Pretoria - A man who worked as a packer is due to receive about R1.5 million in damages after he suffered injuries while returning from work and was accidentally pushed out of a train crowded with passengers.
Sello Thaha suffered severe injuries to his back and neck, and as a result lost his job as he could no longer lift heavy crates.
Thaha turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, to claim damages from the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa).
He said that the entity had a duty to ensure the safety of its passengers and not to allow trains to move while the doors were open.
Prasa, however, argued that Thaha should also be held accountable because he should not have boarded an overcrowded train.
The court earlier ruled that Prasa was 90% liable for the damages which Thaha could prove that he had suffered.
Judge Colleen Collis has now ruled that Prasa should pay various amounts to him, which included general damages and loss of earnings, amounting to about R1.5m.
Thaha told the court that he was a regular train commuter who on July 20, 2016, had walked with a colleague from their workplace to the Olifantsfontein train station to board a train to the Germiston station.
They would then board another train to Kwesine Station, which was near Katlehong where Thaha lived.
He boarded the train at Olifantsfontein and on arrival at Germiston Station waited for his connecting train to Kwesine.
The train arrived late and was packed with commuters, Thaha said.
He boarded the train and stood against a steel pole to balance himself.
The steel pole was not far from the entrance/exit door.
Thaha testified that the door of the coach was open during the movement of the train.
The train stopped at Kutalo Station, the first stop after Germiston, and thereafter proceeded to Elsburg.
However, just before Elsburg Station the train suddenly stopped.
After about five minutes the train pulled off again and it was at this point that he was pushed from behind and fell out of the train.
He believes that the momentum of the many commuters inside the train led to him being pushed out.
Thaha was later taken to hospital, where he had remained for several weeks.
The court found that Thaha was a lawful passenger on the train from Germiston to Katlehong.
His evidence that the train doors from Olifantsfontein to Germiston were closed, however, were open from Germiston to Katlehong, was accepted by the court.
Prasa did not dispute this.
The court found that Prasa had a duty to ensure commuter safety.
It referred to a well known Constitutional Court judgment in this regard, which said: “Public carriers like Prasa have always been regarded as owing a legal duty to their passengers to protect them from suffering physical harm while making use of their transport service.”
The Constitutional Court further said that if this duty was breached, it could lead to Prasa being liable for damages towards commuters.
Various experts were called to give their opinion regarding the damages which Thaha had suffered.
It was found that with his limited educational qualifications and cognitive ability, he was unlikely to find any job in the sedentary or light domain of work, nor could he do any work which involved heavy lifting.
While Thaha said that he was trying to find employment, he has remained unemployed since the accident.
Pretoria News