RAF to pay R2m to man who lost leg

Published May 27, 2014

Share

Johannesburg -

The Road Accident Fund is due to pay more than R2 million to a Free State man for future loss in income after he lost a leg in a car accident.

Although Ntozakhe Alfred Ndinisa, 25, of Welkom, will be able to do light work following the accident, the North Gauteng High Court was told that he will in all probability never be able to get a job in the open market with his disability.

For most of his adult life Ndinisa worked as a gardener, but he was employed in a supermarket bakery at the time of the accident.

He was a passenger in a vehicle belonging to the supermarket when the driver lost control near Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga.

The driver was allegedly driving too fast and failed to apply brakes.

Ndinisa managed to free himself from the overturned vehicle, but as he tried to stand, he noticed his leg was skew. He suffered severe injury to his right leg and it had to be amputated above the knee.

Ndinisa had to walk with crutches for months before he was eventually fitted with prostheses.

The RAF accepted liability for the accident and earlier paid Ndinisa R700 000 in general damages. The only issue the court had to determine, after listening to the evidence of several experts, was how much he should be compensated in terms of future loss of income.

His services were terminated at the supermarket due to his incapacity to work as a result of the accident.

Determining the money he would have earned if he had not lost his leg, the court took into account that he had passed Grade 10 and worked as a gardener earning R800 a month. He had worked at the supermarket for 18 months, earning R1 800 a month.

He is receiving a disability grant from the state.

Judge W Hughes took into account that he would have worked up to the age of 65 but was now unemployable. Ndinisa had been employed since leaving school.

He ordered that the R2m be paid to Ndinisa and held in a trust fund.

The RAF will also have to foot the bill for Ndinisa’s future medical expenses.

Pretoria News

Related Topics: