The Free State High Court (Bloemfontein) has ruled that the provincial MEC of Community Safety, Roads & Transport is 100% liable for the damages suffered by Masenemi Puseletso, whose car had hit a pothole.

The judge found that the department had negligently breached its duty of care by failing to fix the potholes, or at the very least, warn motorists of the dangers.

A Cape Argus report says Puseletso turned to court after the car she was travelling in hit a pothole which was about a metre wide. The vehicle veered off the road and she suffered injuries.

Her case was based on the allegation that the department failed to ensure there were adequate warning signs on the R34 between Vrede and Memel, to warn road users of the existence of potholes and for not fixing the road surface.

According to Puseletso, that road was in fact riddled with potholes, which she managed to dodge. She, however, saw this particular pothole too late. As she travelled downhill, she noticed a pothole, slowed the vehicle down, and successfully negotiated around the pothole with the front wheels of the vehicle, however, the vehicle’s left rear wheel hit either another pothole or the same one. She managed to manoeuvre the vehicle back on the road, but immediately hit another pothole.

She lost control of the vehicle and it landed in a ditch.

Puseletso suffered severe injuries and was taken to hospital.

While admitting it had a duty to maintain the road, the department blamed Puseletso for the accident, claiming she drove too fast and failed to maintain a proper lookout, notes the Cape Argus report.

The department was adamant that it did have signs along the road warning motorists of the potholes.

The court, however, found that following the evidence of various witnesses – including the SAPS in the area – there were many potholes on this road and that it was not Puseletso’s fault that she had hit one which caused her accident.

The court said a reasonable person in the position of the department would have foreseen the possibility that its conduct in failing to properly maintain and repair the road riddled with potholes could lead to an accident.

‘The reasonable person would have taken the appropriate steps to guard against the occurrence of an accident … It is patent that the defendant and/ or his employees failed to take the necessary steps to prevent the damage and losses suffered by the plaintiff,’ the court said.

Full Cape Argus report

Judgment