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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## Venter N.O obo Davel v Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure and Others (48624/2020)
[2023] ZAGPPHC 1770 (5 October 2023)
Venter N.O obo Davel v Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure and Others (48624/2020)
[2023] ZAGPPHC 1770 (5 October 2023)
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sino date 5 October 2023
REPUBLIC
OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG
DIVISION PRETORIA
CASE
NO: 48624/2020
DOH:
02 June 2023
1.
REPORTABLE: NO
2.
OF INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: NO
3.
REVISED.
DATE:
05 October 2023
In
the matter of:
PIETER
ANDRIES VENTER N.O obo PLAINTIFF
DAVID
WILLIAM NAPIER DAVEL
and
MINISTER
OF PUBLIC WORKS First
DEFENDANT
AND
INFRASTRUCTURE
MINISTER
OF DEFENCE AND MILITARY VETERANS Second
DEFENDANT
SOUTH
AFRICAN FORCES INSTITUTE Third
DEFENDANT
JUDGMENT
THIS
JUDGEMENT HAS BEEN HANDED DOWN REMOTELY AND SHALL BE CIRCULATED TO
THE PARTIES BY WAY OF EMAIL / UPLOADED ON CASELINES, ITS
DATE OF HAND
DOWN SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE 05 OCTOBER 2023
Bam
J
A.
Introduction
1.
This case
concerns a claim for delictual damages suffered by Mr David Davel,
(Davel) a 62 year old businessman and Information Technology
Technician. Mr Davel was injured when he unknowingly stepped onto a
part of a roof made of fibreglass, then covered with a thick
crust of
dust, leaves and other debris in a building occupied or operated by
the third defendant in Thaba-Tshwane. He had mounted
the roof to
carry out work requested by a senior member of staff of the third
defendant. The fibreglass gave way under his weight
plunging Davel to
a concrete floor four metres below the roof. He was critically
injured and rushed to a nearby hospital. The plaintiff,
Adv Pieter
Andries Venter, the curator who represents Davel, says the defendants
were negligent in failing to warn Davel about
the parts of the roof
made of fibreglass. They knew or ought reasonably to have known of
the hazard to persons lawfully on the
roof. He wants them held liable
for the plaintiff’s damages following his life altering
injuries.
2.
The
defendants, whilst accepting that they bear the legal duty to prevent
harm to persons who are lawfully present at their premises,
disavow
any liability for Davel’s injuries. They say that (i) Davel was
negligent; (ii) he had no authority to mount the
roof; Davel ignored
warnings by senior management of the third defendant that he should
not mount the roof, which he mounted anyway;
(iii) finally, the
defendants say they are not liable for contractors. Davel, as an
independent contractor, was responsible for
his own safety. At the
start of the hearing, the parties took a consensual order separating
the question of liability from quantum.
3.
The
plaintiff’s case was led through the testimony of two
witnesses. They are Mr Davel, the patient and Mrs Dorris Davel,
the
plaintiff’s wife. The defendants also called two witnesses,
Captain Ledimo, who is said to have been the second most
senior
person within the management of the third defendant at the time of
the incident, and Mr Takalani Makhere, the tenant who
operated the
workshop. Prior to leading his first witness, the plaintiff sought
leave to use certain google images and photographs
[1]
.
After some resistance from the defence, the parties resolved amongst
themselves that the images could be used to assist the court
by
giving a general idea of the area and structures such as the
buildings and roofs at the time of the incident. Amongst the images
relied upon were images of the workshop roof captured from inside the
workshop depicting where Davel fell.
B.
Parties
4.
The plaintiff,
Adv Venter, was appointed curator
ad
litem
to
the patient, Mr Davel, pursuant to an order of this court granted on
28 August 2018. The first defendant is the Minister of Public
Works.
The Minister is cited in his official capacity as contemplated in
section 2 (1) of the State Liability Act, Act 20 of 1957.
