Pretoria - The City of Joburg must pay more than R7.8 million to a then heavily pregnant teenager who fell into an open manhole while walking along a street in Eldorado Park at night.
The then 16-year-old, who was in Grade 10, presumably bumped her head against a sharp object inside the manhole, and suffered severe head injuries. She now suffers from bilateral blindness, constant headaches and seizures.
She turned to the South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, where she claimed more than R9m in damages from the Joburg Metro. She blamed it for the incident and it was argued on her behalf that the metro had a duty to cover the manhole or at least warn the public about the danger.
Acting Judge AM Van der Merwe totally agreed and found the metro to have been negligent in this regard.
The young woman testified that on the evening of August 24, 2019 at the corner of Kremetart and Cederberg streets, not far from her home, she fell into an open manhole.
She landed on her side at the bottom of the manhole. It was dark at the time and the street lights were not working.
She was walking with her brother and her mother next to her as they were on their way to her aunt’s home to celebrate her birthday.
Although the teen grew up in the area, she was not too familiar with the streets and was in particular not aware of the open manhole.
When she realised she had fallen into the manhole, she shouted and her brother came to her assistance by using his cellphone’s torch light and climbing down the manhole to lift her up and out of the manhole.
Her brother and mother took her to Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital after the fall.
The unborn baby was not affected by the fall and the mother-to-be was discharged the next day.
But she experienced constant headaches and blurry vision and went to see a private doctor during that week, who prescribed Panado tablets only, as she was pregnant.
Her next visit to Rahima Moosa Hospital was when she gave birth to her healthy baby girl a month after her fall.
The plaintiff’s mother testified that when she went to the hospital to visit her daughter and newly-born granddaughter, she noticed that the plaintiff’s eyes were glassy, that she could not recall what happened and looked lost.
The mother said a doctor then told her that the plaintiff was now blind and that she had bleeding and swelling on her brain.
The plaintiff was subsequently moved to Helen Joseph Hospital, where she remained for about a month.
A civil engineer, who has been employed by the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), inspected the manhole about a year after the incident. At that stage, the manhole was covered with a cement slab.
When he removed the cover, he ascertained that it belonged to the JRA and the Joburg Metro.
He indicated that a person could fit in the manhole, which had iron bars inside that one could use as stairs. He described the depth of the manhole as approximately 2.5 to 3 metres.
Judge Van der Merwe said, in her view, the plaintiff’s injury was caused due to the negligence of the defendant, who failed to take reasonable steps to cover a dangerous manhole on the sidewalk or warn the public of the danger it posed.
According to a specialist, the plaintiff suffered visual loss after the fall into the manhole and an exacerbation thereof after she had given birth.
He diagnosed the plaintiff with bilateral cortical blindness as a result of damage to the occipital lobe caused when she fell into the manhole and injured the back of her head.
Her visual impairment is about 75%. The plaintiff has permanent visual incapacity with a poor prognosis.
He testified that there was no chance of recovery.
Pretoria News