CoH, Ministry of Transport given 14-day ultimatum to pay US$15,000 after motorist fell in a ditch

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has given a 14 day ultimatum which ends Friday to City of Harare and the Ministry of Transport to pay over US$15 000 to Rodrick Hahlani a Harare motorist, for damages caused to his vehicle which fell into an open & unmarked ditch, left uncoved.

A BMW vehicle belonging to Hahlani, a Harare resident, fell into a ditch in Belgravia suburb on 12 February after he hit a heap of soil which was left uncollected with no barricade tape surrounding the trench & neither was there any signage to caution motorists when driving.

After the incident, Hahlani was trapped in his vehicle that had fallen into the ditch & he was subsequently assisted by 2 well-wishers from UZ who witnessed the incident occurring.

The well-wishers were instrumental in removing Hahlani from the wreckage of his vehicle using the back window on the driver’s side.

Hahlani sustained some injuries on his head & mouth from the impact of his vehicle falling into the ditch & received treatment at a medical facility in Harare. The Harare motorist then engaged @IdirasheC of ZLHRL who recently wrote a letter of demand to @cohsunshinecity & @MinistryofTID
demanding to be paid damages amounting to US$12 965 & ZWL600 000 within 14 days as a result of negligence by the 2 institutions failure of which Hahlani will institute legal proceedings against them. The self-employed.

entrepreneur argued that CoH and Ministry of Transport breached their duty of care by wrongfully & negligently creating a dangerous situation by leaving the trench exposed & unreasonably failed to take reasonable precautions to protect him & other members of the public from harm which could have easily been foreseen & guarded against.

He charged that @cohsunshinecity
& @MinistryofTID have a statutory duty to protect members of the public from hazard by covering trench & erecting warning signs, lights, flags & tape to notify motorists of the hazard.

Out of a total of US$12 965, US$9 000 will be for replacement of his BMW vehicle, US$3 750 as damages for loss of income as he was impeded from carrying out his day to day business & US$135 as costs for towing his damaged car from the accident scene.

From a total of ZWL600 000, ZWL400 000 will be damages for pain & suffering while ZWL200 000 will cater for general damages for contumelia. Hahlani is the latest aggrieved person to sue City of Harare among several people.

-ZLHR