The 200-bed private Sunshine Hospital in Benoni, was forced to close its doors in May due to financial insolvency, citing more than R300m in unpaid claims from the Road Accident Fund (RAF). - Business Day (22 October 2025)
The hospital began treating motor vehicle accident victims at the Road Accident Fund’s (RAF) request in 2003, the owner, Kenneth Ford, told the Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA). According to Ford the hospital's 20-year relationship with the fund was “fraught with erratic payments, litigation and a total disregard for the rule of law”.
By 29 September the hospital had issued 6,285 summonses against the RAF and obtained 647 judgments totalling R180.4m.
“The legal costs and interest from these delays alone were estimated at R23.8m. A court order granted on 15 December 2020 required the RAF to pay monthly instalments of R36.9m. However, the fund ceased these payments in May 2022, prompting further litigation that resulted in a second judgment for R301.7m.”
The case will be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal on 12 November.