High Court voids R11.6 million accident fund award

23 September 2016 - 09:27 By DAVE CHAMBERS

When Glenn Bee was awarded R11.6-million for loss of earnings after a hit-and-run accident he thought it would allow him to retire in comfort. But this week the Cape Town High Court agreed with the Road Accident Fund that the award should be scrapped, saying Bee had not lost earnings because the company he ran with his brother had not stopped paying him his half of the profits.Former big wave surfer Bee, 65, told The Times yesterday the ruling had thrown him into turmoil."I'm in two minds about whether to take it further," he said. "I'm stopping work at the end of the year - I'm a big liability and it's not fair for me to carry on - so I'm trusting and praying I can get by."Bee said the brain damage he suffered in the accident affected his memory. "I can't function in the way I could before," he said.Liam Jelliman, 25, was jailed for two years in 2010, two-and-a-half years after the accident near Kommetjie that killed Bee's cycling companion, Brian Crabb, 35.Witnesses said that after Jelliman's bakkie hit the cyclists he stopped, dragged a buckled bicycle from under his vehicle, and then drove off.Bee was running Bee Painters and Waterproofers with his brother, Russ, and was off work for a year recovering from his injuries.He told the court that when he returned to work he was unable to play the same role.In its ruling scrapping the damages award, a full bench chaired by Judge Lister Nuku agreed with the RAF's complaint that Bee had not lost the past and future earnings for which the original court had compensated him...

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