My client was involved in a motor vehicle collision, but the other party was driving on a donkey cart. Does my client have a claim against The Road Accident Fund for injuries sustained as result of a motor vehicle collision?

In terms of Section 17(1)(b) of the Road Accident Fund Act, 1996 The Road Accident Fund is obliged to compensate any third party for any loss or damage which the third party has suffered as result of any bodily injury to him or herself or the death of such person as well as any bodily injury to any other person, caused by or arising from the driving of a motor vehicle by any person at any place within the Republic of South Africa, if the injury or death is due to the negligence or other wrongful act of the driver or of the owner of the motor vehicle or of his or her employee’s duties as employee.

The Road Accident Fund steps in the shoes of the common law wrongdoer, thus there should be a claim in law in order to have a claim against The Road Accident Fund.

The above mentioned section implies that there is a claim against The Road Accident Fund, but is that the case at hand?

In order to determine the validity of the claim against The Road Accident Fund, we have to look at all the essential elements, as it is prerequisites for a valid claim against The Road Accident Fund.

The one essential element we would have to focus on in the facts as stated above, is the definition of a motor vehicle in terms of The Road Accident Fund Act. In terms of Section 1(x) “motor car” means a motor vehicle designed or adapted for the conveyance of not more than 10 persons, including the driver. Section 1(xi) further describes “motor vehicle” as any vehicle designed or adapted for propulsion or haulage on a road by means of fuel, gas or electricity, including a trailer, a caravan, an agricultural or any other implement designed to be drawn by such motor vehicle.

It seems that my client who was the driver of the motor vehicle was, according to the above mentioned descriptions, the only motor vehicle present in the collision. Thus there is no negligent driver present besides my client, as requested in terms of Section 17(1)(b).

In brief a driver of a motor vehicle who collides with any other medium of transport that falls outside the scope of Sections 1(x) and (xi) of the Act would not result in a claim against The Road Accident Fund, as the driver of the motor vehicle would be regarded as the only driver in the collision. The situation would be different should there have been possible passengers who suffered damages as a result of the injuries sustained in the collision.


The passengers would have had a claim against The Road Accident Fund, as their injuries sustained was a result of the negligence driving of the insured driver, which would have been my client.