The South African Supreme Court of Appeal (“the
SCA”), in Tosholo v Road Accident
Fund, clarified the position regarding the effect of a
settlement agreement on ongoing litigation.
Background
Ms Tosholo filed a claim with the Road Accident Fund
("the RAF") after a car accident and
agreed to accept ZAR17 000 in full and final settlement of her
claim. Thereafter, she consulted with a firm of attorneys, which
attempted to file a new claim. However, the RAF informed her
attorneys that the claim had already been lodged and could not be
re-registered. Following this, Ms Tosholo underwent several medical
examinations as required by both her attorneys and the RAF.
The RAF advised Ms Tosholo's attorneys to contact the RAF
Direct Claims Department to clarify the claim. This was not done,
and instead, Ms Tosholo's attorneys issued summons against the
RAF in August 2014. The RAF responded without mentioning the
previous claim.