The second
defendant is the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. She is
cited in her capacity as the executive authority
of the National
Department of Defence. The third defendant is the South African
Forces Institute, an institution established in
terms of section 148
of the Defence Act 42 of 1957. The third defendant’s premises
are situated in Thaba- Tshwane from which
it operates an Engen Fuel
Station and tuck shop. In the same premises is a workshop which was
occupied by Makhere. There is no
dispute that Mr Davel fell through
the roof of the workshop.
C.
Background
5.
The following
is either common cause or was not seriously disputed: Mr Davel was 56
at the time of the accident. He had spent time
in the navy after
leaving school. He had never worked in Thaba-Tshwane prior to
contracting with third defendant. After leaving
the navy he joined
the computer world which led to the establishment of Davdo Computers
CC, his own business. At the time of the
accident, Davdo had a
maintenance contract with the third defendant in terms of which it
rendered computer, and IT related services.
That contract endured
until the date of Davel’s accident. The roof of the workshop
comprised corrugated iron sheets and fibreglass
or some other plastic
type roof.
D.
Merits
Plaintiff’s
case
6.
The first
witness called by the plaintiff was Mr Davel. Davel testified that he
could not remember anything after his fall but had
some recollection
of the events preceding the accident. He testified that on 25
September 2017, he was at the third defendant’s
premises when
he was called to the financial director’s, Ms Julia van Graans’
(van Graans), office. Van Graans showed
him two images on her
computer screen, one of which was an antenna or wifi booster. She
asked Davel to remove the antenna, to which
he enquired why he had to
remove it because he had not installed the antenna. He was threatened
with cancellation of his contract
if he did not remove the antenna.
He told the financial director he would think about it and left the
office to look for a certain
General Phashasky (whom he described as
the most senior person in SAFI) or his second in charge, but he was
informed that they
were not available.
7.
He did the
same upon his return on 27 September, but he was again informed that
the two most senior people were not available. It
was Davel’s
testimony that he had mounted the roof on two previous occasions to
do some work, albeit from a different side.
On both occasions he had
walked on the concrete wall which he said was a little higher than
the roof. On the first occasion, he
had taken a rope but realised
upon reaching the roof that there was nowhere to tie it. On the day
in question, he had intended
to mount the roof in order to assess the
situation before he could carry out any work. It is not in dispute
that Mr Davel plunged
through the roof to the concrete floor when he
stepped on the fibreglass part of the roof.
8.
Mr Davel was
cross examined extensively about what Davdo’s maintenance
contract allowed him to do and whether or not it required
him to
mount roofs; whether he was aware of the Occupational Health and
Safety Act in relation to contractors; whether or not he
was aware
that as an independent contractor he was responsible for his own
safety; and whether he used any personal protection
equipment (PPE)
on that day. He responded that his maintenance contract was broad and
he had mounted the roof before to test and
install equipment. He was
not aware of and had not seen any indication or sign that there was
fibreglass on the roof. He was not
aware of the provisions of the
Occupational Health and Safety Act regarding contractors but he
understood that as an independent
contractor, he is responsible for
his own safety. With reference to his statements that, after speaking
to van Graans, he went
to look for General Pashasky, he was asked
whether he doubted van Graans’ authority, to which he replied
that he did not
doubt Ms van Graans’ authority.
9.
During
re-examination Davel affirmed that he had previously been instructed
by van Graans to do work which he did and was paid for.
He said he
did not doubt van Graans’ authority at all. He confirmed there
were no warnings anywhere around the roof regarding
the sheets made
of fibreglass. This marked the end of Mr Davel’s testimony. I
found Mr Davel a candid witness. His answers
did not come across as
contrived. Where he did not know something, he answered he did not
know. He did not flinch in answering
difficult questions. I have no
difficulty accepting Mr Davel’s testimony.
10.
