Ex-warder wins damages claim after son drowns at house where Madiba spent last part of prison term

The Herald

2 days ago

They argued the employees failed to lock and secure the premises. The parents said they also failed to prohibit young children from entering the premises and to cover the pool with appropriate material to prohibit young children from falling in. They told the court the historic property's gates were hardly locked and that children from a neighbouring farm and the neighbourhood wandered inside and swam in the pool at the back of the property. The parents and three witnesses testified about lax security at the house.
The mother testified that at the time of the incident, they lived with their three sons — about 500m from the Mandela house — in a home provided by the department. She said about six families lived down the road from the iconic house. The mother lived on the property for eight years between 2004 and 2012.
'She testified that anyone could move freely through the fence and that she had never observed any security or security post at the fence area bordering the prison property on which the Mandela house is situated,' the judgment reads.
The mother told the court she was asleep at home on August 13 2010 when one of her sons ran inside 'shouting' that her baby had 'drowned'. She walked out and found the child 'lying on the ground outside the house on the grass'.
'He was soaking wet and not conscious. She tried cardiopulmonary resuscitation [CPR] on him but he was just lying there, lifeless,' the judgment reads.
The child was rushed to the Paarl Medi-Clinic where a doctor told her he 'had died'.
She testified that her then husband 'was also extremely distressed and disturbed at the time and was running up and down in a very distressed and agitated state'.
'She stated that her whole life changed after the drowning of her son ... She suffered severely psychologically and was diagnosed with depression,' the judgment reads.
'Her marriage suffered terribly as [her husband] was always drinking after the incident and there was constant blaming and fighting in their relationship.'
The father testified he had worked for the department for 18 years when he resigned in August 2014.
'He suffered memory loss and would sometimes have fits at night. He had already been under psychiatric treatment for bipolar disorder before [the child's] death and his symptoms became worse after that,' the judgment reads.
The minister argued that at the time of the incident, the property and swimming pool were under the control of a building contractor doing renovations and repairs to the pool.
However, the minister did not pursue the argument during the trial.
The minister also argued that the public was required to get permission from the department to enter the property. He said the parents 'did not obtain such authorisation and their son, so the defendants plead, had no authority to enter the premises, which includes the swimming pool'.
But the court ruled in favour of the parents.
'I hold that the minister is liable for the agreed or proven damages suffered by the plaintiffs following the drowning of [the child] at the Drakenstein Correctional Centre on August 13 2010,' the judgment reads.
The judgment effectively holds the correctional services minister liable for the 'agreed or proven damages' suffered by the parents.
The minister was ordered to pay the parents' legal costs.
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