SAFLII Note: Certain personal/private details of parties or witnesses have been redacted from this document
in compliance with the law and SAFLII Policy
IN THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
MPUMALANGA DIVISION, MBOMBELA MAIN SEAT
Case No.: 986/2020
(1) REPORTABLE: NO
(2) OF INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: NO
(3) REVISED: NO
DATE 10 APRIL 2026
SIGNATURE NSIBANDE AJ
In the application between:
SPHIWE PRETTY SINGWANE PLAINTIFF
And
THE ROAD ACCIDENT FUND DEFENDANT
___________________________________________________________________
JUDGMENT
NSIBANDE AJ
INTRODUCTION
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[1] The Plaintiff is claiming against the Road Accident Fund (RAF) in her personal
capacity for the damages as a result of a motor vehicle accident that occurred on the
2nd October 2018. The Plaintiff was a driver of the motor vehicle.
[2] The Plaintiff is a major female born on the 6th June 1983 and at the time of the
accident was employed at KFC, Tonga Mall. By agreement, the parties informed the
Court that merits and quantum are to be separated and the proceedings for today
will only be dealing with merits.
[3] The issue that is to be decided by the Court, is whether there was a collision
as alleged that occurred on the 2 nd October 2018, further whether the collision
resulted in the Plaintiff losing control of her motor vehicle to which she was the
driver, and further whether the insured driver was negligent and whether as a result
of the accident the Plaintiff sustained damages.
The Plaintiff Case
[4] The Plaintiff testified that she was driving a motor vehicle, a blue Nissan
registration letters and numbers N[...], and was involved in a motor vehicle collision
along the Masibekela and Mananga R517 public road on the 2 nd October 2018. She
obtained her driving licence in 2009.
[5] She testified that an unknown vehicle driven by an unknown driver ( the
insured driver) collided with the motor vehicle, which was driven by her, from the
back. She testified that the estimated time of the collision was about 1945hrs and it
was dark. She stated that as she was driving towards Masibekela Trust (her
residential area) from work at Tonga Mall, she observed on her mirror, headlights of
a motor vehicle approaching from behind at seemingly a high speed.
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[6] She testified that the road she was traveling along was a tarred road and was
a two-lane road, which was a straight road. She testified that she was traveling at a
speed of between 80-90km per hour and the speed limit on the road was 100km per
hour. She further testified that she had a passenger whose name was Salim Indris,
who was also the owner of the motor vehicle.
[7] She indicated that when she saw the headlights of the motor vehicle
approaching, at first the lights were at a distance, but she noticed through the inside
mirror that those lights were approaching at high speed. She testified that she then
heard a loud bang noise and thought of the car behind her, there were no on coming
vehicles at the time and other vehicles were far ahead. She lost control of the motor
vehicle, and it crossed over to the other lane and ca me to a standstill at a ditch on
the side of the oncoming traffic.
[8] She testified that she lost consci ousness and did not see what happened
thereafter, and she was taken to hospital. She was injured on the right ankle, on the
leg, which was broken and had to be operated on her left hip, and the right side of
the jaw had a laceration. Exhibit A (Medical Records from Tonga Hospital) was
handed in and admitted as such.
[9] The witness further confirmed the details of the driver as they appear on the
Accident Report (AR) 06/10/2018) as her own particulars, and the motor vehicle
registration No N[...], Blue Nissan is the motor vehicle she was driving on the day.
She further testified that it was not her who reported the accident to the police as she
was hospitalized.
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[10] She testified that she last saw her passenger, Sali Indris about 2-3 years back
and she does not know his current whereabouts and does not have his contact
details. She testified that she did not see the motor vehicle that bumped her from
behind, and she heard nothing about police investigations of the accident and has
never been approached by the police regarding the accident.
She concluded by stating that she would not have had the accident had it not been
for the insured driver of the unknown motor vehicle bumping her motor vehicle from
behind.
[11] She further testified that she could not avoid the collision, as it was dark, the
road was a two-way traffic road, and just close to the road were water storm
drainage system . On cross examination the witness testified that she never gave
her statement to the police as she was hospitalized for a period of 8 weeks and no
police officer came to her in hospital to obtain her statement.
[12] It was put to her that there was no insured driver at the scene who caused the
accident, but it was the witness who caused the accident by failing to control the
motor vehicle causing it to hit the ditch. The witness responded by stating that there
was a motor vehicle that bumped her vehicle from behind and caused the motor
vehicle to lose control. At that the Plaintiff’s case was closed.
The defendant did not call any witness and also closed its case.
Valuation of Evidence
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[13] The Court i s faced with the evidence of a single witness. It is trite law that
when evaluating evidence of a single witness the trial Court is obligated to exercise
caution. In S v Rugnanan 2020 ZASCA 16 para 23 the Court held as follows:
“The cautionary rule does not require that evidence of a single witness must
be free of all conceivable criticism. The requirement is merely that it should be
substantially satisfactory in relation to material aspects”.
[14] In casu, the Court is satisfied that the evidence of the witness was credible
and cannot be faulted in any way. She answered all questions put to her with ease
and when she was confronted with the submission that she manufactured the claim
as she realized that she could claim from the RAF, she seemed genuinely surprised
that such could be insinuated.
[15] The Court therefore finds that the witness satisfied the requirements of being
a credible single witness in so far as the cause of the accident is concerned.
[16] The Court also admitted the medical records of the witness from Tonga
Hospital as Exhibit A. In essence the records states that one Pretty Singwane a 35
years old female came to casualty with a history of being involved in a motor vehicle
accident and sustained a left femur fracture and a left tib fib fracture declared below
the knee and big laceration on the chin, the date on this record is the 2 nd October
2018 and the time of arrival is recorded as 2115hrs recorded by Dr Shongwe.
[17] The witness further confirmed the details appearing on the Officers Accident
Report (OAR), as the driver mentioned was herself and the description of the motor
vehicle was the one driven by her on the day of the accident.
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[18] There was no objection by the Defendant regarding these documents. The
Court is therefore satisfied that the claimant suffered damages as a result of a motor
vehicle accident that occurred along the R517 public road between Masibekela Trust
and Mananga.
Remedy
[19] The Court finds that, on the evidence provided, the collision on the 2 nd
October 2018 was solely caused by the unidentified insured driver who bumped the
motor vehicle driven by the claimant at the back. The Court also finds that under the
circumstances that prevailed at the time of the accident i.e. that it was dark, that the
road was a two-way carriageway, with drainage ditches system on the side of the
road, the claimant could not have avoided the accident
Order
[20] In the premise having heard Counsel for both parties, and having perused the
documents filed on record, the following order is made:
1. The issue pertaining to merits is separated from quantum in terms of
Rule 33(4)
2. The defendant is held liable for 100 % for the proven damages suffered
by the Plaintiff on the 2 nd October 2018 as a result of the negligent
driving of the unidentified insured driver.
3. The Defendant is to pay the taxed or agreed party and party cost of the
Plaintiff on scale B
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________________________
VM NSIBANDE
ACTING JUDGE OF HIGH COURT,
MPUMALANGA, MBOMBELA
Date of hearing: 22 October 2025
Date of judgment: 10 April 2026
Counsel for the Plaintiff: Adv J Lindhout
Instructed by: Booyens Attorneys
C/O Hough Bremner Incorporated
Email Address: neil@houghbremner.co.za
bouwerlaw@gmail.com / jtl@gmail.com
Counsel for the Defendant: Mr C Mkansi
Instructed by: State Attorney
Email Address: caswellm2@raf.co.za