RAF ordered to pay R2.67m to hairdresser who lost two fingers

A hairdresser who lost two fingers in a car accident has been awarded R2.67m after the court found that her injuries had significantly affected her earning capacity.

The matter was heard at the Mbombela high court, where Prudence Dibakoane detailed how an accident on March 26 2022 led to her loss of earnings.

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) accepted 100% liability for the accident, conceding full fault without disputing the driver’s negligence.

Dibakoane told the court that she had been working as a hairdresser at Split-ends salon at the time of the accident, earning about R6,200 a month.

After the accident, her right middle and ring fingers were amputated. She also suffered a back injury.

She spent a year recovering before returning to work, but her earnings were reduced to R3,800 a month.

She later started her own salon, Vivian Salon, in October 2024.

Initially, she earned about R9,800, but her income later declined to about R8,000. She told the court that her injuries had slowed her down and that she could no longer perform certain hairstyles as she had before.

The court heard that she sometimes needed assistance at the salon, including someone to wash clients’ hair.

Dibakoane also estimated that she had lost about 10 clients a month because of the slower pace at which she worked.

An occupational therapist found that Dibakoane had below-average grip strength in her injured right hand and that her limitations and pain would affect her ability to work at the same level as uninjured colleagues.

“Being a hairdresser requires using both hands and all fingers when braiding hair. Because of the amputation, her work speed and execution are affected. In conclusion, the plaintiff remains an unequal competitor compared to her peers in the open labour market,” said the therapist.

However, the RAF disputed an industrial psychologist’s projection that Dibakoane would have progressed to higher earnings through self-employment.

Judge Ngwenya rejected that argument, pointing to what had happened after the accident.

“The plaintiff did transition into self-employment in the very manner that the industrial psychologist’s report postulates, notwithstanding her injuries and the very limitations of which she complains.”

The judge found that her earnings had risen to R9,800, minus costs, despite her injuries and reduced working speed.

“Accordingly, I find that there is no merit in the defendant’s contention that she would not have progressed to the upper quartile of non-corporate workers,” Ngwenya said.

Ngwenya ordered that the RAF pay Dibakoane R2,669,334.25 for her past and future loss of earnings.

He also ordered the fund to pay interest at 10.25% a year from the date of judgment until payment, as well as Dibakoane’s legal costs.

The court further ordered the RAF to provide an undertaking covering 100% of the costs of her future accident-related medical, hospital and related treatment, subject to proof.

However, her claim for general damages was postponed indefinitely pending the outcome of the referral of her serious injury assessment to the Health Professions Council of South Africa.