5 year court fight over electrocuted boy ends
An Uitenhage woman was awarded R2.2 million in a settlement with the Nelson Mandela Bay metro after she sustained severe psychological trauma from seeing her son electrocuted by live wiring.
|||Port Eilzabeth – The mother of a little boy who was electrocuted to death after being exposed to live wire, can to some extent finally close a dark chapter in her life after a five-year emotionally turbulent battle was settled at the Port Elizabeth High Court on Wednesday.
In February 2011, six-year-old Liyema Mcwetyana was killed in the presence of his mother Priscilla, when he came into contact with live electrical wiring which was touching a wire fence.
The child was reportedly playing a ball game with friends when the incident occurred at Mandela Village in Uitenhage.
According to court documents, the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality was responsible for the installation and maintenance of all electrical cables in the Uitenhage area.
Court documents indicated that before the child’s death, community members had informed the municipality of live wires when a cow was electrocuted by live wiring a week before.
The 53-year-old mother, who was represented by attorney Wilma Van der Bank, subsequently sued the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality for damages amounting to over R3 million.
Damages included funeral expenses, past and future medical expenses, psychiatric consultations, counselling and hospitalisation and loss of income amongst other expenses.
According to Van der Bank, Priscilla could hardly get out of bed to attend court proceedings on Wednesday as she was too “traumatised” to relive the experience of losing her son.
Last year the two parties settled out of court and Priscilla was awarded around R700 000 for general damages. However, earlier this month, in a consequential plea, the municipality denied the claim relating to costs of a carer for Priscilla, which amounted to over R2 million.
On Wednesday, the two parties settled out of court with regard to the claim relating to costs of a full time caregiver, with the sum of money agreed upon amounting to just over R1.5 million.
All in all, the parties settled on an amount of just over R2.2 million in total.
During court proceedings on Wednesday, Advocate Pieter Mouton SC, indicated that as a result of the incident, Priscilla suffered from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Mouton indicated that Priscilla’s psychological and psychiatric condition had since developed into a permanent disability where “she can’t cope on her own”.
He added that the incident amounted to “gross negligence” on the part of the municipality.
According to documents, a report by psychiatrist Dr Derick van der Merwe for the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, had also indicated that the probability of Priscilla maintaining a healthy schedule of self care on a daily basis, in her present psychiatric condition was low.
“It is very highly likely in my opinion that self neglect will occur…Most specifically in the case of the diabetes, a disaster should be anticipated at some point if she were living alone. I believe a caregiver should thus be provided and thus should be properly instructed,” stated Van der Merwe.
A psychiatric report by Professor Tuvia Zabow of Cape Town echoed similar sentiments and found that Priscilla’s psychological condition appeared to have deteriorated over time.
An excerpt of Zabow’s conclusion read: “There are significant difficulties present in the home management of this patient based on the reported lack of drive and motivation. Personal care tasks and independence have deteriorated…She cannot leave home unaccompanied which is further indicative of behaviours and lack of social interactions aggravating the already severe withdrawal and energy.”
Judgement was reserved on Wednesday for the court to decide on the legal costs of counsel.
African News Agency
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