Latest news with #NorthWestHighCourt
IOL News
6 days ago
- Automotive
- IOL News
Motorist awarded R26. 6m after pothole accident leaves her paraplegic
A North West Province woman who is left a paraplegic after her car hit a pothole and overturned, is set to receive R26.6m in damages from the province's roads department. Image: File A pothole in the North West Province will cost the MEC of the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport more than R26.6 million after a motorist was involved in an accident when she drove through the pothole, which left her a paraplegic. The North West High Court, sitting in Mahikeng, ordered the department about three months ago to pay this amount to the plaintiff, only identified as Beauty. However, the department has to date not yet paid up. Her attorney, Righardt Bezuidenhout, said the department promised that it would pay by Wednesday. However, by the time of publication, she had not yet been paid. Bezuidenhout had obtained an order to attach the assets of the provincial department, to sell at auction in a bid to receive payment. The department, in the meantime, promised to make the payment to avoid its assets being sold at public auction. Bezuidenhout earlier managed to secure an order against the provincial department after proving that the pothole was the cause of the accident, in which Beauty was left a paraplegic. She lost control of her car in 2014 when she hit the massive pothole on a public road, and her vehicle overturned. The provincial department was held responsible as it was proved to have been negligent for not fixing the pothole earlier. The court was told that the pothole had been there for some time and that it was fixed a few days after the accident. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ The provincial department was held 100% liable for the damages she could prove she had suffered as a result of the accident. Beauty was a highly functional nurse prior to the accident, but she is now left helpless and needs around-the-clock assistance. During the second leg of the court case earlier this year, a host of experts were called in a bid to determine how much compensation Beauty should receive. The damages claimed by her were for past medical expenses, future medical expenses, loss of earnings, and general damages. In determining her damages, Deputy Judge President Tebogo Djaje considered the fact that Beauty was employed as a professional nurse at the time of the accident. She had been in service for approximately 25 years. Since the accident, she has not been employed and was medically boarded in 2016. She will not be able to return to work as she presents with a physical impairment of 77%, according to the orthopaedic surgeon. Apart from being wheelchair-bound, she uses an indwelling catheter as well as nappies and is completely dependent on her daughter for assistance. The only physical activity that she can do is gardening to a limited degree. According to the experts, the plaintiff will require extensive future treatment. Apart from spinal injuries, she also suffered a hip fracture, as well as shoulder and rib fractures. Her injuries further left her with several scars, and she lost four of her front teeth.
IOL News
6 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
State must pay R26. 6m to motorist left a paraplegic after accident caused by pothole
A North West Province woman who is left a paraplegic after her car hit a pothole and overturned, is set to receive R26.6m in damages from the province's roads department. Image: File A pothole in the North West Province will cost the MEC of the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport more than R26.6 million after a motorist was involved in an accident when she drove through the pothole, which left her a paraplegic. The North West High Court, sitting in Mahikeng, ordered the department about three months ago to pay this amount to the plaintiff, only identified as Beauty. However, the department has to date not yet paid up. Her attorney, Righardt Bezuidenhout, said the department promised that it would pay by Wednesday. However, by the time of publication, she has not yet been paid. When the department failed to pay her prior to now. Bezuidenhout had obtained an order to attach the assets of the provincial department, to sell at auction in a bid to receive payment. The department, in the meantime, promised to make the payment in a bid to avoid its assets being sold at public auction. Bezuidenhout earlier managed to secure an order against the provincial department after proving that the pothole was the cause of the accident, in which Beauty was left a paraplegic. She lost control of her car in 2014 when she hit the massive pothole on a public road, and her vehicle overturned. The provincial department was held responsible as it was proved to have been negligent for not fixing the pothole earlier. The court was told that the pothole had been there for some time and that it was fixed a few days after the accident. The provincial department was held 100% liable for the damages she could prove she had suffered as a result of the accident. Beauty was a highly functional nurse prior to the accident, but she is now left helpless and needs around-the-clock assistance. During the second leg of the court case earlier this year, a host of experts were called in a bid to determine how much compensation Beauty should receive. The damages claimed by her were for past medical expenses, future medical expenses, loss of earnings, and general damages. In determining her damages, Deputy Judge President Tebogo Djaje considered the fact that Beauty was employed as a professional nurse at the time of the accident. She had been in service for approximately 25 years. Since the accident, she has not been employed and was medically boarded in 2016. She will not be able to return to work as she presents with a physical impairment of 77%, according to the orthopaedic surgeon. Apart from being wheelchair-bound, she uses an indwelling catheter as well as nappies and is completely dependent on her daughter for assistance. The only physical activity that she can do is gardening to a limited degree. According to the experts, the plaintiff will require extensive future treatment. Apart from spinal injuries, she also suffered a hip fracture, as well as shoulder and rib fractures. Her injuries further left her with several scars, and she lost four of her front teeth.
