Latest news with #R6-million
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Road Accident Fund is wasting millions on 'chaotic' court cases
A judge of the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has blasted the Road Accident Fund (RAF) for its 'chaotic approach to litigation' which has resulted in huge losses of public money. Courts are swamped with RAF cases, many of them without merit or with over-inflated claims for compensation. But 'the main problem lies with the RAF', said Judge Jan Pretorius in a recent judgment. The RAF does not deal with its matters properly, does not send lawyers to court to oppose applications or, if it does, does not provide them with any instructions. This results in 'default' judgments. The fund would then apply to rescind the judgments, often on baseless grounds. 'In this manner huge sums of money, public money, it must be emphasised, are lost,' said Judge Pretorius. In the week of 5 May, he had granted judgments against the fund of R25-million, and two other courts made default judgments in the same week which he said would have added R50-million to the RAF's liabilities. '[A]t the same time it pleads poverty.' He pointed out that in two matters with over-inflated claims, the RAF had not provided any expert reports to assist the court in assessing whether the claims were reasonable. The case before Judge Pretorius was an application by the RAF to rescind part of a previous order granted in favour of a road accident victim in 2021. The RAF had been ordered to pay past medical expenses of R223,000 and future loss of earnings of R6-million. The RAF's rescission application was made outside of the allowed timeframe. It gave no explanation for this. A more 'serious problem', Judge Pretorius said, was that the RAF made three untrue submissions to the court: that the 2021 hearing was heard virtually, that its defence had been previously struck out, and it had been barred from making submissions to the court. The record showed that the matter had been heard in open court, its defences were never struck out and the fund was represented at court by Ms N Xegwana from the office of the State Attorney. It had been placed on record that she was there to 'note the judgment' and had no instructions to make any submissions. Judge Pretorius said that because of these 'false averments', there was no legal basis to rescind the judgment. He had advised Ms N Kunene, who drafted the affidavit with the false claims, and Tonya de Beer, who deposed it, to appear before him. He was considering making them personally pay the costs of the litigation. Kunene then explained that she drafted the affidavit after receiving a memorandum from the RAF in which the alleged facts were spelled out. She did not know they were not true. She said De Beer was merely asked to sign the affidavit and she herself did not have knowledge of the facts of the matter. Judge Pretorius said this was 'highly unacceptable' and 'perturbing'. 'The result is that the respondent (the claimant) has been dragged to court to oppose an application based on falsehoods.' He said 'although I cannot express my disapproval of Ms Kunene and Ms de Beer's conduct strongly enough, I accept that they did not set out to mislead. The falsehoods originated from the fund, who misrepresented the facts to them.' Because of this he would not make a personal cost order against them. He ordered the RAF to pay costs on a punitive scale. 'This application has added to the applicant's financial burdens in that it will be required to settle the costs of a doomed application which resulted from its own inept management of its affairs.' LOSING BY DEFAULT 'The main problem lies with the [RAF and its chaotic approach to litigation, of which this application is but one example,' Judge Pretorius wrote. He said when the fund had terminated the services of its panel attorneys, there had been warnings that default judgments would result and inflated claims would not be properly scrutinised. This proved to be true and five years later, the RAF's system was largely still 'in chaos'. 'Many cases are heard every day in which the applicant is not represented at court or, if it is, instructions are not forthcoming.' Judge Pretorius said this was in spite of the fund being given special legal treatment, not extended to any other litigant — in that it was given multiple opportunities to comply with the rules of court. 'Notwithstanding the multiple warnings it has received, I still had 41 unopposed matters on the default roll in the week of 5 May 2025. In eight of these matters, the defence had been struck out and in 13, the fund was under bar [failing to file papers within the prescribed time]. In 20 cases the fund had not even noted an appearance to defend.' He said this failure by the fund to properly exercise its constitutional duties 'required urgent attention'. This article first appeared on GroundUp. Read the original article here.
