Based on your reading of the Circular Instruction, and the criteria of the DSM IV, judge the following case which is based on a similar case submitted to the Compensation Commissioner, and subsequently rejected. A decision to which the worker raised an objection.
The worker, a former policeman provides the following information:
"I was a captain in the South African Police Services, stationed at SAPS City X. I joined the SAPS in 1985, and was discharged from service in 2002 due to medical incapacity. I suffer from Post traumatic stress disorder, major depression and work related stress. I have been on sick leave since July 2000 until my discharge in 2002. I am currently being treated by Drs. ZA and JT. My condition arose out of work related events, several of which were life threatening."
These events are reported below.
The worker claims to have PTSD related to him witnessing the deaths of 13 young children at an enclosed venue in a fairground in City X in March 2000. According to him, he was one of the first people at the scene, due to the proximity of his police station to the fairground. He was confronted by screaming children, and because all the exits to this enclosed venue was locked, children baled out at the exit at which he arrived. "Children came pouring out, and my attempts to calm people down failed and it was total chaos". He was shoved to the ground and it was only "by chance that I was not trampled to death". On recovery he assisted the other emergency and rescue workers pulling out the dead and injured on the scene. He had to use his vehicle to convey injured to hospital because of lack of ambulances to do this. He claims that this incident was the stressor to his PTSD.
However, he reports several other incidents during the course of his duty that were traumatic. For example, on New Year’s day, 1995, he visited the scene of faction fighting at Y Informal Settlement (YIS). Due to some fighting there were 8 bodes of residents lying at the settlement on his arrival. The community at YIS were very angry because of the considerable delay in removing these bodies. Upon threats of death from the community, he and his colleagues were forced to use their vehicles to transport these bodies to the morgue. In a similar situation at the same informal settlement in 1996, he had to rescue a victim of a kangaroo court, at which point, members of the community stated to him, "he would die here today". He was forced to seek medical attention on escaping from this situation. In 1997, he led a raid into the YIS with 14 other policemen. His team was surrounded by a mob of 150 people. At one point he was pushed against the vehicle, and a firearm placed against his head. He jumped into the nearest vehicle, and sped off, leaving his colleagues to follow. This incident resulted in him soiling his clothes in terror. He states that he still has recurrent nightmares from this incident. He has had at least two other incidents in which he felt his life was under threat.
However, he claims that it was as a direct result of the fairground incident that he currently experiences the following:
He has consulted specialist psychiatrist and his family practitioner repeatedly about his health problems.
