Johannesburg doctor sues KZN wildlife department over thug attack

A Johannesburg doctor is claiming more than R11-million in damages from the KwaZulu-Natal wildlife department after his family was attacked by thugs while holidaying at a coastal lodge.

Dr Moosa Peer, 63, claims to have been so traumatised by the attack in 2008 that he stopped practising. He receives disability payments from his provident fund.

Peer claims that Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife failed to warn him of previous attacks at the Kosi Bay Lodges resort.

He wants Kosi Bay Lodges to be held accountable for the fact that he can no longer provide for his family or practise medicine.

In December 2008, Peer visited the lodge in northern KwaZulu-Natal with his wife, Mehroon, and their twin sons .

During the early hours of December 22, armed men stormed the lodge and held the family hostage for four hours while they ransacked their rooms.

After taking R3500 in cash and other items, including fishing and snorkelling gear said to be worth R39000, the gang forced Peer into the family car and drove off with him. An hour later, they returned and locked the entire family into one room.

Peer was repeatedly pistol-whipped and had a gun held to his head while the attackers threatened to kill his sons. The family was only rescued three hours later when security guards passing the lodge heard their screams for help.

Peer has taken his fight to the High Court in Pietermaritzburg, where he is claiming for the loss of past income as well as future losses; medical expenses and "general damages for pain, suffering, loss of amenities of life and permanent disability".

In the application, Peer's attorney, Sanjay Sarawan, said had Peer been warned of the potential danger, he would have reconsidered holidaying at the lodge or invested in added security.

The resort made headlines in 2008-09 following a series of gang-related crimes during the December and January period.

The 2008 incident was Peer's third run-in with criminals.

In 2002, he was held up in an attempted hijacking and stabbed in the head. In 1998, intruders held him hostage inside his Ennerdale practice.

In a doctor's report, clinical neuropsychologist Digby Ormand-Brown said Peer suffered from post-traumatic amnesia as a result of the 2008 attack, which had rendered him incapable of running his practice.

"He was terrified to return to his practice. When seeing patients, he was plagued by anxious thoughts of being assaulted again. The anxiety was marked, effectively preventing him from focusing on his patients and thinking rationally," he said.

"Dr Peer complains of being 'paralysed' by fear and commented, 'I am always on the lookout.' He experiences feelings of anger and has a strong desire for revenge, stating, 'I want to kill some bastards.'"

Ezemvelo has denied culpability. In responding papers, it said Peer and his family were aware that they were renting the lodge at their own risk and were repeatedly reminded of this when they arrived.

Ezemvelo said it displayed an indemnity sign at the resort entrance, stating that Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife accepted no responsibility for any death, injury or illness sustained by visitors or for the loss, theft or damage to property.

It wants the court to dismiss the application, adding that it would be "too onerous and remote" to expect the resort to exhibit the duty of care demanded by the doctor. The case will be heard next month.