The Road Accidents Fund v Clayton

The respondent, Tom Clayton, was a passenger injured in a motor vehicle accident on 23 February 1992 due to the negligent driving of the vehicle. He sued the Road Accidents Fund (as successor to the Multilateral Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund) in the Magistrate’s Court for damages under the Multilateral Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund Agreement, read with the Multilateral Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund Act 93 of 1989. His total damages were alleged to be R66 400, comprising future medical expenses, past loss of earnings and future loss of earnings. To fall within the passenger limitation in article 46(b), he abandoned part of his claim and limited it to R25 000. The Fund invoked article 43(a) and furnished an undertaking limited to R25 000 for future medical expenses only. The magistrate awarded the respondent cash compensation for loss of earnings and ordered an undertaking only for the balance. The Fund’s appeals to the High Court and thereafter to the Supreme Court of Appeal followed.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.

The case authoritatively clarifies the relationship between articles 40, 43 and 46 of the Multilateral Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund Agreement. It confirms that the Fund’s power to furnish undertakings for future medical expenses or loss of income applies even where a claimant’s damages are capped under article 46, and that such undertakings remain subject to the statutory monetary limit. The judgment reinforces the principle that a claimant controls the prioritisation of heads of damage within a limited claim.