By Kwanele Dhladhla
Drink drivers will soon face double jeopardy for not only being ineligible to claim any funds from the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (SMVAF) but also being expected to refund all claims paid out to survivors of accidents that they cause.
This new obligation has been proposed in the Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund Bill of 2025, which has been tabled by Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg in Parliament. Apart from penalising drunk and negligent drivers, the proposed legislation has also proposed an increase of claims by up to E2 million for multiple claimants per accident occurrence.
The bill stipulates that the total liability of the fund under section 19(1) in respect of a motor vehicle accident shall not exceed the sum of E1 million per claimant or E3 million in respect of multiple claimants per occurrence.
Currently, the total amount that could be claimed by multiple claimants is E1 million.
In section 30 of the bill, which currently awaits approval by Parliament, it has been stipulated that despite the provisions of any other law, where SMVAF (the Fund) has paid or made an undertaking to pay any damages in terms of the Act, the fund shall have the right to recover such amount paid or undertaken to be paid as damages to the claimant(s) from the negligent person, if at the time of the motor vehicle accident the negligent person was under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs.
RELATED: Road accidents cost MVA E100 million per year
It was explained that the same fate would apply to any person found to have been driving the motor vehicle recklessly or driving without being the holder of a valid driving licence.
If the car that caused the accident was faulty or had been stolen, the person who owns it, looks after it, or legally has it, and knew or should have known it was stolen, can be held responsible for allowing it to be driven carelessly or by someone drunk.
“Despite the provisions of any other law, where the fund has paid or undertaken to pay any sum as damages to claimants, it shall, within three years from the date of settling a claim or claims arising from a motor vehicle accident that is subject to the fund’s right of recourse, exercise the right to recover such sum from the negligent driver or owner of the negligently driven motor vehicle without the onus to prove any causal link between the circumstances and the occurrence of the motor vehicle accident giving rise to the loss or harm sustained by the claimant(s),” read the bill in part.
The bill also proposes that the amount claimed for general damages be doubled.
RELATED: PAC’s tough recommendations for messy public enterprises
“The total liability of the Fund under section 19(1) in respect of general damages shall not exceed three hundred Emalangeni (E300,000) per claimant assessable within the applicable claim limit,” reads the act in part.
At present, the amount that could be claimed for general damages is E150,000. In the bill, it has also been proposed that the total liability of the Fund under section 19(1) in respect of claims for loss of support as determined by a prescribed method for calculating the dependents’ loss and loss of income shall in either case does not exceed the sum of E300 000 in respect of a dependent or a claimant respectively.
“Where the income cannot be proved by the claimant to the satisfaction of the Fund, the Fund may use the local industry standard or the informal sector minimum wage of the said claimant as a basis for the calculation of the income,” the act proposes.
The MVA Fund was established by an Act of Parliament under the Motor Vehicle Accidents Act No. 13 of 1991 as the instrument by which the Government of Eswatini compensates road accident survivors who have suffered bodily injuries or loss of support following the death of breadwinners.
In 2011, the Act was amended to incorporate the rehabilitation of accident victims rather than outright compensation in monetary terms, as some claimants would then misuse the funds intended for their rehabilitation.
In 2020, the fund adopted a new Strategy known as the Seamless Sincephetelo Strategy 20/24, whereby the Fund now actively participates in the post-crash value chain.
It ensures that all road crash victims are well taken care of from the accident site (evacuation) up until the victim is ready to return to their normal life as it was before the accident occurrence (rehabilitation), down to the compensation of the accident victim.
The fund also now actively participates in the alleviation of road accidents through the newly established Accident Prevention and Public Education Department and has recently crafted the Internal Accident Prevention Strategy in collaboration with relevant key players in the national road safety space.
