ConCourt slams the door on RAF attempts to exclude illegal foreigners
Applications for leave to appeal earlier judgments have 'no reasonable prospect of success'.
The Constitutional Court has ruled against the Road Accident Fund (RAF) in its attempts to bar illegal foreigners from filing claims for compensation related to motor vehicle accidents. The Court dismissed two applications for leave to appeal earlier court rulings on Tuesday, stating that RAF's efforts had no reasonable chance of success.
This decision comes after the High Court in Pretoria dismissed RAF's appeals in July 2024, ruling that a regulation and management directive excluding illegal foreigners from submitting claims against the RAF were invalid. The exclusion measures were rejected multiple times by the High Court in a case brought by several foreign nationals who sustained injuries in accidents in South Africa.
RAF CEO Collins Letsoalo argued that the RAF's decisions were not meant to deny legal foreign claimants access to the RAF scheme, but to ensure the fund complies with the Immigration Act and does not process fraudulent claims. However, the Constitutional Court disagreed, ruling that the obligation of the RAF to compensate "any person" for loss or damage does not exclude illegal foreigners.
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