A former security branch officer who was forced into retirement after suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been given another chance to fight for better disability compensation.
The officer will have to plead his case before a newly constituted tribunal in a bid to secure full (100%) compensation instead of the 20% partial compensation he received for leaving the force.
This comes after the Western Cape High Court set aside a decision by the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) tribunal based on an incorrect assessment of Hendrick Wallace Roelofse’s medical condition.
In July last year, the tribunal upheld a commissioner’s finding that Roelofse had sustained a 20% permanent disability, which saw him receiving a lump sum of only R155,174 upon his early retirement in 2017.
Roelofse appealed the ruling, arguing that his condition had left him completely and permanently disabled and that the extent of his impairment should have been assessed at 100%.
In delivering judgment, acting high court judge Penelope Magona-Dano found the tribunal had materially misdirected itself in assessing Roelofse’s psychiatric impairment.
Magona-Dano criticised the tribunal for relying on a Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score to determine Roelofse’s impairment.
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The court described the approach as “fundamentally flawed” and ordered that the matter be reconsidered by a different tribunal.
“Moreover, it is well established that a court or tribunal is required to evaluate expert evidence and the reasoning underlying it, and is not permitted to substitute its own opinion in matters requiring specialised knowledge.
“In my view, by purporting to determine, in the absence of expert assessment, what the applicant’s scores would have been under the BPRS (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale) and PIRS (Polygenic Risk Scores), the tribunal also impermissibly assumed the role of an expert.”
BPRS is a widely used clinician-administered tool designed to assess the severity of psychopathology in patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, while PIRS represents an individual’s genetic predisposition for a specific mental health condition or trait.
Roelofse was diagnosed with PTSD in 2014 after an incident at work.
He was transferred to George where he continued to do active police work, which included acting as a first responder. However, he could not cope.
He was medically boarded in 2017.
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Magona-Dano said it was clear from the transcript of the proceedings before the tribunal, as well as its determination, that it failed to adhere to its own internal circular.
She found that the tribunal decided the matter without referral for further assessment and instead speculated on what the outcome would be.
“The tribunal was required, under the framework of the COIDA, to determine psychiatric impairment on the basis of proper medical evidence. In the absence of any evidentiary foundation for the inferred scores, it materially misdirected itself. I would find that its conclusion is, accordingly, unsustainable.
“In my view, and to avoid belabouring the point, the tribunal’s failure to procure, or direct, a further assessment where such evidence was plainly required amounts to a material misdirection,” she said.
Sowetan
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