The Limpopo Health MEC has been ordered by the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), to pay R4.8m in damages to a truck driver who needed surgery. According to a Pretoria News report, he is now no longer able to work because doctors at a provincial hospital failed to operate in time after he broke his ankle.
The court earlier ordered that the health authorities were 100% liable to pay the damages which Edwin Maphosa could prove that he had suffered as a result of the negligence of the doctors.
The court was told he was “unceremoniously” hauled from a truck in which he was a passenger at the time, by the police in 2010, during which he broke his ankle. He was taken to the Musina Hospital for treatment and later transferred to the Tshilidzini Hospital in Thohoyandou where he was treated for weeks before doctors decided to operate on his ankle. Medical experts said the failure to operate immediately was extremely negligent.
His right ankle was left compromised and the joints are now unable to move in any manner.
Experts testified that as a welder, Maphosa had a bleak future due to his stiff ankle and there were no prospects of him driving a truck again.
The court was told that Maphosa was, however, a resourceful person and with a bit of cash, he would be able to start a business. The court ordered that R4.8m would be adequate compensation in this case.