Victim’s family slam Ford’s response to car fires
PRETORIA: The family of Reshall Jimmy, who died when his Ford Kuga burst into flames in December 2015, yesterday slammed the car manufacturer’s handling of the fiasco around the faulty vehicles.
“They (Ford) didn’t give us answers. They made no attempts to contact us. We really appreciate (Ford chief executive for the sub-Saharan Africa region) Jeff Nemeth’s condolences today, but couldn’t they have done that two months after he passed away? They waited for a public forum to do that,” said Reshall’s brother, Kaveen, after a Ford media briefing in Pretoria.
“That is very insensitive. Now I think 50 percent of the battle has been won, because part of our goal was to get the Kuga 1.6 recalled, so that the safety of South Africans could be protected. We hope we are there.”
“The next level of the battle is to get Ford to look at what caused my brother’s death,” he said.
“It was a very senseless death. We need to get closure,” said Kaveen, who was accompanied by his sister Renisha, and their attorney, Rod Montano.
Reshall, 33, was on holiday in the Wilderness when his vehicle caught fire. He was burnt beyond recognition.
About another 40 incidents of the SUV igniting on South African roads have been reported, sparking public outrage.
Earlier yesterday, Ford Southern Africa announced that it was recalling the controversial Ford Kuga 1.6 SUV as part of a “safety recall”.
“The Ford Kuga 1.6, manufactured between December 2012 and February 2014, must be taken to a Ford dealer as soon as possible,” said Nemeth.
Nemeth said more than 4 000 vehicles were affected by the recall and emphasised that all, including those that had already been checked, “must be taken to a Ford dealer as soon as possible”.
“We’re now announcing a voluntary safety recall for the affected Ford 1.6. Our investigations have enabled us to narrow the number from the originally stated 6 300 to a total of 4 556 affected vehicles,” Nemeth said, adding that other Ford models and other Ford Kuga engine derivatives – the 1.5 and 2-litre models – would not be affected.