Daily Maverick
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Road Accident Fund is wasting millions on ‘chaotic' court cases, Gauteng judge says
The Road Accident Fund does not deal with its matters properly and does not send lawyers to court to oppose applications, resulting in 'default' judgments, said Judge Jan Pretorius. A judge of the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has blasted the Road Accident Fund (RAF) for its 'chaotic approach to litigation' which has resulted in huge losses of public money. Courts are swamped with RAF cases, many of them without merit or with overinflated claims for compensation. But 'the main problem lies with the RAF', said Judge Jan Pretorius in a recent judgment. The RAF does not deal with its matters properly, does not send lawyers to court to oppose applications or, if it does, does not provide them with any instructions. This results in 'default' judgments. The fund would then apply to rescind the judgments, often on baseless grounds. 'In this manner huge sums of money, public money, it must be emphasised, are lost,' said Judge Pretorius. Read the judgment here. In the week of 5 May he had granted judgments against the fund of R25-million, and two other courts made default judgments in the same week which he said would have added R50-million to the RAF's liabilities. '[A]t the same time it pleads poverty.' He pointed out that in two matters with overinflated claims, the RAF had not provided any expert reports to assist the court in assessing whether the claims were reasonable. The case before Judge Pretorius was an application by the RAF to rescind part of a previous order granted in favour of a road accident victim in 2021. The RAF had been ordered to pay past medical expenses of R223,000 and future loss of earnings of R6-million. The RAF's rescission application was made outside of the allowed timeframe. It gave no explanation for this. A more 'serious problem', Judge Pretorius said, was that the RAF made three untrue submissions to the court: that the 2021 hearing was heard virtually, that its defence had been previously struck out, and it had been barred from making submissions to the court. The record showed that the matter had been heard in open court, its defences were never struck out and the fund was represented at court by Ms N Xegwana from the office of the State Attorney. It had been placed on record that she was there to 'note the judgment' and had no instructions to make any submissions. Judge Pretorius said that because of these 'false averments', there was no legal basis to rescind the judgment. He had advised Ms N Kunene, who drafted the affidavit with the false claims, and Tonya de Beer, who deposed it, to appear before him. He was considering making them personally pay the costs of the litigation. Kunene then explained that she drafted the affidavit after receiving a memorandum from the RAF in which the alleged facts were spelled out. She did not know they were not true. She said De Beer was merely asked to sign the affidavit and she herself did not have knowledge of the facts of the matter. Judge Pretorius said this was 'highly unacceptable' and 'perturbing'. 'The result is that the respondent (the claimant) has been dragged to court to oppose an application based on falsehoods.' He said that 'although I cannot express my disapproval of Ms Kunene and Ms de Beer's conduct strongly enough, I accept that they did not set out to mislead. The falsehoods originated from the fund, who misrepresented the facts to them.' Because of this he would not make a personal cost order against them. He ordered the RAF to pay costs on a punitive scale. 'This application has added to the applicant's financial burdens in that it will be required to settle the costs of a doomed application which resulted from its own inept management of its affairs.' Losing by default 'The main problem lies with the [RAF and its chaotic approach to litigation, of which this application is but one example,' Judge Pretorius wrote. He said when the fund had terminated the services of its panel attorneys, there had been warnings that default judgments would result and inflated claims would not be properly scrutinised. This proved to be true and five years later, the RAF's system was largely still 'in chaos'. 'Many cases are heard every day in which the applicant is not represented at court or, if it is, instructions are not forthcoming.' Judge Pretorius said this was in spite of the fund being given special legal treatment – not extended to any other litigant – in that it was given multiple opportunities to comply with the rules of court. 'Notwithstanding the multiple warnings it has received, I still had 41 unopposed matters on the default roll in the week of 5 May 2025. In eight of these matters, the defence had been struck out and in 13, the fund was under bar [failing to file papers within the prescribed time]. In 20 cases the fund had not even noted an appearance to defend.' He said this failure by the fund to properly exercise its constitutional duties 'required urgent attention'. DM
