Gwebu v Road Accident Fund (MM) (unreported case no 2309/2023, 15-11-2024) (Coetzee AJ)‘The services of traditional healers go far beyond the uses of herbs for physical illnesses. Traditional healers serve many roles which include but not limited to custodians of the traditional African religion and customs, educators about culture, counsellors, social workers and psychologists’ (MG Mokgobi ‘Understanding traditional African healing’ (2014) 20(2) Afr J Phys Health Educ Recreat Dance 24).
Traditional healers have played a pivotal role in African communities for centuries. In the judgment of Gwebu, the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court (per Coetzee AJ) took into consideration the role that traditional healers play and what their duties entail when quantifying loss of earnings for a third-party claim against the Road Accident Fund (defendant).
On 8 May 2022, Nokuthula Gwebu (plaintiff) sustained injuries from a motor vehicle collision and at the time of the collision was occupied as a traditional healer (para 1). The issues in dispute between the parties pertained to the plaintiff’s loss of earnings, particularly in her role as a traditional healer and her purported self-employment as a caterer, as well as the amount to be awarded for general damages (para 3). The dispute stemmed from the Industrial Psychologist’s report that quantified amounts pertaining to the plaintiff’s monthly and yearly earnings. There was further a dispute on whether the catering business was operative at the time of the occupational therapist’s assessment or whether it was merely prospective (para 4).
The plaintiff argued that the collision diminished her capacity to discharge her duties as a traditional healer on account of her loss of smell and taste, which senses are crucial to her profession. Furthermore, her catering business was disrupted due to her injuries. The defendant disputed the plaintiff’s earnings and the extent of her loss of earnings claims and took exception to the reports of the occupational therapist and industrial psychologist (para 4).
The plaintiff attested to have been practising as a traditional healer since 2012 and her role requires sensitivity and intercommunication with clients, inclusive of specific rituals. These specific rituals include the dancing ritual, and training in identification and use of traditional fruits for various rituals and treatment, requiring her ability to smell and taste these fruits (para 14). However, since the motor collision her ability to execute her duties as a traditional healer had been severely diminished as her ability to smell and taste have been impaired, depriving her of the ability to identify or mix traditional items. She is further unable to participate in initiation rituals (para 15).
The plaintiff was cross-examined on her involvement with the catering business and earnings from initiation rituals. With regards to the catering business, the plaintiff attested that she partnered with her sister and discontinued involvement after the accident (para 16). With regard to initiation earnings, there was a fluctuation of figures between the years 2018 to 2022, due to multiple factors including the COVID-19 pandemic (para 17). According to the plaintiff, the amounts fluctuated due to there being no fixed fee for initiation; however, she did not have bank statements of amounts received as she did not have a bank account at the time and had only opened one recently (para 19).
The plaintiff conceded to her memory being diminished due to the collision, hence the discrepancy in the evidence with regards to dates and figures (para 21). Evidence by a traditional healer trained by the plaintiff, an occupational therapist and industrial psychologist were given to corroborate the plaintiff’s statements. The traditional healer attested to the rates of the plaintiff (para 22); while the occupational therapist attested to the plaintiff’s diminished capacity as a traditional healer, with the loss of her taste and smell impeding her capacity to perform her duties (para 26). The evidence of the industrial psychologist related to pre-morbid and post-morbid earnings projections, in which the post-morbid earnings provided two scenarios, one where the plaintiff received optimal rehabilitation and the other where she did not.
After considering the evidence, the court found that the plaintiff’s loss of earnings was significant and resulted from the severe injuries sustained in the collision. Furthermore, the plaintiff’s loss of smell and taste, which senses are essential to her role as a traditional healer, significantly impeded her ability to execute her professional duties (para 44). With regard to the plaintiff’s involvement in a catering business, the court found that it was an ‘undeveloped prospect’ and earnings from this venture had not been proven (para 45). Furthermore, there was inconsistency with evidence provided in this respect and the court asked for revised calculations, which when received only considered earnings from traditional healing (para 47).
In awarding loss of earnings, the court revisited Southern Insurance Association Ltd v Bailey NO 1984 (1) SA 98 (A) at 113-114 where two methods of quantification were outlined, the first being an intuitive rather than evidentiary approach-based award, grounded on what is fair and reasonable, and the second being attained through mathematical calculations grounded on evidence-based assumptions and the value thereof relying on the ‘soundness of the assumptions.’ The second approach was endorsed by the court in Bailey, as it is a well-reasoned and rational attempt at quantification rather than the former which relied on a ‘gut feeling’. The court noted that the method endorsed in Bailey was further confirmed in Road Accident Fund v Guedes 2006 (5) SA 583 (SCA) at 586 (para 48).
In the application of the principle from Bailey, the court awarded loss of earnings in line with post-morbid earnings projections of the industrial psychologist where the plaintiff does not receive optimal rehabilitation. After considering the evidence, the court was convinced the aforementioned projections were a fair and reasonable representation of the plaintiff’s loss of earnings and earning capacity, as the plaintiff had suffered great physical and emotional impairments coupled with her limited educational qualifications. The plaintiff’s earning prospects as a traditional healer and in any other field were indefinitely diminished (para 49).
Nosiphiwo Nzimande LLB LLM (UKZN) is a Research Assistant at South African Medical Research Council/Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science (Priceless SA) in Johannesburg.
This article was first published in De Rebus in 2025 (March) DR 41.
