CITY WATCH 15SUNDAY TRIBUNE JULY 5 2015

SERIOUS damage can becaused to a vehicle ifyou hit a pothole travel-ling at a speed. While it

might be costly to repair thedamage caused, the eThekwiniMunicipality has a system inplace through which you canclaim for damages.

If an investigation finds themunicipality was negligent,you will be compensated.

Thulani Ntuli, insurancemanager at the eThekwiniMunicipality, said people couldlodge a claim against themunicipality for loss or dam-age suffered from drivingthrough a pothole.

But he said lodging a claimdid not necessarily mean theclaim would be settled.

A number of steps had to beundertaken in the process.

The information requiredto process a pothole claimincludes, but is not limited to:

● Full name, address andcontact details of the claimant.

● The date and time of theloss or damage.

● The exact location of theincident.

● What was lost or damagedand any proof.

● Description of the cir-cumstances of the loss or dam-age.

● Estimated cost of totalclaim.

● Was the hazard reportedto the municipality before (theincident)? Quote the referencenumber.

● Why you are claimingfrom the municipality?

Ntuli said a claimant shouldalso provide proof of damagesin the form of photographs,proof of fair and reasonable

costs, a sworn affidavit declar-ing a claimant will not claimboth from the municipality andpersonal insurance for thesame incident, a copy of theirID and any other additionalinformation that might be nec-essary depending on the cir-cumstances of a claim.

“When we get claim infor-mation we acknowledgereceipt and conduct an investi-gation. All claims submittedare investigated. It could takeabout eight weeks to finalise aninvestigation depending on thecomplexity of the incident,”he said.

Ntuli said a claimant must

disclose the exact location ofthe incident to avoid delays.

“The findings of the investi-gation will reveal facts sur-rounding the incident andserve as the basis of paying orrejecting a claim. Not all claimslodged are paid.

“For a claim to be successfulsubject to the laws of the coun-try, including municipal by-laws, there must have been anegligent act on the part of theeThekwini Municipality.”

He said in the absence ofevidence of negligence, regret-tably no financial compensa-tion would be paid.

“The reasons for not paying

a claim will always be sent inwriting to a claimant.”

However, you can appeal ifyou are unhappy with a deci-sion.

“As a caring organisation,the municipality does allowclaimants to appeal againstdecisions.

“The appeal must be in writ-ing, marked for the attention ofthe person who sent the claimrejection letter.

“The appeal content mustspell out areas of concern andreasons a claimant says themunicipality came to an unfairconclusion. The claim isreviewed, reinvestigated and

the decision of the appeal iscommunicated to the claim-ant,” he said.

Ntuli said negligence, forexample, could include a pot-hole hazard on the road havingbeen logged via the call centrefor fixing with the referencenumber as evidence readilyavailable.

“Also, if a reasonable periodof 48 hours has lapsed from thetime the municipality becameaware of the pothole but failedto take reasonable precautionsto mitigate the potential loss ordamage, then the municipalitymay be deemed to have beennegligent.

“However inclementweather, public holidays,weekends and other unfore-seen circumstances can affectthe time span to fix a pothole,”he said.

Ntuli could not provide anestimate of how much hadbeen paid out by the city forpothole claims in the pastfinancial year.

SUNDAY Tribune readers have praised the pot-hole initiative run in partnership with theeThekwini Municipality.

They said that the series had been informa-tive and helped them to understand the ins andouts of causes and repairs.

The series has also shed light on the Roads

and Stormwater Maintenance Department,which is tasked with maintaining our roads,which includes pothole repairs.

They also sent in photographs of roads inurgent need of repair in their neighbourhoods,asking that they be dealt with.

The first complaint was in Avondale Road,

where the uneven surface was damaging cars, aresident claimed.

Photos of potholes in Mentone Road werealso submitted.

Another reader said some of the potholescould not be seen because of the shadow of thetrees alongside the road which resulted in an

awful impact when you drove through them.Potholes in Innes Road and the uneven road

edges in Nuttall Gardens, Morningside, werealso highlighted.

All the complaints have been forwarded to theRoads and Stormwater Maintenance Engineer-ing Centre to be fixed.

Innes Road, Morningside is not pothole-free. Be aware when driving along Mentone Road, Morningside.

Potholes and uneven surfaces in Nuttall Gardens, Morningside. Further potholes on Mentone Road in Morningside The uneven road surface at Gate 4,Avondale Road, Greyville.

To make enquiries or lodge a claim:Tel: 031 311 1376Fax: 031 311 1726E-mail: Claims@durban.gov.za

YULESEN Gounden, an audi-tor, drives a BMW 320e. Hedrove into a pothole en route toa client in Westmead, Pinetown,which is an industrial area.

While he noticed the numer-ous potholes on the road, he didnot report them to the munici-pality to have them repaired.

“Many trucks drive there. Ihit a large pothole but didn’tnotice the damage until I hadparked. There were bubbles onboth my front and back tyreson the left-hand side.”

Gounden said that he wentto BMW to have the tyres fixed.

“I was told that I had to changeall four. I couldn’t change justthe affected two because nar-row tyres were used in the frontand wider tyres at the back. Itcost R9 000 to replace all fourtyres and the shock tower,which was also damaged.”

After the repairs, Goundenfilled in the necessary formsand e-mailed his claim to theeThekwini Municipality.

“After three weeks I had noresponse, so I sent another e-mail. I received a response aweek later asking me to submita sworn affidavit stating that I

was not claiming damagesfrom my private insurer, whichI did.”

Gounden said he submittedthe claim in March but onlyreceived a response in May,stating that his claim wasunsuccessful as there was nonegligence on the part of themunicipality.

