SCA Invalidates RAF Claim Form; Salary-History Ban and POPIA Code Open for Comment

Government Gazette 54594 carries three items requiring urgent attention. First, the Information Regulator has published a proposed Own Initiative Code of Conduct under POPIA regulating the processing of personal information — including biometrics and CCTV — at gated accesses in South Africa, with a very short 14-day comment window closing around 14 May 2026. Second, a Private Member's Employment Equity Amendment Bill proposes to ban salary-history enquiries during recruitment and mandate upfront disclosure of remuneration or remuneration ranges for vacancies, promotions, and transfers; written representations are due to the Speaker of the National Assembly within 30 days (approximately 30 May 2026). Third, proposed amendments to the Civil Aviation Regulations 2011 covering RPAS licensing, drone light shows, aerodromes, and airspace/ATS enforcement are open for comment until 29 May 2026. The gazette also records Competition Tribunal approval of five mergers (including DHL/Vital Distribution, Shoprite Financial Services, and WBHO/Zamori 172) and the CIDB's removal of 12 contractors from its register for submitting fraudulent documents, effective 31 March 2026.

The Minister of Transport gazetted a revised RAF 1 claim form (Board Notice 271 of 2022, later replaced by Board Notice 302 of 2022) that significantly expanded the documentation claimants had to submit for a valid claim. The Legal Practitioners' Indemnity Insurance Fund and others challenged the revised form on review. The full court set it aside. The RAF appealed to the SCA.

The court held: The SCA dismissed the appeal with costs. It held that the Minister's decision to prescribe the revised RAF 1 form was administrative action under PAJA, confirming the New Clicks principle that ministerial regulation-making is reviewable. The decision was procedurally unfair because the Minister failed to follow the notice-and-comment procedure required by s 4(1) of PAJA. It also lacked rationality — there was no evidence that consideration was given to whether the regulation was necessary or expedient to achieve the Act's purpose. The court further found the Minister acted under the unwarranted dictates of the RAF to side-step an internal dispute with the Department of Transport. Board Notice 271 was held to have no separate legal existence from the Minister's decision and fell with it. The 2008 RAF 1 form is reinstated as the prescribed form from 6 May 2022 until the Minister lawfully prescribes an amendment. The resubmission deadline for affected claimants was amended to 30 September 2026.

Legal impact: The judgment confirms at SCA level that ministerial regulation-making under the RAF Act is administrative action subject to full PAJA review, including notice-and-comment requirements. It reinstates the 2008 RAF 1 form as the only valid prescribed claim form, meaning the RAF cannot require the additional documentation imposed by the invalidated forms. Claimants whose lodgements were declined under the invalid form now have until 30 September 2026 to resubmit. The RAF is ordered to take all reasonable measures to inform affected claimants, including publication in at least three nationally circulated newspapers. The Minister must adopt and publish a lawful revised form within six months of the high court order.