
is not
frivolous.
ORDER
[55]
In the results, I order as follows:
1.
The quantum in respect of General damages
is postponed
sine die
.
2.
The past hospital and medical
expenses is postponed
sine die
.
3.
The claim in respect of past loss of
earnings and future loss of earnings is dismissed.
4.
The defendant to bear the costs of
interlocutory application of 18 October 2021 and trial on 29 October
2021.
L.
FLATELA
ACTING
JUDGE OF THE HIGH COURT
This
Judgment was handed down electronically by circulation to the
parties’ and or parties representatives by email and by
being
uploaded to CaseLines. The date and time for the hand down is deemed
to be 10h00 on 1 August 2022
Date
of Hearing: 29 October 2021, In
Chambers
Date
of Judgment: 1 August 2022
Plaintiff’s’
Counsel: Adv
Maritz
Instructed
by:
McRobert
Attorneys
Telephone number: (012)
425 3400
E-mail:
tpharo@macrobert.co.za
svrensburg@macrobert.co.za
advmarits@rsabar.com
Defendant:
ROAD
ACCIDENT FUND
Telephone number: (012)
429 5678
E-mail:
preciousm1@raf.co.za/
Malvink@raf.co.za
Erikal@raf.co.za
[1]
Para 7.1 of the particulars of claim
[2]
Para 7.2 of the particulars of claim
[3]
Para 22 of the Plaintiff’s heads of Argument, 015-14
[4]
[2019]
3 All SA 626
(GJ) (25 March 2021)
[5]
19
of 2005.
[6]
Road
Accident Fund Regulations
,
2008.
GG
31249,
Notice number 770 of 21 July 2008, The Regulations became effective
on 1 August 2008.
[7]
Section
17 (1) rw s 17(1A) of the RAF Act
[8]
RAF
Regulation 3
[9]
RAF
v Faria
(567/13)
[2014] ZASCA 65
(19 May 2014)
[10]
CA 17/2020 [2021ZAECMHC 30(17 August 2021)
[11]
Rudman
v RAF 2003 (SA)234 (SCA)
[12]
Gough
“The Lost years” The claim for loss of earnings ‘(1983)
De Rebus 486
[13]
Ferreira
v Levin NO and others
[1996] ZACC 27
;
1996 (2) SA 621
(CC) at 624B—C (par [3]).
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make_database footer start
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