This blog is co-authored Yuveshen Naidoo, candidate attorney.

On 22 August 2025, the Mbombela High Court delivered a judgment which sent a clear reminder that a claimant who alleges diminished earning capacity after a motor vehicle accident must prove actual patrimonial loss. The court held that, on the facts presented, there was “no merit” to a claim for future loss of income and dismissed the action, even though merits were conceded 100% in the plaintiff’s favour and general damages were still to be decided.

The plaintiff, a long-serving road worker at the Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, sustained a soft tissue lumbar injury in an October 2020 collision. She was later accommodated in a light duty transport officer role involving trip sheets and vehicle allocation, pending a permanent appointment. The industrial psychologist testified that promotion prospects had evaporated, and bonuses had ceased, but key assertions particularly a claimed “guaranteed” promotion were not verified with the employer’s human resources department. The expert conceded that the plaintiff’s salary increased post accident and that there was no past loss because she was paid in full during recuperation.

A former supervisor confirmed that any promotion would depend on vacancies and due process and noted that the office role requires a matric and computer certificate, which the plaintiff does not have. Against that backdrop, the court viewed the predictions of future loss as speculative. The accommodation in lighter duties, together with the post accident increase in remuneration, undermined the contention that the plaintiff’s estate would be diminished in the future.

Reaffirming the principles the court distinguished between a reduction in earning capacity and a reduction in patrimony. A physical impairment may impact capacity without necessarily producing a compensable pecuniary loss. There must be credible evidence that the capacity loss will probably translate into financial loss. On the record before it, that bridge had not been crossed.

In the result, the court concluded that there was no merit to a claim for future loss of income and the action was dismissed. The issue of general damages is postponed sine die.

Mahlangu v Road Accident Fund (302/2024) [2025] ZAMPMBHC 78.