Circulate to Judges: YES/NO
Circulate to Magistrates: YES/NO
Circulate to Regional Magistrates: YES/NO
Reon
IN THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
(NORTHERN CAPE DIVISION, KIMBERLEY)
Case No: 519/2018
In the matter between:
ROAD ACCIDENT FUND Defendant/Applicant
And
THELANI BAKKER N.O. Respondent/Plaintiff
ZENOBIA BAKKER (DECEASED)
In re:
ZENOBIA BAKKER Plaintiff
And
ROAD ACCIDENT FUND Defendant
Coram: LEVER J
JUDGMENT
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Lever J:
1. This is an application where unfortunately the Notice of Motion sets the tone
for everything that follows. The relevant Notice of Motion reads:
“1 Rescinding the order in terms of Rule 42 of the Uniform Rules of the Court
Act (sic).
2 That the Respondent be ordered to pay the cost of this application in the
event she opposes same.
3 Further and/or alternative relief.”
2. What order the applicant seeks to rescind is not evident from the Notice of
Motion. The founding affidavit was of some assistance in that regard. Before
moving on to deal with what the application appears to be about, I must point
out that the applicant had not filed Heads of Argument in accordance with the
court practice directives. The respondent and the Court were only favoured
with a copy of applicant’s Heads of Argument this morning. Ms Mhlanga, who
appeared for the applicant apologised and informed the court she had taken
over from her colleague who had supplied her with the wrong date of the
hearing. Even though Ms Mhlanga could have checked the Notice of Set
Down or the court roll I accepted the applicants Heads of Argument under
those circumstances.
3. What the applicant seeks can be partially gleaned from the founding affidavit,
partially from the answering affidavit and partly from the decision in a similar
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application in another division'. The application in the matter before me has
been drafted in an imprecise and sloppy manner. This is a complete contrast
to what was placed before Watt AJ in the matter of the Road Accident Fund v
Pierre Goosen N.O.?.
4. The common cause or undisputed facts gleaned from the papers in this matter
show that: The matter proceeded to trial before my Brother Nxumalo J on the
24, 25, 26 and 27 October 2022; Prior to the matter proceeding to trial on the
24 October 2022, the parties settled the heads of damages relating to past loss
of earnings and future loss of earnings; This settlement of past and future loss
of earnings was reached by way of a written offer from the applicant dated 21
September 2022 which was accepted on behalf of the plaintiff by
correspondence dated 11 October 2022; My Brother Nxumalo heard evidence
on general damages and past medical expenses on the dates already mentioned
and reserved his judgment; During argument and before judgment was
reserved a draft order was handed up for consideration of the court in making
its Order; As a formality and for the sake of completeness this draft order was
couched in terms that included the terms of the settlement agreement relating
to past and future loss of earnings; Subsequent to Nxumalo J reserving his
1 The Road Accident Fund v Pierre Goosen N.O. case number 1121/2020, a decision of Watt AJ in the Eastern
Cape Division, Gqeberha., handed down on the 18 February 2025. This judgment has not found its way to
SAFLII and a copy of this judgment was handed to me by applicant’s Counsel Ms Mhlanga together with the
judgment in which leave to appeal was granted in that matter.
? Footnote 1 above.
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