Thaba Chweu ordered to pay up
On Friday February 3, the High Court ruled that not only would TCLM pay the amount for loss of income, but it was ordered to pay all Bond’s costs of suit on the High Court scale to date.
LYDENBURG – Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) has been ordered by the Pretoria High Court to pay no less than R1 550 000 in respect of loss of earnings to Mr Charles Collin Bond after he hit a pothole with his motorcycle in Viljoen Street in 2011.
In September the Sheriff laid claim on seven municipal vehicles to the combined value of R790 000, after Thaba Chweu failed to honour a payment agreement between TCLM and Bond’s legal team, Pieter Nel Attorneys in Mbombela. This is the same case in which TCLM has now been ordered to pay R1 550 000.
According to Mr Juan Terblanché from Pieter Nel Attorneys, the accident in which Bond sustained injuries and damages occurred in 2011. “TCLM accepted a percentage of accountability for the damages and medical expenses that Bond incurred when his motorcycle hit the pothole. They, however, failed to make payment, and thus we applied for the warrant of execution.” Bond lived in Lydenburg at the time, but has since relocated. On Friday February 3, the High Court ruled that not only would TCLM pay the amount for loss of income, but it was ordered to pay all Bond’s costs of suit on the High Court scale to date.
Furthermore, the municipality was also ordered to pay the costs of attending to the examinations and obtaining all the medicolegal and actuarial reports, addendum reports, and any joint reports, as well as the qualifying and reservation fees and court attendances of 10 experts. The municipality also has to pay the preparation of six trial bundles, the costs of senior-junior counsel, the costs of attorney and correspondent attorneys which include travelling costs, attendance to court, all pre-trial conferences, formulation of pre-trial minutes, and costs for actual attendances to pretrial conferences.
Pieter Nel Attorneys said this amount is in respect of the claimant’s past and future loss of earnings and earning capacity, and in addition to the R880 731 52 which was recovered in 2016 from the municipality regarding the client’s damage to the motorcycle, medical expenses, and satisfaction for pain and suffering. The newspaper sent through queries to TCLM in order to establish whether it will appeal the ruling of the High Court. Mr Puleng Mapheto, communications manager at TCLM, said he was still waiting for feedback from the municipality’s legal department.
