Engelbrecht v Road Accident Fund and Another

The applicant was injured in a collision with an unidentified truck (a hit-and-run) on 22 February 2002. He was hospitalised briefly and later claimed compensation from the Road Accident Fund under section 17(1)(b) of the Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996. Regulation 2(1)(c) required that, where reasonably possible, an affidavit detailing the accident be submitted to the police within 14 days after the claimant was in a position to do so. The applicant only submitted such an affidavit on 4 May 2002. The Fund raised a special plea that non-compliance with the regulation barred the claim. The applicant conceded non-compliance but challenged the constitutionality of regulation 2(1)(c) as an unjustifiable limitation of the right of access to courts under section 34 of the Constitution.

Leave to appeal was granted. Regulation 2(1)(c) was declared unconstitutional and invalid. The Fund’s special plea based on the regulation could not be sustained, and the applicant’s claim was allowed to proceed.

The case authoritatively settled the constitutionality of regulation 2(1)(c) after conflicting Supreme Court of Appeal decisions. It affirmed that hit-and-run victims have justiciable claims and that procedural regulations cannot unreasonably bar access to courts. The judgment strengthened section 34 jurisprudence and curtailed the use of excessively short statutory or regulatory time bars in compensation schemes.