An eMalahleni (Witbank) woman is claiming R115 000 in damages from Pick n Pay Highveld Mall after a supermarket employee allegedly ran into her at high speed with a shopping trolley.
Sophia Smit, 66, said in papers before the Pretoria High Court that her back and arm were injured in the accident and she had to be treated in hospital. It is alleged that the injuries exacerbated a back condition she had before.
She was shopping in the supermarket on March 3 last year when a worker pushed a shopping trolley “at high speed” along an aisle in which she was walking.
The trolley crashed into her, after which she was helped to her feet.
She was put in a wheelchair and taken to hospital.
Smit is blaming the retail giant for her injuries, saying it has a duty to ensure that customers in its stores are not unnecessarily subjected to the risk of being injured.
Pick n Pay was negligent as it had to take steps to prevent its workers from pushing shopping trolleys at high speed in a way that could pose a danger to the public, she said.
The store should at least warn the public that its employees might push trolleys during shopping hours to stock shelves and that this might pose a danger to other people, Smit said.
She had incurred costs as she had to undergo treatment in hospital. She might also need an operation in future, she said.
Smit is claiming damages for the medical costs she has incurred and those she is expected to incur, as well as for pain, suffering, emotional shock and trauma.
She said she was a housewife and had been actively involved in her housework before the accident. She complained that she was no longer as active as before because she could no longer walk far, nor could she bend.
Pick n Pay objected to the particulars set out in her claim and said the averments Smit made were vague.
Judge Joseph Raulinga ordered Smit to amend her particulars of claim to remove the respondent’s causes of complaint.
Pretoria News