Daily Maverick
23-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Cash properties and new SUVs – inside Independent Development Trust CEO's R22m assets splurge
The Independent Development Trust's newly constituted board has passed a resolution calling for lifestyle audits into the entity's executive management. Daily Maverick unpacks several property transactions and vehicle purchases that might pique the investigators' interest. Trusts controlled by the Independent Development Trust's (IDT's) CEO, Tebogo Malaka, in 2023 forked out R6-million in cash for the purchase of three properties in Gauteng. This includes a plot in Gauteng's upmarket Waterfall Country Estate, where the priciest properties currently on offer sell for upwards of R20-million. Daily Maverick has established that one of Malaka's trusts is in the process of building a house on the Waterfall plot — again without a bond — and that the total cost is set to be around R12-million. This will bring to R18-million the grand total for the assets splurge that Malaka embarked on in 2023 – all paid for, or due to be paid for, in cash. Later in 2023, Malaka also forked out more than R4-million for two luxury vehicles. The IDT CEO purchased a brand-new Porsche Cayenne SUV and a Range Rover Sport, each with a price tag of at least R2-million. Unlike the properties, Malaka seemingly bought the vehicles through financing arrangements. However, the new wheels may still raise questions over Malaka's ability to service the instalments, especially when these purchases are viewed alongside the cash transactions for the properties. Malaka has strongly denied any wrongdoing. Last week, the queries Daily Maverick sent out for this piece seemingly triggered a hefty social media campaign aimed at discrediting our work. On the same day that we sent our questions to Malaka, an account on X (formerly Twitter) claimed that Daily Maverick and this journalist were part of a 'coordinated information ecosystem' that seeks to unfairly target the likes of Malaka. On Good Friday, another X account posted fake screengrabs purporting to show Whatsapp messages between this reporter and Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson's chief of staff. The falsified messages again sought to show that this reporter was acting in cahoots with dubious forces that were out to tarnish Malaka's reputation. The fake messages also made specific reference to the assets Malaka had acquired through her trusts. Speaking through a law firm that Malaka had appointed after we sent her our queries, the IDT CEO denied that she had played any role in disseminating fake news. 'Any suggestion that our client is involved in any form of wrongdoing, or in the manufacturing or distribution of the purported false information, is categorically denied. Our client asserts that she had no role in, nor responsibility for, the alleged activities referenced in your correspondence. Any such allegation is without merit and is firmly rejected,' reads a letter from her attorneys. 'Not public information' As the IDT's political custodian, Macpherson recently called for lifestyle audits into the IDT's top management. The IDT's board of trustees, now chaired by businesswoman Zimbini Hill, subsequently passed a resolution that approved broad-ranging lifestyle audits into Malaka and other senior IDT executives. The resolution comes on the back of several media exposés involving IDT contracts worth hundreds of millions of rands. In October last year, Daily Maverick revealed that the IDT had awarded the lion's share of a R836-million oxygen plants project to Bulkeng, an apparent 'ghost company' that did not possess the necessary accreditation to deal in medical equipment. The National Department of Health, on whose behalf the IDT managed the project, has since pulled out of the contracts. In light of the upcoming lifestyle audits, Daily Maverick's latest offering delves into the properties and vehicles that Malaka and her trusts bought in the space of just one year. Our report comes with an important caveat: We neither possess any evidence that the assets were purchased with funds linked to IDT contracts, nor are we suggesting that this was the case. However, the transactions detailed in this piece will almost certainly feature in the upcoming lifestyle audits. The investigators are sure to take a keen look at especially the cash purchases, seeing as the movement of large sums of money is a key consideration in any instance where there are concerns over alleged corruption, fraud and money laundering. What's more, the timing of the assets splurge may also raise further red flags. The properties and cars were all purchased in 2023. During that year, the IDT oversaw tender processes for some of its most contentious contracts, including those that were awarded for the oxygen plants initiative. We specifically asked Malaka how she and her trusts had managed to acquire the assets in such a short space of time, especially those properties that had been bought without bank loans. We also wanted to know how she would finance the multimillion-rand building project on the Waterfall plot. 