The second and
last witness for the plaintiff was Ms Davel. Ms Davel did not witness
the incident. Her evidence was confined to,
inter
alia
, the
events after the accident and her role in assisting her husband at
Davdo. She testified that whenever SAFI placed orders for
anything
they required Davdo to supply, they would send an order to her. On 25
September, Mr Davel came back from work upset because
Ms van Graans
had threatened to cancel their contract in the event Mr Davel did not
remove certain equipment from the roof. According
to Ms Davel, it was
not the first time that Ms van Graans had threatened to cancel their
contract when she wanted things done her
way. As to the events of 27
September 2017, she was called by Captain Ledimo and informed her
that something had happened with
her husband and that she had to meet
Captain Ledimo at One Military hospital.
11.
When she
arrived at One Military, Mr Davel had already been admitted and was
being treated. He was transferred on that same afternoon
to Steve
Biko where he remained in the Intensive Care Unit up until
mid-October 2017. Davel left hospital in December 2018 when
he went
to a step-down facility, Clayton house, where he remained until
January 2018. On 28 September she and her daughter went
to collect Mr
Davel’s belongings, including his car. They visited the place
where the incident had happened and her daughter
took images of the
broken parts of the roof through which Mr Davel fell.
12.
Ms Davel was
asked during cross examination whether SAFI had issued an order for
the removal of equipment on 27 September to which
she responded there
was no order
as
the request was covered by the maintenance contract. During
re-examination, Ms Davel confirmed that her husband visited SAFI
on
Wednesdays and Fridays. Mrs Davel was a truthful witness. She did not
appear to be making up answers as she went along. I have
no
hesitation to accept her testimony. The plaintiff closed his case
after Ms Davel’s re-examination.
13.
Perhaps I
should remark at this point that whilst the two witnesses for the
Plaintiff were on the stand, at no point was the defendants’
version put to them.
Defendants’
case
14.
The first
witness to testify for the defendant was Captain Ntai Christo Ledimo.
He occupied the position of Deputy General manager
and was
responsible for administration and operations at the time of the
event. He confirmed Davdo’s scope of work as maintenance,
IT
and computers. The building, according to the Captain, was owned by
the Department of Public Works and any work that had to
be done
required the Department’s consent. When asked about the roles
of Mr June and Richard Tenjokwayo, both of whom are
mentioned in the
defendants’ plea, he mentioned that June was a cleaner. Richard
was responsible for building maintenance
but had since retired upon
reaching 65. As to the events of 27 September, he learned of the
accident from van Graans. Upon arriving
at the scene and on seeing
the extent of Davel’s injuries and bleeding while lying on the
floor, he concluded it was an emergency
and arranged that Davel be
transported to One Military even though One Military does not treat
civilians. He mentioned he did not
know what had happened, but his
priority was to save Davel’s life. Upon arrival at the
hospital, he impressed upon the doctors
that Davel be treated as he
was a contractor of SAFI. SAFI, according to the Captain does not
have insurance for contractors.
15.
The Captain
was first cross examined about the various photographs of the roof of
the workshop and asked whether he could confirm
that, due to the
debris, leaves and dust, the fibreglass section was obscured. He
began by denying that it was dark but eventually
conceded it was. It
was put to him that owing to the thick crust that had obscured the
fibreglass, a person on the roof would not
see that there was
fibreglass. He responded that he had never been on the roof and so
would not know. He also could not tell whether
there is a place to
tie a harness for someone walking on the roof. It was put to him that
Davel had testified that when he went
to the roof for the first time,
he went with a rope but realised there was nowhere to tie the rope.
The Captain could neither deny
nor confirm the statement because he
had never been on the roof.
16.
