In a morning of drama‚ the National Consumer Commission (NCC) apparently refused to accept dozens of complaints from Ford Kuga owners.
Lawyer Rod Montano‚ along with Renisha Jimmy whose brother Reshall Jimmy died in 2015 when his Kuga caught fire‚ arrived early on Monday morning at the commission's head office in Pretoria to hand over 46 complaints from Kuga owners whose vehicles have caught alight.
The complaints go back as far as 2013.
Commission's spokesman Trevor Hattingh refused to allow the complaints to be handed over.
Speaking on his phone from his office to Montano in the commission's reception‚ Hattingh ordered Montano and Jimmy off their property.
- Burnt to death in a Ford Kuga: what really happened?The only way the family of 33-year-old Reshall Jimmy could identify his body after he died trapped inside his burning 2014 Ford Kuga SUV‚ was through a DNA sample from his brother.
Montano said he had been told that security was to escort them off the property.
“What is happening is puzzling. We represent all Ford Kuga fire victims‚ whose only voice in these circumstances is the commission‚ which is appointed to represent aggrieved members of the public.
“On our arrival at the commission's offices‚ after our numerous attempts to contact them were ignored‚ we were summarily dismissed by Hattingh and ordered to leave or face being escorted off the premises by security.”
Jimmy said that the way the commission was dealing with Ford compared to how they were dealing with the family is concerning.
- Revealed: The Kuga warnings Ford ignoredFord was warned for at least a year that its Kuga SUV had potentially deadly problems - but appears not to have acted on the alarm bells.
“Our emails and telephone calls have simply been ignored by the commission. We are worried about this.”
Hattingh denied the allegations.
“The problem stems from no appointment being made. They tried to walk in without an appointment.
“We are preparing for a press conference today‚ so I couldn’t see them but referred them to the commissioners. Its not that they will not be helped.”
– TMG Digital/The Times
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