Mbombela High Court Orders RAF to Pay Domestic Worker R330,000 After No-Payslip Dispute

The Mbombela High Court has ordered the Road Accident Fund to pay a domestic worker R330,000 after the fund tried to block her claim because she had no payslips. Marta Buda, 54, was injured in a March 2018 road accident in Mpumalanga. The crash left her unable to work ever again.

RAF’s payslip argument did not hold up in court

The RAF argued that Buda could not prove her income because she had no formal documentation. The fund told the court that she was only entitled to partial compensation. It also pointed to other medical conditions that existed before and after the accident.

According to a report by TimesLIVE, Buda told the court she had been a domestic worker who was first paid in cash, then later via bank transfers. She said she lost her job because of the injuries she suffered. A psychologist testified on her behalf that she would most likely have found employment within two years. The court heard she would have earned the minimum wage for domestic workers in South Africa.

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Judge AJ Nsibande sided with Buda. The court found that many informal workers do not receive payslips and cannot be shut out of compensation because of that alone. The judge noted that domestic work is often fluid, with workers regularly changing employers, sometimes because of abuse. The ruling said that the court had a duty to protect vulnerable people in society, that also includes domestic workers.

See the full report by TimesLIVE here:

Source: Briefly News