The Constitutional Court held that it did not have jurisdiction to entertain the matter, as the sole issue was factual causation in a medical negligence claim and did not raise a constitutional issue or an arguable point of law of general public importance. The majority found that the applicant's challenge was to the factual findings of the Full Court, not to any legal or constitutional principle. The Court emphasised that its jurisdiction does not extend to purely factual disputes, even where lower courts may have erred on the facts. The application of the 'but for' test for causation was no…
Dangazele v Road Accident Fund (1756/18) [2020] ZAECMHC 6 (13 February 2020)
Court
Eastern Cape High Court, Mthatha
Case number
1756/18
Judge
Z. M. Nhlangulela
The High Court found the Road Accident Fund liable after accepting that the insured driver negligently drove on the wrong side of the road and caused a head-on collision.
Minister van Polisie v Van der Vyver (861/2011) [2013] ZASCA 39 (28 March 2013)
Court
Supreme Court of Appeal
Case number
861/2011
Judges
Brand, Leach, Theron, Majiedt, Pillay
The Supreme Court of Appeal held that the respondent failed to prove a causal link between the police's conduct and the continuation of his prosecution. Although Bartholomew acted with animus iniuriandi by deliberately misrepresenting the connection between the blood mark and the respondent's shoe, the evidence established that the prosecution would have proceeded even without Bartholomew's testimony, based on other circumstantial evidence. Regarding Swartz's fingerprint evidence, the court found no proof of intent to mislead, attributing the errors to negligence or incompetence rather than m…
