RAF must pay up for foster child

Foster children now have the same rights as other children in a family when claiming from the Road Accident Fund.

In a landmark judgment, Pretoria High Court judge DS Fourie found the fund liable and ordered it to pay compensation for loss of support to a child whose foster father was killed in a car accident.

Roos Fortuin made the claim on behalf of her foster child after her husband, Hendrik, was killed in 2012.

When the fund refused the claim, Fortuin asked the court for damages so that she could continue to provide for the needs of the child.

The fund argued that foster care was not considered a "permanent placement option" in law so the duty of support rested on the state.

But the judge said a parent had a responsibility to ensure that a foster child was treated similarly to the other children in the household.

A settlement figure has not yet been arrived at.