A Soweto petrol station owned by a soccer boss says it is still waiting for the outcome of its insurance claim to fix a vehicle whose engine was badly damaged after a petrol attendant allegedly forgot to close its radiator cap.
David Thidiela, owner of the Black Leopards soccer club, told Sowetan Consumer at the weekend that the matter is receiving its attention and has since been handed over to its insurer for a third-party claim.
“I’ve been in this business since 1992, and it’s the first time I’ve come across a claim like this,” said Thidiela. “We had to involve our insurance, and I have assured the owner of the vehicle that the matter will be resolved. Unfortunately it’s taking longer than we had anticipated.”
His comments come a few days after the car’s owner, Nomsa Simelane from Soweto, sent two emails to the garage and copied BP’s head office and Sowetan seeking progress on her complaint lodged in June last year.
The issue was never resolved ... No one is giving me any feedback.
— Nomsa Simelane
“I am writing this email with a very heavy heart as a woman who has been taken advantage of by men after I had reported that the Protea Glen BP garage staff got my car damaged as a result of negligence in June,” her email reads.
“The issue was never resolved. In August I escalated the matter to BP head office after I was called by the owner, and I was told to submit the email of demand; that was done as well. No one is giving me any feedback.”
Simelane wrote that she was “frustrated and disappointed” at the lack of replies to her two recent emails to the petrol station and BP.
A mechanic said it would cost R16,500 to fix Simelane’s car and that there was a possibility the engine would need to be replaced, which would increase the costs. The cylinder block had cracked as a result of the car being driven without sufficient water, as the radiator lid was not closed properly by the petrol attendant.
As a result, Simelane has to rely on minibus taxis to go to work, while her ministry work has also suffered, as she could not travel to her church events in Gauteng and Mpumalanga.
The petrol station manager, Prosper Murendeni, said the business has accepted liability and that the matter was in the hands of its insurance provider.
“We have not received any emails from Simelane,” Murendeni said. “But I must also mention that it becomes difficult to respond to every little detail of this incident, as we are dealing with her [Simelane] and the insurance company at the same time. We will get back to her as soon as we know the insurance claim outcome.
