KZN loses pothole appeal bid
The Pietermaritzburg High Court has denied the KZN government leave to appeal a ruling that its failure to repair a pothole caused a taxi passenger to lose her hand in an accident.
Hluphile Zuma was injured so badly that she lost her hand and part of her forearm in the crash on the Greytown-Dundee road in 2004.
Zuma had initially claimed a-million-rand from government after the accident.
The final figure that Zuma will be awarded is yet to be decided.
The court ruled in December that the KZN Premier and MEC for Transport were liable for the damages claimed by Zuma, a hospital chef from Tugela Ferry.
The court heard that the pothole took up nearly half the road and was 20 to 25-centimetres deep.
It would have cost about R500 to repair.
The accident happened when the taxi driver swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle at the pothole.
A Roads Department official testified that the stretch was adequately maintained and it was argued that the department lacked the money for proper maintenance.
However, the judge pointed out that in the same year, the department spent R700 000 on tarring a road leading to the farm of former Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele.
(File photo: Gallo Images)
- Sapa