Road Accident Fund Act, 1996 (Act No. 56 of 1996)

23. Prescription of claim
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(1)Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law contained, but subject to subsections (2) and (3), the right to claim compensation under section 17 from the Fund or an agent in respect of loss or damage arising from the driving of a motor vehicle in the case where the identity of either the driver or the owner thereof has been established, shall become prescribed upon the expiry of a period of three years from the date upon which the cause of action arose.

 

(2)Prescription of a claim for compensation referred to in subsection (1) shall not run against—
(a)a minor;
(b)any person detained as a patient in terms of any mental health legislation; or
(c)a person under curatorship.

 

(3)Notwithstanding subsection (1), no claim which has been lodged in terms of section 17(4)(a) or section 24 shall prescribe before the expiry of a period of five years from the date on which the cause of action arose.

 

(4)Notwithstanding section 36 of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, 1993 (Act No. 130 of 1993), any right under subsection (1)(b) of that section to recover an amount which under the said Act is required to be paid to a third party in circumstances other than those mentioned in section 18(2) of this Act shall for the purposes of subsections (1) and (3) be deemed to be a right to claim compensation under section 17 of this Act arising on the same date as the cause of action of such third party under the said section 17: Provided that if the recovery of any such amount has been debarred by virtue of this subsection, any compensation thereafter awarded to the third party under this Act shall be reduced by the amount concerned.

 

(5)Notwithstanding section 149ter of the Defence Act, 1957 (Act No. 44 of 1957), or of a similarly worded section of another Act of Parliament governing the South African National Defence Force, any right under the said sections to recover an amount which under the said legislation is required to be paid to a third party in circumstances other than those mentioned in section 18(3), shall for the purposes of subsections (1) and (3) be deemed to be a right to claim compensation under section 17 of this Act arising on the same date as the cause of action of such third party under the said section 17: Provided that if the recovery of any such amount has been debarred by virtue of this subsection, any compensation thereafter awarded to the third party under this Act shall be reduced by the amount concerned.