Interchange employee angered by ‘negligence’

A former Stefanutti Stocks employee, who worked at the Ballito N2 interchange is accusing the company of negligence and “lacking of humanity”.

Henry Khuzwayo was injured on the site on January 24 and was told by supervisors that it was a minor injury.

“I was hammering a steel peg into the ground when it broke into pieces and pierced my leg. The safety officer cleaned my wound and said it was a minor injury and I should be fine the next day,” said Khuzwayo.

He said he was in severe pain so he went to his doctor in Shakaskraal who referred him to Stanger Hospital for x-rays. On January 27, a surgeon at the hospital operated on his leg and removed a bean-sized
piece of metal which Khuzwayo took to work the following day.

“When I showed my supervisors what had happened, they did not even apologise. One of them accused me of lying and said it was impossible that the metal had come out of my leg,” said Khuzwayo.

He showed the Courier a video recorded during his operation and said he wants the company to reimburse him for medical costs.

“It was an injury on duty but they are denying the whole thing happened. They even refused to fill in the form I got from the labour department about my injury. I have now taken the matter to the Federated Employers’ Mutual Assurance Co. Ltd (FEMA) because the law states that I should be compensated for occupational injuries,” said Khuzwayo.

A FEMA official who preferred to remain anonymous said he could not comment on Khuzwayo’s case because they were still conducting an investigation.

“If he was really injured on site then by law he should be reimbursed for his medical bills,” he said.

Several attempts to get comment from Stefanutti Stocks were unsuccessful.