He was asked
whether SAFI had to issue an order for Davel’s maintenance
visits. He said no, an order was required only for
procurement when
SAFI wanted something specific procured. The Captain was asked
specifically whether the senior management of SAFI
or anyone in
senior management had told Davel not to mount the roof. His answer
was that he did not know that Davel was going to
mount the roof so he
did not warn him. He also did not know whether anyone within senior
management had warned Davel not to mount
the roof. With reference to
the defence raised in the defendants’ plea, he did not know
anything about Richard Tenjokwayo
warning Davel not to mount the
roof. He was asked whether SAFI had investigated the alleged unlawful
conduct of Davel mounting
the roof of the workshop. He said there was
no investigation and SAFI was not aware that Davel was on the roof.
He was asked pertinently
whether there was any reason SAFI did not
investigate the reasons and the circumstances that led to Davel’s
presence on the
roof. He said he did not investigate it because, for
a long time, Davel was indisposed and, before they could do anything,
litigation
had already started. He was challenged that between the
accident in 2017 and the issue of summons in 2020, a period of three
years
had elapsed, thus there was time for SAFI to investigate. He
simply responded, ‘I see.’
17.
A
proposition was again put to the Captain that the state of the roof,
namely, its being left with debris, leaves and dust meant
that a
person on the roof would not see the fibreglass. The Captain said he
did not know. He was challenged that his being coy
about the
proposition suggested that he appreciated that it is damaging to the
defendants’ case. He simply said he did not
know. He was
referred to image 703
[2]
and was
asked whether he could confirm that the debris had made that part of
the roof dark. He conceded that the dirt had made
the fibreglass
dark. The Captain testified reasonably well. Notwithstanding the
difficult questions posed to him during cross examination,
he did not
seek to prop up the defendants’ case. I accept the Captain’s
testimony.
18.
The defence’s
final witness was Mr Takalani Makhere. Makhere testified he is a
tenant running his own business at the third
defendant’s
workshop. He was working with three other people on the 27 September.
As to the events of the day, he heard a
thunderous sound and went to
investigate only to find Davel lying on the concrete floor and badly
injured. He ran to report the
incident to van Graans whom he said was
one of the senior managers. On returning to the scene, he found
Captain Ledimo. During
cross examination, it took several instances
of questioning for this witness to admit that the section of
fibreglass though which
Davel fell had indeed been obscured by dust
and debris. He maintained that from inside, he could see the blue sky
through the fibreglass.
He denied seeing Ms Davel and her daughter on
28 September, but he could not deny that the images were taken after
the incident
before the roof was repaired. He confirmed during
re-examination that he did not see anyone on 28 September stating
that if anyone
had arrived he would have seen them. He re-iterated
that after the incident he could still see through the fibreglass
from inside
the workshop.
19.
Mr Makhere was
a reluctant witness. It took repeated questions for him to admit that
large portions of the fibreglass were covered
with dust and debris
which he promptly changed during re-examination. His evidence must be
treated with the necessary caution.
E.
The
issues
20.
The issues
are: c
(i)
wrongfulness
(ii)
negligence;
and
(iii)
causation
(i)
Wrongfulness
21.
I propose to
first enquire on the issue of wrongfulness. In so doing, I assume for
purposes of the enquiry, even though I will soon
demonstrate, that
the defendants were negligent. While negligent conduct in the form of
positive conduct causing harm to another
is
prima
facie
wrongful,
the position is less clear when it comes to negligent omissions.
Wrongfulness of an omission depends on whether legal
and policy
considerations, viewed through the prism of the Constitution, demand
that such conduct attract liability. In
Hawekwa
Youth Camp
v
Byrne
,
the court explained:
‘
The
principles regarding wrongful omissions have been formulated by this
court on a number of occasions in the recent past. These
principles
proceed from the premise that negligent conduct which manifests
itself in the form of a positive act causing physical
harm to the
property or person of another is prima facie wrongful. By contrast,
negligent conduct in the form of an omission is
not regarded as prima
facie wrongful. Its wrongfulness depends on the existence of a legal
duty. The imposition of this legal duty
is a matter for judicial
determination involving criteria of public and legal policy
consistent with constitutional norms….’