'The source of income of the trust used for the acquisition of the properties in question is not public information. Our client elects not to disclose any further details in this regard,' stated Malaka's attorneys. 'It is denied that our client has, or had, any influence over the appointment of any service providers to the IDT. All appointments were made through a public tender process, in which representatives from the relevant government departments formed part of the evaluation panel,' said the attorneys. The two apartments In early 2023, Malaka set out to purchase two apartments, both of which were paid for by means of cash transfers. The properties were acquired through the Mmutla Wa Noko Family Trust. According to two sources familiar with Malaka's affairs, the IDT CEO had set up the trust to manage some of her family's assets. The Mmutla trust first forked out R1.1-million for a unit in a residential development in Fourways, Johannesburg. Deeds records show that the trust bought the property in February 2023, and that the transfer was concluded in June that year. In March 2023, the Mmutla trust bought a second apartment, this time paying R1.25-million. The unit is located in Centurion. Like the first apartment, there is no bond registered to this property, which means the trust had concluded the purchase through a cash transfer. Waterfall Country Estate Malaka is also a trustee of the Magogodi Family Trust, which was registered at the Master of the High Court in Pretoria in June 2023. In July 2023, one month after the trust was founded, it paid R3.6-million for an empty stand in the upmarket Waterfall Country Estate, located to the north of Johannesburg. The Deeds Office records don't reflect any bond registered for the purchase, so Malaka's trust would have had to come up with this substantial figure in cash. In other words, in the space of just six months, Malaka's two trusts had somehow accessed R6-million to pay for the two apartments and the Waterfall erf. Daily Maverick has established that construction on the Waterfall plot started some time in late 2024. The construction project serves as confirmation that Malaka is the controlling hand behind the Magogodi trust. We were able to establish that Malaka had briefed key roleplayers involved in the Waterfall development, and that she had personally appointed some of the key contractors. According to sources familiar with the project, Malaka's trust is set to spend at least R12-million on the construction costs, finishes and related expenses. Given the absence of a bond from a financial institution, the trust would somehow have to cover these costs in cash. Shiny rides In July 2023, Malaka bought a grey Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupé. In December of that year, she also purchased a new Range Rover Sport. The records available to Scorpio don't reflect the costs for each purchase, but the average price tag for these models is well north of R2-million. Board resolution The IDT's board of trustees was only recently restored to a full quorum after months of inactivity. One of its first decisions was to give the go-ahead for lifestyle audits on key IDT personnel. 'The reconstituted Board has made it a priority to strengthen governance and rebuild public trust in the IDT, an entity critical to the delivery of social infrastructure in South Africa. To this end, the Board has resolved to introduce a policy on lifestyle audits, aligning with the Public Sector Integrity Management Framework, which encourages the use of lifestyle audits to detect and prevent unethical conduct,' the board said in a written response to Daily Maverick. 'This policy forms part of a broader strategy to promote ethical leadership, transparency and accountability within the organisation. The lifestyle audits will not be conducted on an ad hoc basis but will form part of a structured governance approach. They will initially focus on senior management and individuals occupying high-risk roles, particularly in areas such as supply chain management,' explained the board. The board of trustees wants to use lifestyle audits as a means to mend the public's trust in the entity. 'The Board believes this step is necessary to ensure that those entrusted with the management of public resources conduct themselves with integrity and accountability. While the IDT continues to play a significant role in delivering public infrastructure, restoring public trust remains a priority. The Board is committed to ensuring that the institution operates with high standards of governance, ethical conduct and public confidence.' DM
