Attorneys lose court bid to oust RAF boss

SIX law firms which challenged Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula’s appointment of Collins Letsoalo as head of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) have lost their legal bid to have him axed from his position.

Gauteng High Court, Pretoria Judge Brenda Neukircher found that the lawyers and their firms did not have the legal standing to launch the application. She turned it down on this technicality and said it was thus not necessary for her to decide on the merits of the application.

The attorneys at the law firms, which include K Malao Inc, Senne Company Inc and Mabuse Attorneys, were all former RAF panel attorneys who were ousted more than a year ago.

At the time, Letsoalo decided that the RAF was no longer going to make use of a panel of attorneys, among others, in a bid to save money.

The attorneys, in their bid to get rid of Letsoalo, among others, argued that he made several “misrepresentations” in his CV when he applied for the job, and no one bothered to check that at the time. They argued that his appointment was irrational and should be set aside, and expressed frustration at the way he handled payment claims for road accident victims. They said many of their clients remained out of pocket, despite court orders that they must be compensated by the fund.

According to them, a dysfunctional RAF adversely affects the rights of plaintiff attorneys in practising in the courts.

Judge Neukircher was told the attorneys and their clients had an interest in a RAF which was competently run and managed, and the appointment of Letsoalo “poses a threat to the proper functioning of the RAF”. According to them, their rights had been affected by Letsoalo’s appointment.

It was argued on behalf of the entity that this application was self-serving, as the only parties who wished to review the decision to appoint Letsoalo were the applicants, all former RAF panel attorneys.

In dismissing the application on a legal technicality, the judge also slapped the applicants with the RAF’S legal costs.