Decision on RAF time limit set aside by top court

A Business Day report notes the court also sent the matter back to the East London High Court to conduct an inquiry to determine whether the claimant was of sound mind. If the High Court found that the claimant was of sound mind, the fund might re-enrol the matter in the Constitutional Court for a decision on the merits. The High Court, sitting in East London, found that section 23(1) limited the rights of claimants’ access to court, as guaranteed by section 34 of the Constitution. The court also found that the restrictive part of section 23(1) was the failure to include the requirement that the prescription should begin to run when the claimant had knowledge of the identity of the debtor and of the facts. Vusumuzi Mdeyide, who had been practically blind since childhood, was struck by a motor vehicle on a road near East London in March 1999. He was discharged from hospital six days later. On March 11 2002, attorney Bernadus Niehaus lodged a claim with the fund on behalf of Mdeyide, three days after the prescription of the claim. Full Business Day report Judgment