Education department to pay pupil for damages

The Gauteng department of education on Thursday lost its appeal against a Pretoria High Court judgment that deemed it liable for the damages suffered by a judge and his son after the latter fractured his skull during a playground game.

Christiaan, the son of Judge Pierre Rabie, was hurt in a game in which older boys bounced young boys up and down a cricket net.

A full bench of three judges confirmed that the department was liable, as the Hoerskool Waterkloof teachers who were on ground duty that day failed to notice that the children were engaging in a dangerous activity.

Christiaan was a Grade 8 pupil at the school when the accident occurred on July 31 2003.

He was tossed in the air and fell on to the ground, suffering serious head injuries. The judge claimed about R3-million in damages.

This included the medical expenses incurred during Christiaan's six-week stay in hospital as well as for the trauma he and his son had suffered.

In May 2006 the court ruled that the department was liable for the damages, but the amount payable was not yet determined.

Judge PC Combrinck at the time said the school had foreseen that during school hours the pupils could take part in dangerous games that could lead to injuries.

He said this was why a system of ground duty was in place. The school also knew it could happen in areas that were off-limits to the pupils.

He said if a teacher was on duty on the southern side of the rugby field, where the accident occurred, the teacher would have noticed the gathering of children.

But counsel for the department in its appeal attempt said Christiaan and the other pupils who took part in the game should have known it was against the school rules and that they could get injured. It was stated that they had been negligent.

Judge RJW Jones on Thursday said Christiaan was 13 at the time and lacked the judgment and maturity to realise that he could be injured.

All he saw was his classmates having fun. Jones said he could not find any fault with the judgment of Combrinck, concluding that the school and thereby the department was responsible for damages.