Zelda Venter
PRETORIA: The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) will for once not pay damages to a commuter who fell out of a train.
Annah Ndakana claimed in the high court in Pretoria that she fell and landed on the tracks due to the negligence of the train driver.
However, the court turned down her claim.
Prasa is often sued by commuters who are injured due to the negligence of its officials, but in this case Judge Natvarlal Ranchod said it was not at fault.
Ndakana said she left school early on March 27, 2012 and took a train back to Saulsville, near Atteridgeville. It was only her second time travelling by train.
The train was full and she sat on one of the benches closest to the sliding doors. When the train stopped at Saulsville station, she said, the passengers started to disembark.
She testified that she waited two or three minutes after the train had stopped before disembarking. While she was getting off the train, it started moving forward, she said.
She grabbed the railing next to the door in an attempt to keep her balance.
Her body was already outside the train and she saw a guard standing on the tracks in front of the train waving a red flag, she told the court.
She heard a loud siren and lost her grip, falling between the tracks, hitting the left side of her body on the platform.
According to her, the train was still moving forward at that stage.
Ndakana said she then fell underneath the train, which immediately stopped. She fractured her hip and arm, and suffered numerous bruises and lacerations.
The guard said after the train stopped, he opened the doors so the passengers could disembark. Immediately after this, while still standing there, an official told him someone had fallen on the tracks.
The train driver testified that when the guard opened the doors for the passengers to disembark, he got out and walked to the back of the train, as he had to drive the train back to Pretoria station.
He was thus not in the train when the passenger claimed it had moved forward.
Judge Ranchod questioned Ndakana’s version on various aspects, including why she said it had taken her several minutes to disembark, yet she said she was sitting directly next to the doors opening on to the platform.
The judge said the train driver made a good impression on him and he found his evidence to be reliable. The court accepted his evidence that after he stopped the train, he got out and walked to the back of the train to turn it around.
The judge turned down the claim, stating it could not be found that Ndakana was injured due to the fault of Prasa.