Motorist’s battle after car damaged at mall
Car owner told to claim from municipality
WHEN Amalinda resident Buyelwa Nyamela parked at a mall in Amalinda she never anticipated she would return to find it shattered.
Nyamela, a nurse at a local health centre, parked her Renault Captur outside a store at an Amalinda shopping mall on a windy day.
When she emerged from the mall, her car had been badly damaged by a roof tile which fell from the mall’s roof.
But the centre manager told her the incident was the responsibility of Buffalo City Metro’s disaster management department.
Buffalo City Metro spokesman Sibusiso Cindi rubbished the claim, calling it “nonsense” and urged Nyamela to open a case against the owner and the mall with the police.
“Honestly speaking, the manager is talking nonsense. The mall doesn’t belong to the municipality, it belongs to the private business.
“The owner should account for putting the lives of customers at risk. Imagine if the roof [tile] had fallen on a baby.”
Cindi said their disaster office was only responsible for victims of natural disasters like floods, drought and fires.
“If you are going down Oxford Street and then a crook snatches your purse, you can’t expect the municipality to compensate you for that. We deal with serious threats that affect a community.
“As this institution we sympathise with the lady for the damages caused by the mall but the owner ... has to account.”
Speaking to the Dispatch yesterday, a fuming Nyamela said she wanted the mall to pay for the repair of the car.
“This centre manager, known only as Albert to me, said that the problem of the building was the competency of the disaster management department and therefore I should complain to BCM.”
Nyamela said the mall was a safety hazard to customers.
“I left the store and my car parked under their roof and went to shop.
“When I came back I was shocked to find my car with a damaged windscreen and a big dent on the bonnet.”
Nyamela said her insurance required her to pay an excess fee of R4 010. “The total cost of the repairs is R8 400. Landlord Blake Nyamana said the building was damaged by a truck that hit the roof when it was reversing last week. “I saw that the asbestos was damaged. “I’ve asked the victim to furnish me with her insurance details. “I will fix the matter. “Her insurance will be contacted soon by my insurance.”
The assistant manager of the store where the car had been parked, Nobakhe Peter, said: “We assisted the victim by giving her the contact numbers of the centre manager.
“We also sympathised with her and showed emotional support but we are not the owners of the building so from our side there is nothing we can do.”
The Dispatch tried several times to get hold of the Amalinda Main Road Shoprite shopping centre manager known as Albert without success yesterday. —