A blind Klerksdorp Council telephone operator, who was abused by fellow employees, has had her appeal for retirement on permanent disability upheld by the Pretoria High Court after a long battle that first went to Vuyani Ngalwana, the Pension Funds Adjudicator.
Ms GB appealed to the Adjudicator last year to intervene in a dispute she was having with the Municipal Gratuity Fund to be declared permanently disabled.
Her application for permanent disability was supported by her employer, the Klerksdorp Council, but it was rejected by the fund on the advice of the Alexander Forbes Health Management Services, which claimed to be an expert in such matters.
Ngalwana ruled in her favour on the basis of numerous medical assessments. The Municipal Gratuity Fund appealed against his decision to the Pretoria High Court. Mr Justice J Hartzenberg upheld the ruling made by Ngalwana.
In her appeal to Ngalwana, Ms GB accused her colleagues of abusing her by throwing things at her, shifting things around in the office so that she would fall over them or have difficulty finding them. This exacerbated her medical problems.
Judge Hartzenberg said he could not fault the approach taken by Ngalwana in reaching his decision; confirmed his ruling; and ordered the fund to pay the legal costs.