Ishmael Sokabo had come to Joburg to celebrate Christmas with his family last year but what was meant to be a joyous occasion turned into hell when a Fidelity Services Group car bumped his parked vehicle at a shopping mall on Christmas Eve.
For six months his Toyota Hilux bakkie has been gathering dust at his Mamelodi home in Tshwane as Fidelity allegedly gave him the run-around about paying him the R3,000 needed to fix the vehicle as agreed. The car's bull-bar, front bumper and grill are damaged and the unemployed Sokabo, 56, was quoted between R2,600 and R2,950 by panelbeaters. His vehicle is uninsured.
"After we had agreed that Fidelity would pay for damages they asked me to send the car's ownership details and mine. I did so in January but months went on without any movement from their side. They called again in May and asked me to submit the same the documents I gave them in January. Since then they have been ignoring my calls and now I'm stuck with a car I can't use. I have to rely on my wife's vehicle which is a big inconvenience to me. I don't know what to do anymore because I can't afford to take them to court," Sokabo told Sowetan Consumer last week.
His woes started when he drove with his family from Mamelodi to visit his relatives in Turffontein, Johannesburg, for Christmas last year.
"Everything was fine and people were happy. I then asked my cousin and my brother to go to the shops to buy things we'd need for Christmas Day. They went to the Southdale Mall and parked the car in the parking bay and carried on with their business. When they came out they found the vehicle damaged and, luckily for them, the Fidelity employee was still around and other shoppers pointed him out. We took pictures of the damage.
"The other said he did not have a licence and was authorised to drive the car and wanted to make a 'gentlemen's agreement with my cousin',". He said he'd pay for the damage but I refused that offer and reported the matter to his employer and I also made an affidavit with the police," said Sokabo.
The parties met at Fidelity's office where the company conceded that it would fix the vehicle, said Sokabo.
Sowetan Consumer contacted the multi-national company a day after interviewing Sokabo and their spokesperson Charnel Hattingh said they were aware of the incident.
"We confirm the accident did occur. Our claims department has been in contact with the third party and the claim has been processed," said Hattingh.
She, however, did not respond when asked whether the implicated employee was on duty at the time of the accident, why it took so long to process Sokabo's claim and what the time frame would be to conclude the matter.
In response Sokabo said: "I'm glad that they are saying they are doing something when your newspaper contacts them because we have been struggling to get any information from them."
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