News / National
Ministry ordered to pay $47,000 compensation
21 May 2016 at 22:10hrs | Views
A HIGH Court judge has ordered the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to pay more than $47,000 to a Bulawayo man who sustained permanent injuries when a speeding senior government official collided with a commuter omnibus which he was travelling in four years ago.
Justice Martin Makonese's ruling follows an application for a default judgment filed at the Bulawayo High Court by Abel Mkhwananzi, 71, through his lawyers Majoko and Majoko Legal Practitioners.
In papers before the court, the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and its Matabeleland South provincial social welfare officer, Tirivavi Totamirepi were cited as the defendants.
Mkhwananzi sustained hip and knee injuries and he had to undergo surgery outside the country.
Justice Makonese ordered the defendants to pay Mkhwananzi $47,309 for special damages for medical expenses, loss of amenities of life, disfigurement, pain and suffering.
"I've no difficulty at all in accepting the claim for future medical treatment as sufficient evidence has been placed before the court detailing the exact nature of treatment to be rendered to the plaintiff as well as precise costs thereof. In assessing damages for pain and suffering the prime considerations are the duration and intensity of the pain," said the judge.
Justice Makonese said Mkhwananzi, whose disability is rated at 37 percent, can no longer do ordinary chores without assistance.
Totamirepi, 48, was in July, 2012, fined $400 and banned from driving for six months by Gwanda magistrate Innocent Bepura who convicted him of two counts of culpable homicide following the accident in February 2012.
The court heard that Totamirepi was driving a Mahindra pick-up truck registration number GLL 6641 with one passenger towards Bulawayo along the Bulawayo–Beitbridge Road.
On reaching the 24km peg from Bulawayo near Match Binding in Esigodini, he lost control of the` vehicle and encroached into the opposite lane and collided with a Toyota Hiace commuter omnibus.
As a result, one passenger in the commuter omnibus, Nkosilathi Baloyi, died on the spot while another who was in the same vehicle, Jabulani Mathuthu, died on admission to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH).
The court established that Totamirepi was speeding and failed to control his vehicle resulting in the collision.
The defendants, through the Civil Division in the Attorney-General Office, entered an appearance to defend but were barred for failing to file their pleas on time, which resulted in the matter being placed on the unopposed roll.
Justice Martin Makonese's ruling follows an application for a default judgment filed at the Bulawayo High Court by Abel Mkhwananzi, 71, through his lawyers Majoko and Majoko Legal Practitioners.
In papers before the court, the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and its Matabeleland South provincial social welfare officer, Tirivavi Totamirepi were cited as the defendants.
Mkhwananzi sustained hip and knee injuries and he had to undergo surgery outside the country.
Justice Makonese ordered the defendants to pay Mkhwananzi $47,309 for special damages for medical expenses, loss of amenities of life, disfigurement, pain and suffering.
"I've no difficulty at all in accepting the claim for future medical treatment as sufficient evidence has been placed before the court detailing the exact nature of treatment to be rendered to the plaintiff as well as precise costs thereof. In assessing damages for pain and suffering the prime considerations are the duration and intensity of the pain," said the judge.
Totamirepi, 48, was in July, 2012, fined $400 and banned from driving for six months by Gwanda magistrate Innocent Bepura who convicted him of two counts of culpable homicide following the accident in February 2012.
The court heard that Totamirepi was driving a Mahindra pick-up truck registration number GLL 6641 with one passenger towards Bulawayo along the Bulawayo–Beitbridge Road.
On reaching the 24km peg from Bulawayo near Match Binding in Esigodini, he lost control of the` vehicle and encroached into the opposite lane and collided with a Toyota Hiace commuter omnibus.
As a result, one passenger in the commuter omnibus, Nkosilathi Baloyi, died on the spot while another who was in the same vehicle, Jabulani Mathuthu, died on admission to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH).
The court established that Totamirepi was speeding and failed to control his vehicle resulting in the collision.
The defendants, through the Civil Division in the Attorney-General Office, entered an appearance to defend but were barred for failing to file their pleas on time, which resulted in the matter being placed on the unopposed roll.
Source - chronicle