[3]
22.
The principles
were further explained in
Le
Roux and others
v
Dey
(Freedom of Expression Institute and Restorative Justice Centre as
Amici Curiae)
thus:
‘
In
the more recent past our courts have come to recognise, however, that
in the context of the law of delict: (a) the criterion
of
wrongfulness ultimately depends on a judicial determination of
whether – assuming all the other elements of delictual
liability to be present – it would be reasonable to impose
liability on a defendant for the damages flowing from specific
conduct; and (b) that the judicial determination of that
reasonableness would in turn depend on considerations of public and
legal
policy in accordance with constitutional norms. Incidentally,
to avoid confusion it should be borne in mind that, what is meant
by
reasonableness in the context of wrongfulness has nothing to do with
the reasonableness of the defendant’s conduct, but
it concerns
the reasonableness of imposing liability on the defendant for the
harm resulting from that conduct.’
[4]
(ii)
Negligence
23.
The
locus
classicus
in
respect of negligence is that of
Kruger
v
Coetzee
[5]
,
espoused in, amongst others,
Lee
v Minister of Correctional Services
[6]
.
According to the test, negligence is present if a reasonable person:
(a)
would have
foreseen the reasonable possibility of his conduct injuring another
person and causing him harm;
(b)
would have
taken reasonable steps to guard against such occurrence; and
(c)
the defendant
failed to take such steps.
24.
In
Peri-Urban
Areas
Health
Board
v
Munarin
[7]
,
the
sole
issue
before
the
court
was
whether the widow of
an
employee,
a
pipe-layer employed by the contractor,
had
a claim for the loss of her breadwinner, based on the negligence of
the Board or its servants. The facts briefly summarised
were: The
Board had contracted with a company, the contractor, to construct
sewers. The exercise involved digging of a trench by
means of a
mechanical shovel. Alongside the trench was a wall which was about 9
inches thick and 13 feet high. The trench was about
11 feet deep. It
was common cause that the proximity of the wall posed a source of
danger because of the pressure it exerted and
that it was necessary
for steps to be taken to prevent the trench from caving or falling
in. On 19 December, the Board’s
engineer was at the site. He
found that the digging of the trench had gone as far as 40 feet and
there had not been any shoring
done. On the morning of 20 December,
digging had progressed to about 79 feet and there had still no
shoring done. The Board’s
clerk of works was at the site. He
left the site to have a cup of coffee with the foreman. While they
were away, the pipe-layer
and his assistant descended into the trench
to do some preliminary measuring. The side of the trench gave way and
the wall fell
into it, with the result that the pipe-layer and his
assistant were killed.
25.
Entertaining
the question of negligence on the part of the Board (the employer)
the court, after referring to the test as set out
in
Kruger
v
Coetzee,
took into
account the following: (i) the Board, through its sewage engineers,
planned the works and knew that they included the
dangerous operation
of digging a deep trench alongside a high wall, with the potential
risk to pipe-layers in the trench, unless
shoring precautions were
taken; (ii) the Board, in engaging a contractor to carry out the
work, retained and thereafter exercised
the
right
of
expert
technical
supervision
and
control
referred
to above;
(iii) the Board knew on the afternoon of 19 December, 1962 (through
its engineer) and on the morning of 20 December (through
its clerk of
works) that the contractor had not taken shoring precautions,
although excavations had proceeded alongside the wall
for a
considerable distance, and that the pipe-layer might soon be entering
the dangerous trench; (iv) nevertheless the Board’s
said
representatives on the site did not, as they had power to do, order
any precautions or defer the pipe-laying pending shoring.
26.
