Miway Insurance Company was ordered by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to pay a client who reported his Mercedes-Benz stolen after he was allegedly drugged by two unknown women he met one night at a party.
Thabo Molefe approached the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court after Miway refused to pay him over R164,000 as the replacement value of his stolen vehicle.
The court dismissed his application.
Molefe’s case is that the car was stolen on January 22, 2018, the next day, he submitted a claim which was rejected on February 16.
Miway alleged that he had breached the contract and suspected some fraudulent activities on Molefe’s part.
Molefe said he could not remember much of the events when his car was stolen, however, he was adamant that his 2010 vehicle was stolen.
On the day of the incident on January 21, 2018, he said he took the 2010 Mercedes-Benz, left with his friend Victor and they went to a social event where they met an individual named Roy, who owed him money.
After collecting the outstanding money from Roy, Molefe and Victor socialised with two women (unknown to them) who later asked for a lift as they were about to leave.
Molefe, when he submitted his claim, said that they left around midnight, however, in a subsequent WhatsApp message, he informed Miway’s assessor that he could have underestimated the time they left the venue and it could have been later because they only arrived at his cousin’s house some time after 4am.
Molefe said that he dropped off his cousin who was also out with them, and it was during this time that he started to not feel well.
The two women were waiting in his car and they wanted to buy food. They drove to a nearby garage to buy food and that was the last thing he remembered.
Molefe said he was woken up the next morning by unknown individuals in an unknown location without his vehicle, cell phone, keys and wallet.
His evidence was that he was ‘dizzy’. He managed to approach a nearby shop and eventually managed to contact his family.
He went to the nearest police station to open a case of theft of his motor vehicle. By that time, he did not know what had happened to his friend Victor who had been in the car with him.
He later established that Victor was also suffering from the same symptoms as he was. He said Victor took about two weeks to recover from the said illness. They suspected that the two women had drugged them.
To support his claim, Molefe went to the nearby garage and obtained video footage, which showed that at around 4.30am, a woman got out of his vehicle, went into the garage shop, came back and got into his car and the car drove off.
The video footage was handed over to Miway’s assessor.
Two days later, he was still feeling dizzy, he went to to consult a doctor who booked him off from work. He sent the doctor’s certificate to Miway’s assessors as well.
Molefe also de-registered the vehicle, and it was listed as stolen.
Miway’s assessor investigated the events and looked at the video footage, spoke to Victor and Nox, individuals who had seen Molefe the next day. Both Nox and Victor corroborated Molefe’s version.
He went for a physical inspection at the premises of the social event Molefe had attended. He also requested registration documents from Molefe.
Miway also interviewed Molefe’s cousin who verified his version of events.
Molefe also had his final interview at MiWay’s offices during which Miway’s assessor informed Molefe that he was under the impression that no false information was given by Molefe.
However, he still rejected the claim.
After viewing evidence from both parties, acting Judge Collen Kgaolo Stephen Matshitse said Miway failed to provide evidence of how Molefe tried to defraud them.
Judge Matshitse said, there was no basis on why the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court dismissed Molefe’s claim.
Matshitse set aside the previous judgment and ordered Miway to pay Molefe, including his legal fees.
IOL