The Johannesburg Attorneys’ Association (JAA) has called for the immediate resignation of Road Accident Fund (RAF) chief executive officer Jacob Modise, accusing him of mismanagement.
The RAF has in turn accused the JAA of making a blatant attempt to distract the public from the legal profession’s abuses against accident victims and their families.
”The RAF is in chaos, it has been for several years now and its current leadership has not only clearly illustrated a disinterest in adequately protecting the interests of road accident victims, but also supported an amendment of the Bill that negatively affects the vast majority of South Africans by capping claims,” the JAA said in a statement on Friday.
”Modise is always quick to criticise the legal profession, but fails to consider that had the RAF not defended every claim in court, victims’ legal expenses would be more than halved. The RAF needs to get its house in order,” said JAA spokesperson Les Kobrin.
Modise, meanwhile, countered that citing RAF ”mismanagement” as the cause of third party compensation problems had become ”too lame an excuse to hide behind”.
He said the RAF collected R11,9-billion in fuel levies and government grants and paid out R11,1-billion in claims in the financial year ended March 31.
”Of the R11,1-billion paid out in claims, R7-billion was siphoned off by lawyers in the form of legal fees [R2,5-billion] and estimated contingency fees [R4,3-billion].
”Only R847-million was spent on medical expenses, representing less than 8% of the RAF’s total pay-out.
”This is a travesty that cannot be allowed to continue,” Modise said in a separate statement.
”Attorneys have for years created a façade to hide the robbery that they continue to commit against ordinary South Africans,” he said.
The RAF provides insurance cover to all road users in South Africa, including indemnity cover for wrongdoers and personal injury and death cover for victims and their families.
The JAA has appealed to Transport Minister S’bu Ndebele to review the amendments to the RAF Bill enacted 18 months ago, claiming these had exacerbated the plight of accident victims.
JAA also asked him to appoint a commission of inquiry into RAF management.
”Perhaps it would provide much needed direction to a continually red-lining organisation,” said Kobrin.
However, Modise pointed out that there had already been a commission of inquiry in 2002, which found fault with the third party compensation system.
The JAA’s call for a new inquiry represented another attempt by lawyers to delay the implementation of this commission’s recommendations, he said.
”If the recommendations of the Satchwell Commission are implemented, lawyers would not be required in claims against the RAF and accident victims would get the compensation they are entitled to in full and over a much shorter period of time,” Modise said.
”An additional R7-billion that is currently wasted, would be available for medical treatment and to alleviate the plight of accident victims.”
He said it was time South Africans stood together to stop ”a small privileged group of lawyers from robbing the poor and creating an increasing burden” for the public.
If lawyers successfully challenged the amended RAF Act, South Africans could end up paying billions in compensation over the 2010 Soccer World Cup if foreigners were able to make claim similar to the R500-million paid to Swiss national Joachim Schoss. — Sapa