In finding
that the Board was liable, the court said:
‘
Now
ordinarily a person who engages a contractor to do some work, such as
the erection of a multi-storey building, in which there
is an element
of occupational risk to the workmen, does not owe a duty of care to
the latter. But, in the present case, in addition
to the provisions
of the contract as indicated above, there is a factor that on 19 and
20 December, 1962, the Board had specific
knowledge (through its
officers) of the very dangerous situation which had been allowed to
develop in the absence of shoring, and
of the imminent possibility of
the pipe-layer’s descent into the trench; and it took no steps
to stop the work. This knowledge,
when superimposed upon the various
facts referred to earlier, including in particular the technically
skilled supervision and the
right to stop the work, brought about a
situation in which a diligent paterfamilias would surely have guarded
against the possibility
of the foreseeable harm to the pipe-layer. In
other words, there was then a duty of care, and the breach thereof
was negligence…’
[8]
27.
More recently
in
Chartaprops
16 (Pty) Ltd & another
v
Silberman
,
the court, dealing with the question of liability of the employer
where a contractor had been employed, remarked:
‘
[7]
A defendant might nonetheless be liable for harm that arises from
negligent conduct on the part of an independent contractor
but, where
that occurs, the liability does not arise vicariously. It arises
instead from the breach of the defendant’s own
duty (I use that
term to mean the obligation that arises when the reasonable
possibility of injury ought to be foreseen in accordance
with the
classic test for negligence articulated in
Kruger
v Coetzee
)….
[8]
One such case was
Tarry v Ashton
, in which a lamp that the
defendant had employed an independent contractor to repair was not
securely fastened to the wall of the
defendant’s house and fell
on a passer-by. Finding the defendant to be liable, Lord Blackman
said the following:
‘
But
it was the defendant’s duty to make the lamp reasonably safe,
the contractor failed to do that; and the defendant, having
the duty,
has trusted fulfilment of that duty to an- other who has not done it.
Therefore, the defendant has not done his duty,
and he is liable to
the plaintiff for the consequences.’
Another
was
Hardaker v Idle District Council
, in which Lindley LJ
described the nature of the duty that was cast upon the council as
follows:
‘
But
the
council
cannot,
by
employing
a
contractor,
get
rid
of
their
own
duty
to
other
people, whatever that duty may be.…’
[9]
28.
In his
particulars of claim, the plaintiff alleges that the defendants knew
or ought reasonably to have known that certain parts
of the roof are
made of fibreglass; that the roof was not regularly cleaned or at all
and that parts of the roof made of fibreglass
would not be visible to
persons lawfully present on the roof and carrying out work, creating
a hazard to those who may unknowingly
step thereon and cause harm.
Under the circumstances, the defendants had a duty to warn persons
such as Davel, or prevent them
from mounting the roof, or designate a
safe place for such persons to
walk
on
the
roof.
Their
failure
to
carry
out
reasonable
steps
to
prevent
harm
was negligent.
I agree.
29.
The facts
established during the trial show that the defendants, through their
employee, a member of senior management no less than
the Captain,
knew that a portion of the roof was made of fibreglass. Even though
the Captain had never been on the roof he did
not testify that the
roof had been regularly or had ever been cleaned. On being shown the
photo (703) depicting the damaged sheet
showing where Davel fell, he
conceded that it was dark. The concession was wisely made. This
implies that a person lawfully present
on the roof and unaware of the
danger would not be able to distinguish the corrugated iron sheets
from those made of fibreglass
and might unknowingly step on the
fibreglass.
30.
A reasonable
person in the position of the defendants would have taken steps to
guard against harm. A step that the defendants could
have taken,
which would have involved minimal cost if any, was to put up large,
bold signs in conspicuous places to warn those
who intend to mount
the roof of the imminent danger. Even better, they could have
prevented persons who did not know the roofing
materials from
mounting it. Now, the defendants pleaded that Davel had been
negligent yet they led no such evidence. They had also
pleaded that
Davel had been warned not to climb the roof but again failed to lead
evidence to that effect. They failed to call
June and Richard
Tenjokwayo. Similarly, the defendants had pleaded that Davel had no
authority to mount the roof and that only
the third defendants’
staff were permitted to mount the roof. Yet, Davel’s testimony
that a member of senior management,
no less than a financial
director, had instructed him to remove the booster or antenna was
never disturbed. His evidence established
that he had mounted the
roof on two occasions before the incident was also not disturbed by
the defendants. The defendants were
negligent.
