The Ekurhuleni municipality has been ordered to pay a family of a 53-year-old man more than R750,000 after he hit a pothole while riding a motorbike and broke some bones more than a decade ago. The order was delivered on Friday by the Johannesburg high court.
On July 10 2010, Botes Christiaan, who has since died, hit a pothole and suffered an ankle fracture, a shoulder fracture, a punctured lung and all the ribs on one side of his chest were broken.
In August 2011, Christiaan served the city with a summons blaming it for negligence. He had claimed R1.3m for general damages and past and future hospital expenses and loss of earnings.
He died before the matter could be concluded and his family continued with the case.
In court, the city disputed the existence of the pothole at the time of the accident. It stated it had no knowledge of the date of the accident or the particulars of the vehicle Christiaan was driving.
''The defendant [Ekurhuleni] did, however, admit that it was under a duty to attend to the proper upkeep and maintenance of roads situated within its area of jurisdiction and that there was a pothole at the intersection of Amarillo Road and Ilex Way, Edleen, Kempton Park. It, however, denied that the accident was caused by this pothole as it only manifested in October 2010 and had not yet formed at the time of the accident,” read the court document.
City of Ekurhuleni ordered to pay family R750k after pothole accident
Reporter
Image: supplied
The Ekurhuleni municipality has been ordered to pay a family of a 53-year-old man more than R750,000 after he hit a pothole while riding a motorbike and broke some bones more than a decade ago. The order was delivered on Friday by the Johannesburg high court.
On July 10 2010, Botes Christiaan, who has since died, hit a pothole and suffered an ankle fracture, a shoulder fracture, a punctured lung and all the ribs on one side of his chest were broken.
In August 2011, Christiaan served the city with a summons blaming it for negligence. He had claimed R1.3m for general damages and past and future hospital expenses and loss of earnings.
He died before the matter could be concluded and his family continued with the case.
In court, the city disputed the existence of the pothole at the time of the accident. It stated it had no knowledge of the date of the accident or the particulars of the vehicle Christiaan was driving.
''The defendant [Ekurhuleni] did, however, admit that it was under a duty to attend to the proper upkeep and maintenance of roads situated within its area of jurisdiction and that there was a pothole at the intersection of Amarillo Road and Ilex Way, Edleen, Kempton Park. It, however, denied that the accident was caused by this pothole as it only manifested in October 2010 and had not yet formed at the time of the accident,” read the court document.
The city also told the court that Christiaan's accident was his fault for failing to be on the lookout and that he was driving at excessive speed.
“Summons were issued 13 years ago, and there have been numerous delays in this matter. With the limited information available to me, it is not possible to determine who is responsible for these delays. In addition, a multitude of interlocutory applications between the parties contributed to the delays,” said judge Leonie Windell.
“It would be unfair to allow interest to accrue from the date of demand as requested by the plaintiff. The court has the discretion to select the appropriate date from which interest should run.”
He ordered the city to pay an amount of R600,000 in respect of general damages and R151,035.71 for past medical and hospital expenses.
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