Picture: THINKSTOCK
Picture: THINKSTOCK

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THE Law Society of the Northern Provinces is fighting tooth and nail to prevent the planned new Road Accident Benefit Scheme (RABS) from becoming operational.

The society, representing lawyers in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West, says the scheme to replace the Road Accident Fund (RAF) will rob road accident victims of benefits they should be entitled to.

But the RAF has accused the law society of fighting for its members’ livelihoods rather than the public’s benefit.

The proposed new scheme, as outlined in the draft Road Accident Benefit Scheme Bill published in May 2014, intends to do away with the current fault-based system. Any road accident victim will stand to receive compensation, irrespective of fault.

However, there would no longer be payments for general damages and lump sum payments would fall away. Instead, the administrator will make monthly payments, which would cease when the beneficiary is successfully rehabilitated and returned to work.

The draft bill is at the National Economic Development and Labour Council for engagement. It will then be referred to the Cabinet for approval to table it in Parliament. But not if the law society has its way. It recently launched a website titled Truth about RABS to inform the public about the implications of the proposed scheme and is collecting signatures for a petition to stop the legislation.

On the website, the law society warns that road accident victims will no longer be allowed to hire an attorney. Currently, lawyers may be paid a portion of a client’s RAF payout up to a maximum of 25%.

"The intermediaries (lawyers) involved in the current dispensation do not want to see change as they have a direct substantial financial interest in retaining the status quo," RAF spokeswoman Linda Rulashe said. The current RAF system was not equitable or sustainable, she said.