REFILWE MEKOA

Khosana Koalibane from Mangaung will receive money from the Free State department of roads, police and transport.

The provincial department confirmed on Wednesday during a legislature meeting in Bloemfontein that they will pay Koalibane for the damage to his car. After waiting for three years, he is hoping to receive R29 000 which he claimed when he drove into a pothole in Zastron.
Koalibane lodged his claim to the department on 28 July 2010. He says he towed his car back to Bloemfontein after the accident and is not happy how the department handled his matter.

“I’m embarrassed in our government for taking so long in a simple matter because they don’t want to fulfil their promises,” he says.
He says he wrote a letter to the department and complained that they were taking longer to resolve his matter. After a year of no response from the department, he physically approached them. “They said I should take photos and stated the speed limit was 80km/h which was 100km/h. I was driving alone on the required speed of 100km/h,” says Koalibane.

The department’s spokesperson, Saki Mohono, says the committee still has to decide on how much Koalibane will be reimbursed. “When a person’s car gets damaged on the provincial roads, they can come to our offices and claim. Preferably with a police affidavit and photos of the accident,” he says.

The department will afterwards do its own investigation into the matter to follow-up the claim. “It doesn’t mean if a person has lodged a claim of a certain amount of money, they will receive it. After an investigation, we will make our own assessment and decide how much the claimant should be paid,” says Mohono.