The Road Accident Fund (RAF) and its head of corporate communications MacIntosh Pholela have been found by the High Court in Pretoria to have defamed a hospital group.

Newnet Properties, which trades as Sunshine Hospital, hauled the RAF and Pholela to the court over claims that the official defamed the company in an interview flighted on 24-hour news channel eNCA last year.

Pholela worked for eNCA before joining the government.

In the interview, Pholela is accused of stating that the company was involved in a “corrupt scheme” of transferring patients unlawfully and over-servicing and overcharging their patients.

Court papers showed that Pholela said Sunshine Hospital was a company involved in a corrupt scheme of moving patients from anywhere around the country to its premises in Benoni in Ekurhuleni.

“As a result of that we felt that there was over servicing and there was overcharging and the matter is in court and so until such time as the matter is finished with in court we are going to face this all the time,” reads the interview transcript.

According to Sunshine Hospital, the statement was false and an outright lie and was furthermore not the first time that these statements were made.

The company further insisted that when considering a report which had been done by investigators in the employ of the RAF and as such was released the said report found no evidence of wrongdoing and on its part

Sunshine Hospital is seeking a declaration that the statement made by Pholela and more particularly on March 15, 2024 on the news channel eNCA and specifically that the facility was involved in a corrupt scheme of moving patients from other hospitals across the country to itself and further that it was involved in over servicing and overcharging are declared to be defamatory and false.

In addition, Sunshine Hospital wants the RAF and all other persons under its authority and employed by it or under its control acting on its instructions together with the RAF to be interdicted and restrained from making any further statements that either state or imply that the company is involved in a corrupt scheme of moving patients from other hospitals across the country to itself and furthermore that the hospital was involved in over servicing and overcharging.

Sunshine Hospital also asked the high court to order that Pholela and RAF to be jointly and severally liable for its damages as occasioned by their defamatory conduct.

They also want the determination of the quantum of its damages and apology and retraction of the statements to be referred to the hearing of oral evidence.

In May, the court ruled: “The first and second respondents (RAF and Pholela) are declared to be jointly and severally liable for the applicant’s (Sunshine Hospital’s) damages occasioned by the aforementioned defamatory conduct and that the determination of the quantum of the applicant’s damages; and an apology and a retraction of the statement, are hereby referred to the hearing of oral evidence”.

Pholela said he wanted the matter to be amicably resolved as he did not want to make the RAF liable.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za

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