Premier not helping teen blue light victim

2012-04-12 10:00

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Premier-not-helping-teen-blue-light-victim-20120412

Johannesburg - Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane has backed down on an earlier promise to help cover blue-light accident victim Thomas Ferreira's medical costs, according to a newspaper report on Thursday.

Mokonyane originally told Ferreira's parents and the media that her department would help cover expenses.

Ferreira, 19, was knocked off his motorcycle by the speeding car of local government and housing MEC Humphrey Mmemezi on November 5.

Mokonyane asked local government and housing department head Mongezi Monyane to manage negotiations about Ferreira's accident costs.

He told Beeld newspaper on Wednesday that he thought there had been a misunderstanding about what the premier said.

"If the premier's office or my office had to pay the costs, I don't know what budget this was supposed to have come out of," he said.

Public promise by premier

Ferreira was brain damaged in the accident and spent weeks in a coma. He was only recently discharged from a rehabilitation centre.

Mokonyane visited the family on November 8 and publicly promised - in front of the media and Ferreira's family - to cover his medical costs.

In a press statement issued later that day, Mokonyane's spokesperson Xoli Mngambi said, among other things, that: "Mokonyane made a promise to the family that the provincial government will take care of Ferreira's medical costs."

According to the Ferreiras, their son's medical bills already amount to over R1m.

The Ferreira's lawyer Karl Schuler has applied for an interim payout from the Road Accident Fund (RAF).

Monyane told Beeld that he had contacted a senior RAF official to try and expedite the process.

- SAPA