Larina Venter obo Arnold Klaasen v Road Accident Fund

Arnold Klaasen, who was deaf and mute, sustained severe head injuries on 3 June 1995 in Steenbras Road, Grabouw, after being struck by a hit-and-run motor vehicle while standing on or near the pavement late at night. The sole eyewitness, Nigel Bosman, testified that a bakkie travelling at speed mounted the kerb and struck Klaasen, causing him to fall and sustain serious injuries that rendered him epileptic, mentally impaired, and unemployable. Klaasen instituted a damages claim against the Road Accident Fund. The RAF disputed that a motor collision occurred and, alternatively, denied negligence. The trial court dismissed the claim, and a Full Bench held that although a collision occurred, negligence was not proved. The matter came before the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The appeal was upheld with costs, including the costs of two counsel. The orders of the trial court and the Full Bench were set aside and replaced with an order declaring the Road Accident Fund liable for such damages as the plaintiff can prove arising from the collision on 3 June 1995.

The case is significant for clarifying the approach to single-witness evidence, credibility, and probabilities in Road Accident Fund claims involving hit-and-run drivers. It reaffirms that negligence may be inferred from circumstantial evidence where direct evidence is limited, and applies and strengthens the principle in Motor Vehicle Assurance Fund v Dubazane regarding inferred negligence in pedestrian cases.