A motorist who was left a paraplegic after hitting a pool of water on a major arterial motorway and smashing into a tree has won a battle nearly 15 years later to hold the City of Cape Town liable.
Rashied Abrahams sustained his injuries on the night of July 16 2010 while driving along the M5 connecting the city to its southern suburbs. The city had initially alleged that Abrahams had been drag racing at the time of the crash.
But on Tuesday the high court in Cape Town ruled in Abrahams’ favour. Acting judge Ajay Bhoopchand found that the city could not be absolved from the matter.
According to the judgment, the accident happened on the stretch of M5 between the Klipfontein on-ramp and the Kromboom Road off-ramp.
“On the fateful night, [Abrahams] lost control of his vehicle after it encountered water on the roadway, spun and careered off the road into a tree,” the judgment reads.
“[Abrahams] was left paraplegic from his accident-related injuries. The matter proceeded to trial on the issue of liability alone. At the close of [Abrahams’s] case, the [city] applied for absolution from the instance.”
The 28-page judgment outlined the bruising legal dispute between Abrahams and the city. Abrahams claimed it was the city's duty to ensure water did not stagnate on the road and create danger for motorists. He argued the city should have maintained proper drainage and ensured the stormwater drains were in good working order.
He also said anyone employed or contracted by the city to do that work should have done it quickly, properly, and effectively, to ensure the road surface would not put drivers at risk.
Abrahams told the court the city “had to ensure the safety of persons driving on the road and take all reasonable steps to avoid such incidents” and added it had “failed in each of these respects”.
The city denied negligence. It claimed that Abrahams “failed to wear his seat belt and was unrestrained when the accident occurred. He drove recklessly and at an excessive speed, failed to keep a proper lookout, another vehicle collided with his car, and [he] participated in illegal drag racing with another motorist on the roadway.”
However, Bhoopchand said there “was no indication that [the city] intended to persist with its allegation that another vehicle had collided with [Abrahams’] car, or that [he] was drag racing”.
The witnesses were interrogated on their memory of an event 14 years ago, but they remained resolute about the water they encountered at the accident scene
— Acting judge Ajay Bhoopchand
Abrahams called five witnesses to bolster his case. They included a person who witnessed the accident, a police officer who attended the scene, an ambulance assistant who found Abrahams “trapped in his vehicle” and an accident and reconstruction expert.
The judgment states “The stretch of road is flat over at least 80m before the transition square of about 12m occurs.
“The land topography includes the historical river course at the flattest part of the roadway, which would have caused water to flow naturally before the roadway was built,” the judgment reads.
The police officer who attended the crime scene and another witness testified that the road was covered with water. “It was one big dam, you could say,” said witness Bronwyn Witbooi.
“The witnesses were interrogated on their memory of an event 14 years ago, but they remained resolute about the water they encountered at the accident scene,” said Bhoopchand.
He added that Abrahams had put together a “remarkably compelling case even though he could not contribute due to amnesia from the accident induced by his injuries”.
Bhoopchand dismissed the city’s application for absolution from the instance, dismissing the case due to the evidence not being strong, and ordered it to pay the costs of the application.
The parties will return to court in the future to conclude the outcome of the claim against the city.
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