A briefing by some of the 10 organisations that compiled a highly critical memorandum of the ‘crisis’ at the Road Accident Fund (RAF) descended into mudslinging between representatives from the legal fraternity and RAF CEO Collins Letsoalo on Thursday.
One representative of the legal associations appealed for the mudslinging to stop, saying it was an embarrassment for this to be happening in front of the media and requested a meeting with Letsoalo “behind closed doors”.
Read/listen: Is the Road Accident Fund a mess?
Letsoalo fired back that he was not interested in a private meeting because these organisations had issued a public and not a private letter about the RAF and him.
Yusuf Wadee, an executive committee member of the Johannesburg Attorneys Association (JAA), said the legal associations deal with victims and could be doing more important work rather than engaging in mudslinging.
He said he had heard a lot of talk about compliance issues, the law and litigation, but the loser at the end of the day is the fiscus.
“The more combative we are, the more costs are going to be incurred,” said Wadee. “And yes, the legal profession [is] entitled to charge for [its] time and work. But the cause of that is a consequence of the RAF not finding amicable solutions to solve claims.
“Lawyers will love to accept offers from the RAF if they are fair and legal.”
Emphasis on CEO ‘not appropriate’
Wadee said he is very disappointed that attorneys have had to take the time and effort to prepare submissions regarding the crisis at the RAF – but the sum total of what he has heard is two things.
The first is “a defence of the position of where the RAF finds itself with no solution”.
“There is not a single solution that has been suggested by you, sir [Letsoalo],” he said.
“Secondly, that argument, discussion, debate or conversation centres around you [Letsoalo] as a person.
“So now we are having a conversation about you and your credentials, which I don’t find appropriate.”
Advocate Justin Erasmus, chair of the Personal Injury Plaintiff Lawyers Association (Pipla), said it is disappointing how the tone of the dialogue in the room moved from constructive to destructive, which is probably indicative of the wider problems between the RAF and the various bodies.
Read: High Court orders RAF CEO to pay legal costs ‘out of his own pocket’
Tiaan Joubert, chair of both the Gauteng Attorneys Association and Pretoria Attorneys Association, said they were there to discuss a proposal so they could assist their clients.
“To assist victims, we need to move away from trying to fling accusations at each other. We can quote all [we] want from rules but among attorneys, that is not a fight you will win,” said Joubert.
“Let’s rather focus [on] getting to some kind of sensible proposal.
“Let’s work forwards and not hanker about the past.”
Lawyers ‘highly regulated’
Responding to claims by the RAF that the issues raised by attorneys are only about their fees, Joubert stressed that the legal profession is highly regulated, and the provisions of the Road Accident Fund Act and Contingency Fee Agreement Act are clear.
Joubert said that if lawyers overstep the boundaries by, for example, taking money or doing something they were not supposed to do, the Legal Practice Council would hold them to account.
“Yes, there are bad apples. Unfortunately, that is what gets attention in the media, the bad apples – an attorney stealing millions of rands from innocent people,” he said.
Delays add to suffering
Dr Herman Edeling, a director of the SA Medico-Legal Association (Samla), said they see from their own practical experience the years and years it takes before claims are settled or adjudicated and keep seeing obstacles in the way of effective and timely settlement of claims.
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“We are deeply concerned about the problems in the system and are here to support the aims of the legal profession,” he said.
“We see on a virtually daily basis the suffering of people who have been permanently damaged in road accidents and also the consequential suffering on their families, especially when the injured person is a breadwinner.”
A dubious first for the country
Maboku Mangena, part of the leadership of the Black Lawyers Association (BLA), said never in the history of this country, at least since democracy, has it happened that lawyers across the spectrum have come together to confront a common problem.
“The coming together of the legal profession under the banner of the Law Society of South Africa [LSSA] signifies the existence of a crisis and catastrophe facing the nation,” he said.
Mangena said they were present to speak on behalf of the vulnerable and highlight the failure of a system meant to serve them.
“Judges are complaining that the court roll is fully clogged and default judgments are taken, and every default judgment goes with a cost order.
“It’s because the RAF, which is entrusted with managing things, is failing in its duty.
“If the RAF does its work, the bulk of claims will not make their way into the courts,” he said.
Mangena said the deputy minister of transport tried to shift the blame. He added that the minister of justice [Ronald Lamola] also needs to be wary when his judges are unable to do other work because the RAF has clogged the roll with 240 different RAF judgments a day countrywide.
‘Myths and charades’
Letsoalo said he was “very disappointed and perplexed” by the complaints from the joint legal profession and was present to “dispel the myths and the charades that can never be based on hard facts”.
Letsoalo said the legal profession is trying to paint a picture that the wheels of the RAF came off when the new administration came in.
“That can’t be further from the truth. Those who know, will know that since 1981 this organisation [has] been bankrupt.”
He said in reality, of those who benefitted from the scheme, the claimants and beneficiaries the law is intended to help never really received the larger portion.
“The bigger chunk always went to the legal fraternity, and we are not shocked that the legal fraternity is quite unhappy and peeved about that.
“We want objective facts to support the claims that there is a crisis at the RAF.”
Letsoalo said the legal fraternity was taking about R10.6 billion a year away from claimants in legal costs, and these costs had been reduced by more than 60%.
He added that 97% of the claims the RAF is now receiving are non-compliant, and the backlog of claims has been reduced to 127 000 from 300 000 when he arrived at the RAF.
“I have got a performance agreement. In my performance agreement, it’s very clear what I must deliver on, and then you must assess that,” he said.
“Over the past three years, my performance has been brilliant based on an assessment by the independent board.”
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