Ford SA starts settlement talks
KUGA DEATHS: COMMISSION PLANNED TO PROSECUTE
NCC says negotiations with Ford are expected to be finalised by end October.
Ford Southern Africa has initiated settlement negotiations with the National Consumer Commission (NCC) over the latter’s plans to prosecute the car manufacturer for alleged contraventions of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) related to the Ford Kuga 1.6 Ecoboost.
Under pressure from the NCC, Ford in January 2017, launched a voluntary safety recall for 4 566 Kuga 1.6l models to address an engine overheating problem that until that date had caused fires in at least 39 such models.
NCC deputy commissioner Thezi Mabuza confirmed this week Ford had initiated settlement negotiations but that the matter was still subject to negotiations.
Ford SA GM of communications Minesh Bhagaloo says it is communicating with the NCC and until these discussions have concluded,
it can’t comment.
Mabuza indicated the negotiations with Ford are expected to be finalised by end October. “At this stage we are not in a position to divulge Ford’s basis of the offer.”
Mabuza confirmed the National Consumer Tribunal could, in terms of the CPA, impose an administrative fine of a maximum 10% of the respondent’s annual turnover during the preceding financial year, or R1 million.
It is believed Ford has concluded a settlement with the family of Reshall Jimmy, who was found dead in his burnt-out 2014 Kuga on December 4 2015.
His family has consistently claimed an electrical fire caused his death and denied allegations that he had been murdered or committed suicide.
The Jimmy family earlier this week withdrew from a Western Cape High Court inquest into his death.
Asked whether Ford had approached the family with any agreement Renisha Jimmy, Reshall Jimmy’s sister, told 702 Live: “I’m not at liberty to discuss that. We have come to a resolve and that is where we are.”
Bhagaloo declined to confirm or deny that Ford had entered into a settlement agreement. “Ford will continue to cooperate fully with the justice system and the affected parties to understand what transpired,” he said. Then-NCC commissioner Ebrahim Mohamed told parliament’s portfolio committee on trade and industry in March 2017 that the NCC investigation into the Kuga was prompted by complaints raising issues beyond the 1.6l model safety recall. In a subsequent presentation in 2018, Mohamed said the categories of complaints lodged included:
We have come to a resolve and that is where we are
Those specifically relating to burnt Ford Kugas;
Those alleging defects other than fires;
Those alleging economic loss due to an alleged drop in the Kuga value and therefore the trade-in or resale value;
Consumers apprehensive that their safety and lives were at stake and therefore didn’t want to drive Kugas; and
Complaints that didn’t relate to Kugas but to other Ford models that evinced the same issues (alleged fires and defects).