UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
College of Law
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
LME3701: Research Methodology
Assignment 2: Draft Research Proposal
The Resolution of Civil Medical Negligence Claims in South Africa:
A Comparative Analysis with Zimbabwe
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
LME3701
Module Code:
Research Methodology
Module Name:
[Student Name]
Student Name:
[Student Number]
Student Number:
Assignment 2: Research Proposal
Assignment:
Semester 1, 2026
Semester:
April 2026
Due Date:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for
LME3701: Research Methodology — UNISA 2026
,UNISA | LME3701 Research Methods — Assignment 2, 2026
Contents
1 1. Title of the Research 5
2 2. Introduction and Background 6
3 3. Problem Statement 8
4 4. Research Questions 9
4.1 4.1 Primary Research Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.2 4.2 Secondary Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5 5. Significance of the Research 10
6 6. Aims and Objectives of the Research 11
6.1 6.1 Primary Aim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6.2 6.2 Specific Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7 7. Research Methodology 12
7.1 7.1 Methodological Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7.2 7.2 Sources of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7.2.1 7.2.1 Primary Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7.2.2 7.2.2 Secondary Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
7.3 7.3 Method of Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8 8. Historical Development of the Law in South Africa (1994 to Present) 14
8.1 8.1 The Pre-1994 Common Law Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
8.2 8.2 The Constitutional Era: 1994 Onwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
8.3 8.3 Key Legislation: The National Health Act 61 of 2003 . . . . . . . . . 15
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,UNISA | LME3701 Research Methods — Assignment 2, 2026
8.4 8.4 The Escalation of Claims: 2007 Onwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
8.5 8.5 Case Law Development: Selected Landmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
9 9. Constitutional Rights as the Normative Foundation 17
10 10. The Current Legal Framework in South Africa 19
10.1 10.1 The Delictual Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
10.2 10.2 State Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
10.3 10.3 The Lump Sum Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
10.4 10.4 The Role of Rule 41A Mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
11 11. The Current Legal Framework in Zimbabwe: A Comparative Overview 21
11.1 11.1 Common Law Heritage and Constitutional Framework . . . . . . . 21
11.2 11.2 The Health Professions Act of 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
11.3 11.3 The Public Health Act of 2018 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
11.4 11.4 Comparative Analysis: South Africa and Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . 22
12 12. Proposed Solutions: A Critical Overview 23
12.1 12.1 Compulsory Pre-Litigation Mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
12.2 12.2 Specialised Health Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
12.3 12.3 The No-Fault Compensation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
12.4 12.4 Periodic Payment Orders and Reform of the Lump Sum Rule . . . 24
13 13. Preliminary Thesis 26
14 14. Proposed Structure of the Final Research Document 27
15 15. Ethical Considerations 28
16 16. Limitations of the Research 29
Page 3 of 32
, UNISA | LME3701 Research Methods — Assignment 2, 2026
Reference List 30
Page 4 of 32
College of Law
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
LME3701: Research Methodology
Assignment 2: Draft Research Proposal
The Resolution of Civil Medical Negligence Claims in South Africa:
A Comparative Analysis with Zimbabwe
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
LME3701
Module Code:
Research Methodology
Module Name:
[Student Name]
Student Name:
[Student Number]
Student Number:
Assignment 2: Research Proposal
Assignment:
Semester 1, 2026
Semester:
April 2026
Due Date:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for
LME3701: Research Methodology — UNISA 2026
,UNISA | LME3701 Research Methods — Assignment 2, 2026
Contents
1 1. Title of the Research 5
2 2. Introduction and Background 6
3 3. Problem Statement 8
4 4. Research Questions 9
4.1 4.1 Primary Research Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.2 4.2 Secondary Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5 5. Significance of the Research 10
6 6. Aims and Objectives of the Research 11
6.1 6.1 Primary Aim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6.2 6.2 Specific Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7 7. Research Methodology 12
7.1 7.1 Methodological Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7.2 7.2 Sources of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7.2.1 7.2.1 Primary Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7.2.2 7.2.2 Secondary Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
7.3 7.3 Method of Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8 8. Historical Development of the Law in South Africa (1994 to Present) 14
8.1 8.1 The Pre-1994 Common Law Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
8.2 8.2 The Constitutional Era: 1994 Onwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
8.3 8.3 Key Legislation: The National Health Act 61 of 2003 . . . . . . . . . 15
Page 2 of 32
,UNISA | LME3701 Research Methods — Assignment 2, 2026
8.4 8.4 The Escalation of Claims: 2007 Onwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
8.5 8.5 Case Law Development: Selected Landmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
9 9. Constitutional Rights as the Normative Foundation 17
10 10. The Current Legal Framework in South Africa 19
10.1 10.1 The Delictual Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
10.2 10.2 State Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
10.3 10.3 The Lump Sum Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
10.4 10.4 The Role of Rule 41A Mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
11 11. The Current Legal Framework in Zimbabwe: A Comparative Overview 21
11.1 11.1 Common Law Heritage and Constitutional Framework . . . . . . . 21
11.2 11.2 The Health Professions Act of 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
11.3 11.3 The Public Health Act of 2018 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
11.4 11.4 Comparative Analysis: South Africa and Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . 22
12 12. Proposed Solutions: A Critical Overview 23
12.1 12.1 Compulsory Pre-Litigation Mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
12.2 12.2 Specialised Health Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
12.3 12.3 The No-Fault Compensation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
12.4 12.4 Periodic Payment Orders and Reform of the Lump Sum Rule . . . 24
13 13. Preliminary Thesis 26
14 14. Proposed Structure of the Final Research Document 27
15 15. Ethical Considerations 28
16 16. Limitations of the Research 29
Page 3 of 32
, UNISA | LME3701 Research Methods — Assignment 2, 2026
Reference List 30
Page 4 of 32
