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'Too fat' woman gets big cheque
03/12/2007 10:50 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The manager of Thulamela Municipality, Makonde Mathivha, has been ordered to pay R50 000 to a woman who claims she was insulted over her weight by a traffic officer who ejected her from a taxi, the Sowetan reported on Monday.
The woman was allegedly told she was too fat to be in a taxi, the report said.
The Thohoyandou High Court ordered the municipality to pay Lydia Tsanwani, of Tshituni, R50 000 in damages.
This was after she successfully sued the municipality, claiming she was discriminated against.
The incident occurred in 2002, the Sowetan said.
Tsanwani said she suffered trauma when the traffic officer insulted her in front of other passengers.
Tsanwani, a teacher at Tshivhidzo Masiagwala Secondary School in Ngovhela, said through her lawyer, Philip Sebola, that she was singled out as a "non-existing person or disabled person", the Sowetan said.
She was returning from a wedding at the Thohoyandou Indoor Sports Centre when the officer stopped the taxi in which she was travelling.
He asked the driver why he had allowed a fat woman to occupy the front seat.
"I felt like my weight was a disability. I was really humiliated," Tsanwani reportedly said.
The officer also ordered that she be arrested after she voiced her disapproval of the officer's words.
She spent a few hours in police cells and was released after paying R150 bail.
- SAPA
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