A ROAD Accident Fund (RAF) payment recipient, who spent all her geld in less than a year, has had her case dismissed after she sued her lawyers for getting her too little kroon.
Agnes Mokalapa brought her case against the law firm who represented her in a saak over a decade ago before the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria.
While her initial claim was slightly more than R500 000, she accepted an offer of R218 775. 90 made by the fund.
According to the law firm, Mokalapa would not listen to their legal advice at the time that she should not accept the settlement.
Her lawyer said the woman was so excited at the prospect of receiving money from the RAF that she would not listen to his advice.
Judge Annali Basson was told the woman told her lawyer that she wanted to use the money before she died. Her exact words, according to the lawyer, were “I did not want to die before spending my money”.
At that stage, the fund made its offer based on only one medico-legal report which had been obtained from an orthopedic surgeon.
Asked what she did with her money, she said she bought pills and plasters and went to doctors. But her version was frowned on by the court, as the RAF had issued her with a medical certificate whereby she received free medical care.
When asked if she knew that the money that was paid to her was not enough, she replied, “No. I did not know anything”. But the court concluded that she was not entirely truthful.
Her claim was subsequently turned down.