Outrage As Court Orders RAF To Award Undocumented Foreigner R1.7 Million After Accident

• South Africans were enraged after the Western Cape High Court dismissed an application by the Road Accident Fund to rescind a judgment awarding an undocumented foreign national a payout
• Charles Chipofya was involved in a car accident in 2016 and was supposed to receive a R1.4 million settlement, but RAF contested the settlement after discovering he was undocumented
• The Western Cape High Court ordered RAF to pay Chipofya the settlement, and South Africans were furious

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist based in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered a range of criminal activities, including cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, police investigations, police shootouts, and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

WESTERN CAPE — South Africans were livid that the Western Cape High Court upheld a judgment against the Road Accident Fund (RAF), which ordered that it should pay an undocumented foreign national a R1.4 million settlement claim.

Court dismisses RAF appeal

According to IOL, the Court dismissed a RAF application in which it appealed a ruling granting Charles Chipofya a R1.4 million payout. Chipofya was involved in an accident in 2016 in Plettenberg Bay. He filed a claim with RAF in 2022. However, when the RAF discovered that he was an undocumented foreign national, it applied to rescind an agreement between it and Chipofya for the settlement.

RAF learned that Chipofya had been living in South Africa illegally since 1996 and married a South African woman in 2008. The pair has two children. RAF argued that Chipofya submitted his passport with the surname Chipeta and not Chipofya. The discrepancy resulted in an investigation, which revealed that he had two passports, one of which he obtained after the accident.

Chipofya's lawyers push back

Chipofya's lawyers argued that RAF was aware of his status as an illegal immigrant. RAF also reduced his claim due to his status, but argued that the claim was not outright rejected.

Judge James Lekhuleni said, while delivering the ruling, that RAF is bound under the RAF Act to provide compensation for losses arising from road accidents. The Act does not discriminate based on immigration status.

What you need to know about RAF

• The chairperson of the Road Accident Fund revealed in October 2024 that the RAF had made duplicate payments worth over R1 billion
• RAF discouraged South Africans from throwing themselves in front of moving vehicles to benefit from RAF
• A South African man received praise for using his R1.3 million RAF payout to install pipes for drinkable water in his community
• A South African woman shared the story of how she blew a R1.2 million payout from the Road Accident Fund

South Africans furious

Netizens commenting on @MDNnewss on X were livid and slammed RAF and South African law.

David M said:

"This is what Collins Letsoalo has been fighting. How does an illegal immigrant get to benefit from our fiscus?"

Gumgedle said:

"Never. We must appeal this. We can't be giving our hard-earned money to illegal migrants."

Ndlombanggo ka Tomase said:

"This law must be amended."

KamogeleFloyd said:

"Seems like lawyers working on getting money from RAF work more than lawyers in criminality."

RAF CEO placed on special leave

In a related article, Briefly News reported that RAF CEO Collins Letsoalo was placed on special leave during an investigation. He is probed for a R79 million lease tender for offices.

He reportedly fraudulently approved the tender for the lease of its offices in Johannesburg. He had previously denied any wrongdoing.

Source: Briefly News