“It put me in a predicamentbecause when I tried to claimfrom my private insurancethey said too much time hadlapsed so they would not bepaying me either because Iwaited too long to claim. “NowI’m in the hole for R9 000 whichI had to put on my credit card.”

He intends to appeal.

DRIVING expert Johannvon Bargen from Pro Dri-ving Tactics said one of themost important things to beaware of when driving werepotholes.

“You should be able to seethem from a distance. Youshould look for dark patcheson the road. Because of thesun, it creates a shadow onthe road that you can seefrom a distance. If you spot apothole early, you can takethe necessary precautions toavoid it.”

He said if the pothole wasin the middle of the road,you could try to straddle it,driving over it safely withoutany damage to the vehicle.

Von Bargen said if thepothole was on the side ofthe road, try to go slightlyaround it and you should getpast it easily enough.

“Swerving out to avoidthe pothole is the last thingyou should do as you may hitanother vehicle. It shouldnever be an option,” he said.

In cases where you can’tavoid the pothole and have togo over it, he provided the fol-lowing information:

“If you spot it too late,you have to go through it. Inthat case, you should checkfirst to ensure that it is safefor you to stop before you hit the pothole. Make surethere is no vehicle behindyou. Right before you gointo the pothole, release thebrake pedal before your

front wheel goes into thepothole.”

He said this was done tominimise damage.

“If you hit the pothole at aspeed, braking suddenlywould cause the front wheelto stop turning. This resultsin the wheel being stationaryas you drive out of the pot-hole which would havecaused damage because youwere travelling at a speed.

Von Bargen said if youreleased the brake before youentered the pothole, it wouldallow the wheel to still bespinning and enable you todrive out of the pothole withminimal damage.

“However, if you do hit apothole at speed, damage willbe caused to your vehiclewhich you would have to getrepaired,” he added.

Driving expert Johann vonBargen.

ROB Prece, owner ofmechanical workshop Dub-corp, said the damage tovehicles from going throughpotholes could be extensive.

He said the first things tobe damaged would be thetyre and rim.

“We find that this is verycommon, with people want-ing repairs after hitting apothole. The suspension canalso be damaged.”

He said there were controlarms connected to the wheelwith rubber bushes on them.Hitting a pothole with force damages the rubberbushes.

Shocks and mounts couldalso be damaged.

“I had a customer theother day who hit a potholeand needed his rim, tyre,control arm and shockreplaced. All from drivingthrough one pothole.

“The problem is thatmany new cars comeequipped with lower profiletyres, which results ingreater damage to the car if

you hit a pothole. A higherprofile tyre may result in lessdamage to the vehicle. Thesize of the pothole is also acontributing factor,” Precesaid.

He said the speed youwere travelling when you hita pothole also affected theseverity of damage.

“The faster you are goingwhen you hit the pothole, themore damage there will be. Ifyou hit an average size pot-hole, even at the speed limit,you can do serious damage tothe car.”

Prece said they had beendoing more suspensionrepairs lately, which wasunusual as suspensions werechecked and serviced duringregular car services if thevehicle had done over100 000km.

“Cars are coming in forsuspension work year onyear, and this is attributed tothe condition of the roads…The more expensive the vehi-cle, the higher the cost of therepair,” he added.

IN THE second case, PerushanNaicker drove into a pothole onthe R102 towards Tongaat.

He drives an Opel AstraOPC. “There was damage tothe front and back tyres on theright-hand side. Both mag rimson the wheels were scrapedand had buckled.

“The cost to repair, repaintand straighten the two magrims was R1 500. I had toreplace both tyres as well,which cost R3 600. The totalcame to R5 100.”

Naicker submitted a claimto the eThekwini Municipality

on January 5 and on January13 received an acknowledg-ment and claim number.

“Thereafter, I received a let-ter from the municipality stat-ing the following; ‘According toour investigation we are notresponsible for loss/damage. Itwould appear the Departmentof Transport may have createdthe hazard that led to the inci-dent. We have sent your docu-ments to the KZN Departmentof Transport.’

“I was then given a contactnumber and the name of thecontact person from the

KwaZulu-Natal department,who is taking up this matter.

“I contacted the departmentand received a document to fillin via post. I am currentlyfilling in the form whichrequires a lot of documenta-tion,” Naicker said.

He said he had no choice butto claim from the municipalityas his insurance did not coverpothole damage.

“I paid for the repairs frommy own pocket and if the claimis unsuccessful, it will be a bigloss to me.

“They said it could take upto six months to investigatebefore I know if my claim issuccessful,” he added.

YULESAN GOUNDEN PERUSHAN NAICKER

Pothole claims:Two drivers relate their experiences

CHARMEL PAYETdrives the

pothole campaign

Pothole damage increasinglycommon and often costly

Dos and don’ts ofavoiding potholes

Readers praise pothole series as helpful and informative

You can claim for damages

People can claim from the eThekwini Municipality if their vehicle is damaged by a pothole. Each claim is investigated before it’s decidedwhether the municipality is liable .

HOW TOCLAIM

Don’t be furious, it’s so fastREPORTING a pothole hasnever been this easy. CityWatch reported on a newmobile app, Ogaats, whichmakes lodging a municipalfault in any of the country’s226 municipalities easy.

Creator Pierre du Toitlaunched the app earlier thisyear and said it shouldn’ttake more than 30 seconds toreport a fault. Following up,the app is still up and run-ning and doing well.

It is a simple concept.

Log on to the website viaphone or computer con-nected to the internet. Onceon the Ogaats webpage,select the type of fault youare reporting from potholes,parks, traffic lights, water,signage and drain covers.Select a location and uploada photo and/or enter adescription. The informationis then routed to the rightlocal authority. The com-plaint remains anonymous.

Visit www.ogaats.co.za

Evidence ofnegligenceneeded, writesCharmel Payet