Judge biased, Law Society racist, says RAF boss

Modise also labelled the Law Society of SA's court application to overturn its direct payment system as 'racist'. Delivering judgment on the matter between the RAF and lawyers affiliated to the Law Society of SA on Friday, Judge Jeanette Traverso ordered the fund to halt the system, which was implemented on 1 August. She said the system, in which compensation is paid directly into the bank accounts of victims as opposed to those of their lawyers, should be suspended pending the completion of a court review process. Modise said the hearing was 'doomed from the beginning', and accused Traverso of 'already having made up her mind' on the outcome of the matter. 'The RAF questions the reasons why the hearing was brought to the Cape (High Court) Division when the RAF headquarters are in Gauteng,' Modise said. On the Law Society of SA, Modise said it had 'continuously insulted the ordinary people'. He added: '(The Law Society) says they are semi-literate and have never owned bank accounts. They have also said that claimants who have received large sums of money will squander or steal it. There is no more racist statement than that.' Full Cape Times report (subscription needed) See also a Weekend Witness report

Traverso ordered the RAF to pay the legal costs of the applicants, notes a report on the Legalbrief Today site. Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett had argued that thousands of road-accident victims would be deprived of legal representation if the RAF did not continue paying the claimants' compensation directly into their attorneys' accounts. Gauntlett said the move would make it difficult for attorneys to represent victims. However, Advocate Nazeer Cassim, representing the RAF, said the lawyers' application had nothing to do with protecting the interests of claimants, but was meant to ensure that attorneys continue to 'rip off' road-accident victims. Full report on the Legalbrief Today site See also report on FIN24 site

The RAF expressed disappointment. 'The RAF in its current form is unsustainable. We have to find a new system. The focus should be on the ordinary people in the street and not the legal profession. It seems there will have to be a political solution to this impasse.' According to a report on the Legalbrief Today site, the RAF explained the reasoning: 'Direct Payment System was introduced for transparency purposes. What we have said to the Law Society is that legal fees will get paid directly into claimants' accounts. We are saying compensation due to you needs to come directly to you. What the Law Society has been saying is that South Africans shouldn't know how much the RAF has paid them. If you look at the papers they are paternalistic and racist.' Press release on the Legalbrief Today site

The LSSA's RAF Committee says the interdict will apply pending the final determination of a review application already issued by the applicants, to be heard in some months. The grounds for the review include the fact that the decision - made not in terms of regulations, but through newspaper advertisements - was not authorised by law; conflicts with the express recognition of attorneys' roles in the RAF Act and the Contingency Fees Act; and is in contravention of the right of access to courts under the Constitution and others. According to a LSSA statement on the Legalbrief Today site, the RAF admitted that it had taken its decision on 30 October 2007, but had kept it secret until announcing it on 21 July 2008, just 10 days before its implementation date. LSSA Press release on the Legalbrief Today site