Pretoria - A lawyer who slipped on a wet floor in the passage of a magistrate’s court and severely injured his shoulder is claiming nearly R2.9 million from the Departments of Public Works and Infrastructure, and Justice.
Lineen Swarts told the Eastern Cape High Court sitting in Gqeberha that these departments should have ensured that the passages were safe for all who visited the court.
The departments, on the other hand, blamed Swarts for the incident and said he was the author of his own misfortune as he had simply lost his balance.
They also blamed the cleaning company which held the tender to clean the court building, arguing that since government departments had nothing to do with the cleaning process they could not be held liable.
But a judge of the high court found that the departments were indeed liable for any damages which Swarts could prove were the result of the slip and fall incident.
The court held that government could not merely appoint a cleaning service – one in this case which it knew very little about – and sit back and hope for the best.
Acting Judge I Bands said that on November 16, 2018, what ought to have been an ordinary morning at the Gqeberha Magistrate’s Court for Swarts, a local attorney with many years’ standing, took a turn for the bad when he slipped on water on the floor in the building’s passageway and fell, injuring his left shoulder.
Swarts testified that he was en route from a courtroom to the office of a clerk when he noticed a cleaning lady standing in the passage holding her cellphone in front of her face.
He noticed a black bag on the floor next to her and walked around the bag. He suddenly slipped and fell backwards. On realising that he was falling, he put out his left hand to break his fall.
Swarts landed on his back and momentarily lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, he looked up at the roof and realised that he was lying on his back.
He noted that the back of his shirt and pants were wet and that he had slipped on the water on the floor. Prior to slipping and falling, he was unaware of the water.
Swarts asked the cleaner why there were no warning signs in place, to which the crying woman responded that she was going to lose her job; that her husband was paralysed; and that she was the only one who had employment.
Swarts said as a result of his slip and fall, he sustained an injury to his left shoulder and had to undergo several operations.
According to him, the accident could have been prevented if there were at least signs warning that the floor was wet.
It was testified on behalf of the departments that they used a company to clean the court. One of the stipulations in the contract was that the company may not use slippery cleaning agents.
A witness conceded that on the day of the incident, the floor was wet and that there were no warning signs.
The official could not tell the court much about the cleaning company which held the tender, nor if there was anyone from government who kept an eye on the cleaning and safety aspects.
The court found that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, as the custodian of the building, and the Justice Department, as the occupier thereof, were under a legal duty to the plaintiff and the public at large to ensure that the buildings, including the floors in the passageways, were safe and free of obvious hazards which would pose a risk to the public.
Pretoria News