UNEVEN NETBALL FIELD LEADS TO LEARNER GETTING R2 MILLION

The Limpopo Department of Education has been ordered by the court to pay a learner R2 million in damages. This comes after a then grade 11 learner at a government school slipped and fell on the uneven netball field. The incident led to the learner breaking her arm.

In the Limpopo High Court, the learner blamed the department for her injury. According to the court papers, the learner said the teachers were negligent in allowing the children to practice netball, while unsupervised, on an uneven terrain.

The school denied the negligence and highlighted that netball is a contact sport. It also said that the learner had the knowledge of the risk in playing this sport and that she consented to do so.

The learner testified that the ground was uneven and its colour was red and slippery. She said there were patches of grass in between the ground with some stones.

She added that the team usually cleans the field before they play but that they were given short notice to go and play on the day of the incident. They weren’t under supervision from teachers at the time of the incident.

A teacher testified on behalf of the school that he and other teachers were on their way to supervise the players, but they were still at the field’s gate when the incident took place, so they didn’t witness the incident.

He said the local municipality repaired the field at the beginning of that year and denied that learners had to help repair the field during the year.

Acting Judge Johan Stroh accepted the learner’s evidence and ordered the department to pay the learner the damages she was able to prove.

Image credit: Kamfer Attorneys