31.
During
argument, the defendants saw it fit to argue for apportionment, even
though they had not pleaded anything about contributory
negligence.
Pleadings are there to define issue. [See
Minister
of Safety and Security
v
Slabbert
[2010] 2
All SA 474
SCA, paragraph 11]
32.
I find that
the defendants’ conduct was wrongful and negligent.
(iii)
Causation
33.
The test for
causation is set out in
Za
v
Smith
(20134/2014)
[2015] ZASCA 75
(27 May 2015), paragraph 30, and it says:
‘
The
criterion applied by the
court a quo
for
determining factual causation was the well- known but-for test as
formulated, e.g. by Corbett CJ in
International
Shipping Co (Pty) Ltd v Bentley
1990
(1)
SA 680 (A) at 700E-H. What it essentially lays down is the enquiry –
in the case of an omission – as to whether, but for the
defendant’s wrongful and negligent failure to take reasonable
steps, the plaintiff’s loss would not have ensued. In
this
regard this court has said on more than one occasion that the
application of the ‘but-for test’ is not based on
mathematics, pure science or philosophy. It is a matter of common
sense, based on the practical way in which the minds of ordinary
people work, against the background of everyday-life experiences. In
applying this common sense, practical test, a plaintiff therefore
has
to
establish
that
it
is
more
likely
than
not
that,
but
for
the
defendant’s
wrongful
and
negligent conduct, his or her harm would not have ensued. The
plaintiff is not required to establish this causal link with
certainty…’
34.
The facts of
this case establish on a preponderance of probabilities that Davel’s
injuries were caused by the defendants’
wrongful and negligent
conduct. Davel did not wake up one morning and decided to venture
onto the third defendant’s roof.
He had been asked to go there
and remove a booster or an antenna by a senior member of staff. No
warning had been sounded to him
and no steps were taken by the
defendants to prevent harm. The defendants caused Davel’s
damages and they must be held liable.
F.
Order
35.
The
plaintiff’s case succeeds.
1.
The Defendants
are found jointly and severally liable, one paying the other to be
absolved, for the plaintiff’s proven or
agreed damages;
2.
The issue of
quantum is separated from liability in terms of Rule 33 (4) and is
postponed
sine
die
;
3.
The defendants
must pay the plaintiff’s taxed or agreed costs on the High
Court scale, including the costs of counsel and
the curator
ad
litem
.
NN
BAM
JUDGE
OF THE HIGH COURT,
PRETORIA
Date
of Hearing: 02
June 2023
Date
of Judgement: 05
October 2023
Appearances:
Plaintiff’s
Counsel
:
Adv
J Van Den Berg SC
Instructed
by: VZLR
Incorporated Attorneys
Monument
Park, Pretoria
Defendants’
Counsel
:
Adv
B Gededger
Instructed
by: State
Attorneys
Pretoria
[1]
Caselines
006-700 to 703.
[2]
006-703
Caselines.
[3]
(615/2008)
[2009] ZASCA 156
(27 November 2009), paragraph 22.
[4]
2011
(3) SA 274
(CC) paragraph 122.
[5]
1966
(2) SA 428
(A) at 430E- F.
[6]
(CCT
20/12)
[2012] ZACC 30
;
2013 (2) BCLR 129
(CC);
2013 (2) SA 144
(CC);
2013 (1) SACR 213
(CC) (11 December 2012), paragraph 18.
[7]
1965
AD 367
[8]
at
373 A-D.
[9]
[2008] ZASCA 115
;
2009
(1) SA 265
(SCA), paragraph 7- 8.
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