Law Society of South Africa and Others v Minister for Transport and Another

Multiple professional bodies, disability organisations and individual road accident victims challenged the constitutionality of amendments introduced by the Road Accident Fund Amendment Act 19 of 2005, which came into force in 2008. The amendments abolished a road accident victim’s residual common-law claim against wrongdoers (section 21), capped compensation for loss of income and loss of support payable by the Road Accident Fund (section 17(4)(c)), and introduced regulated tariffs for healthcare services (Regulation 5(1)). The applicants argued that these measures left victims under-compensated while granting wrongdoers complete immunity from civil liability. The North Gauteng High Court dismissed the challenge, and the applicants sought leave to appeal directly to the Constitutional Court.

Leave to appeal was granted, but the appeal was dismissed. The amendments to the Road Accident Fund Act and the impugned regulation were declared constitutionally valid. No order as to costs was made.

This case confirms the constitutionality of the post-2008 Road Accident Fund scheme and affirms Parliament’s power to replace common-law remedies with a comprehensive statutory compensation system. It clarifies the application of rationality review to socio-economic legislation and limits the scope of property protection under section 25 in relation to statutory claims.