IOL News
14-05-2025
- IOL News
Five convictions overturned after lawyer found practicing illegally for 10 years
The North West High Court in Mafikeng has released five individuals previously convicted of robbery and malicious injury to property. The North West High Court in Mafikeng has released five individuals previously convicted of robbery and malicious injury to property. This unprecedented decision stemmed from the revelation that their attorney, Sekgopamang Moses Koloane, had been operating without a valid Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC) for over a decade, raising serious questions about the legality of their representation. An FCC is a certificate that is a requirement for legal practitioners; without it, they are not allowed to practice or take deposits from clients. The certificate is renewed every year at a cost of R345. The accused, identified as Goitseone Serache, Nkakane Tshile, Jeffrey Rabi, Yvonne Monname, and Kgomotso Jwere, were convicted in August 2024 and subsequently sentenced on January 31, 2025. However, their judicial fate took a dramatic turn when the Legal Practice Council in North West revealed that Koloane's last valid FFC was issued on April 3, 2014.
IOL News
22-04-2025
- IOL News
Court awards R850 000 to man wrongfully detained for 120 days
In granting a man who had to spend 120 days in police custody while he was innocent of committing a crime R850 000 in damages, payable by the police, the court commented that what had happened to the man during his incarceration was simply horrendous and inhumane. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Serame Tikoe claimed more than R1million in damages before the North West High Court, sitting in Mahikeng following his nightmare ordeal. He painted a bleak picture to the court of how he had to witness fellow inmates being raped. He also had to hand out cigarettes to gang members in return for protection. Tikoe, 39, testified that on the afternoon of September 1, 2022, he was on his way to a butcher in Potchefstroom. A male police officer whom he later came to know as Myburgh stopped the plaintiff and told him he wanted to talk to him. Myburgh took the plaintiff's hands and held them behind his back, pushed the plaintiff to the ground and handcuffed him, before pushing him into a police van. This was done in the presence of the public. At the Potchefstroom police station, the plaintiff was told that he was being arrested for armed robbery and possession of ammunition. Tikoe had no knowledge of the armed robbery, nor did the police tell him where and when it had happened. He was later taken to Bougroep prison where he remained in custody until February 15, 2023, when he was cleared of any wrongdoing and released. He told the court that the police cells at Potchefstroom police station were small. There were about 20 people in the cell and he could not bathe because there was no water in the cell. The blankets were filthy and he was placed in a cell with members of a gang, who took his food. The plaintiff did not have any visitors at Potchefstroom police station because his family did not know he was arrested. At Bougroep prison, there were 45 people in a cell. They were given two slices of bread, porridge and tea in the morning. At lunch time, they were given pap and a piece of bone; the plaintiff emphasised that it was literally a bone with no meat. Here he was put in a cell with gang members and he had to witness people being raped in the cell. When the plaintiff had visitors and they gave him cigarettes, he would give the cigarettes to the members of the gang for protection. At the time of his arrest, his girlfriend, who was pregnant, lost the baby. The plaintiff believes this is because he was not there to support her. The court said apart from the horrendous conditions in the cells, the manner in which Tikoe was arrested was also troublesome, as the arresting officer had no regard for the plaintiff's rights, Acting Judge T. Masike said. The police, meanwhile, conceded the fact that Tikoe's rights were infringed on and it did not defend the damages claim. In deciding on how much damages to award, Judge Masike said he is mindful of the Supreme Court of Appeal's warning that exorbitant amounts are often claimed by litigants and sometimes awarded lavishly by our courts. 'Amounts should not be 'thumb-sucked' without due regard to the facts and circumstances of a particular case,' he said, in concluding that R850 000 was reasonable in this case.
