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South Africa decisions
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Absa Bank Limited v Hanley (08/2013) [2013] ZASCA 183; [2014] 1 All SA 249 (SCA); 2014 (2) SA 448 (SCA) (29 November 2013)
The SCA held that ABSA could not debit Hanley’s account for an unauthorised US$1.6 million transfer. The bank’s negligence in processing the forged instruction caused the loss.
Mutual & Federal Insurance Company Ltd v SMD Telecommunications CC (486/09) [2010] ZASCA 133; 2011 (1) SA 94 (SCA) ; [2011] 2 All SA 34 (SCA) (1 October 2010)
The Supreme Court of Appeal held that the insured’s accident was the proximate cause of death under the policy, and dismissed the insurer’s appeal with costs.
SMD Telecommunications CC v Mutual and Federal Insurance Company Ltd (5450/2005) [2009] ZAWCHC 147 (18 May 2009)
The court found that the insurance contract required the death to result solely and independently from bodily injury caused by violent, accidental, external, and visible means. The evidence established that the deceased's chronic condition was stable prior to the accident and that the accident and subsequent medical interventions constituted repeated insults to his body, culminating in a fatal myocardial infarction. The defendant failed to plead or prove any exclusion for pre-existing conditions. Applying the principles from Concord Insurance, the court held that the deceased's ill health was…
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Absa Bank Ltd v Bond Equipment (Pretoria) (Pty) Limited (580/98) [2000] ZASCA 59; 2001 (1) SA 372 (SCA) ; [2001] 1 All SA 1 (A); (2001) 22 ILJ 95 (SCA) (29 September 2000)
The court held that an employee’s theft of his employer’s cheques was outside the course and scope of employment, so the employer was not vicariously liable.
ABSA Bank Ltd. v Bond Equipment (Pretoria) (Pty) Ltd. (580/98) [2000] ZASCA 38; 2001 (1) SA 372 (SCA) ; [2001] 1 All SA 1 (A); (2001) 22 ILJ 95 (SCA) (8 September 2000)
The Supreme Court of Appeal held that Steyn's theft of the cheques was committed solely for his own interests and purposes, outside the scope of his authority and not in the course of his employment. The plaintiff cannot be held vicariously liable for Steyn's conduct after the theft, as it lost control over Steyn's dealings with the cheques. The theft itself did not cause the plaintiff's loss; only a potential loss arose. The actual cause of the plaintiff's loss was Steyn's appropriation of the proceeds, which was outside the course and scope of his employment. Therefore, the plaintiff is not…
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Commercial Union Assurance Company of South Africa Ltd. v Kwazulu Finance and Investment Corporation and Another (414/93) [1995] ZASCA 63; 1995 (3) SA 751 (AD); [1995] 2 All SA 628 (A) (30 May 1995)
The court interpreted a fire policy’s malicious damage extension and held that deliberate destruction to strip building materials was covered, despite the theft exclusion.
Napier N.O. v Collett and Another (535/93) [1995] ZASCA 44; 1995 (3) SA 140 (AD); [1995] 2 All SA 457 (A) (30 March 1995)
Appeal in a horse-insurance claim turned on causation. The court held the fatal anaesthetic, not the earlier accident, was the legal cause of death.
Concord Insurance Company Ltd. v Oelofsen NO (448/90) [1992] ZASCA 116; [1992] 2 All SA 448 (A) (21 August 1992)
The court held that a motor accident-triggered heart attack fell within an accident policy’s cover, and a pre-existing disease did not defeat liability.
Incorporated General Insurance Ltd v Fisheries (133/86) [1986] ZASCA 127 (20 November 1986)
The court held that confiscation of the fishing trawler was caused by non-payment of the fine, not the insured arrest and detention peril.
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