Pretoria - Zephania Mokoena, now 40, dreamed of being a professional athlete and representing the country in athletics.
However, a shooting incident on a Mpumalanga farm during which the son of a couple working on the farm was left paralysed, robbed him of that dream.
He is now claiming R7.8 million in damages against the farmer.
Mokoena claimed Gawie Volschenk of the farm Morgenster in the Ermelo district, shot him on purpose.
The farmer, on the other hand, said an angry mob, of which Mokoena was part, attacked him and his 14-year-old son.
According to Volschenk, Mokoena only had himself to blame for being shot in the neck, which left him permanently wheelchair-ridden.
Mokoena, in papers before the high court in Pretoria, said he was visiting his parents on December 24, 2001. Both of them worked on the farm as labourers.
Mokoena’s version is that while visiting his parents, Volschenk and his son arrived at the houses of the workers on the farm and started to assault his parents with a hockey stick.
He said he intervened, but was shot in the neck by Volschenk sr. He recalled dropping to the ground and having a “strange sensation” over his entire body.
He was taken to the Ermelo Hospital, before being transferred to Kalafong Hospital in Pretoria West a month later.
He was told that his spinal cord was damaged from the shot and he would never walk again. He developed bedsores within two weeks of being in hospital and still suffers from these.
Apart from being unable to use both his legs, Mokoena could also not use his chest muscles, and thus was unable to balance his upper body in his wheelchair.
Mokoena said he had a promising career as an athlete before the accident.
He worked for a mine at the time, which sponsored his athletic career. He was doing extremely well and won several races. His goal was to eventually run for his country.
He now resides in a home for the handicapped near Badplaas, for which the State pays.
Life there is difficult, Mokoena said, as there were only two care workers to assist the more than 40 residents.
It was stated that he had fallen into a state of depression as his entire life turned around his love for sport.
His weak upper body and inability to balance himself in his wheelchair resulted in him being unable to even play wheelchair basketball.
Volschenk said he fired a shot in the direction of Mokoena in a bid to protect himself and his son. He explained in court papers that a group of about 10 men tried to kill him and his son.
According to him, he and his son were repeatedly assaulted with sticks and pipes.
He held his teenage son behind his back in a bid to protect him against the assaults.
Volschenk said fearing for their lives, he fired a warning shot in the ground, in front of Mokoena. He also warned him verbally that he would shoot him if he did not back off.
This did not deter Mokoena, he claimed, which resulted in the farmer shooting a second shot - this time in Mokoena’s direction.
Volschenk said Mokoena only had himself to blame and he denied that he was liable to pay the man any damages.
The case was to go on trial last week, but was postponed (to a date still to be determined) as Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba was told it would be a lengthy trial - running up to about 10 days.
Pretoria News