No matter how hard he tried, Nelson Mandela Bay DA councillor Rano Kayser said, he could not escape the incident that left him bleeding during a council meeting in October 2016 — and it was for this reason he wanted Andile Lungisa to pay up.
On Friday, judge Elna Revelas granted an order for Lungisa to pay Kayser R844,000 for the pain and suffering the former ANC councillor caused when he smashed a glass water jug over Kayser’s head in front of their peers.
While Lungisa spent just two months behind bars for the assault, he will now have to dig deep to pay up.
But the controversial politician says that is unlikely.
“I don’t even own a cat. They can come and liquidate my assets because I have two puppies — they can take one,” an unperturbed Lungisa said after the judgment.
Kayser testified earlier in the day that the incident had left him feeling “humiliated, embarrassed and weak”, as if he were a failure.
He told the high court in Gqeberha that he had lost his confidence, as people in Nelson Mandela Bay and those on social media, no longer recognised him as a man who grew up in the ranks of politics, but as “Andile Lungisa’s victim”.
“I can’t get away from the incident, not even when I go to the barber because the scar above my left temple is in the way of my hair line,” he said.
Asked by Revelas if this scar was a result of the glass jug being smashed against his head, Kayser said “yes”.
Lungisa is out on parole after serving just 75 days of his two-year sentence for assault.
He was released on December 1 due to a special remission of sentence and easing of overcrowding in prisons amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
From checking his house for potential danger before stopping his car, to a reliance on pain medication and his family’s immense fear each time he left home, Kayser, 44, said he was spending up to R600 on painkillers each month.
He also said he suffered “unbearable” headaches.
“I get this stabbing pain on my left temple and the headaches have continued ever since the incident.
“At times, the headaches and pain are so severe that the [painkillers] don’t work and I have to seek medical attention.”
Kayser said he took about 30 Mybulen tablets and 25 Grandpa headache powders a month.
At times the headaches were triggered due to his name appearing in media reports alongside Lungisa’s.
“Any time there are media reports about Lungisa, my name and the incident will be mentioned somehow, and this triggers me and brings on the headaches,” he said.
During his testimony, advocate Allan Frost played the video of the assault.
Revelas described the footage as distressing.
She also wanted to know if council meetings were always as chaotic, to which Kayser said it had been the first incident of its kind.
Meanwhile, clinical psychologist Dr Ian Meyer testified that Kayser suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Meyer had compiled a report after conducting a psychological assessment of Kayser in August 2019.
Lungisa, who was not present while testimony was led, said afterwards that he had not been notified about the case. He said he would appeal the judgment.
“I was not notified of the case. I will study the judgment and oppose it.
“I was not in court and I didn’t receive a summons, I haven’t heard about this in a long time,” he said.
Meyer had spent eight hours with Kayser over two days to determine if he had suffered any long-term damage during the assault.
He said Kayser was unable to put the incident behind him because the video of the brawl had gone viral.
Both men were also still active in politics and they often bumped into each other.
In addition, he struggled with nightmares, insomnia and the constant visual reminder of the scar on his face.
Asked if moving to a different city would help Kayser deal with the trauma, Meyer likened it to a person who had suffered a traumatic car accident.
“While the driver can take an alternative route to avoid reminders of his trauma, too many aspects of Kayser’s everyday life can trigger reminders of the assault,” Meyer said.
Kayser’s attorney, Lunen Mayer, said he was overjoyed with the speedy outcome of the matter.
Lungisa was ordered to pay R844,000 in damages, which would cover Kayser’s claim for pain and suffering, medical expenses and a future loss of income.
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