This blog is co-authored by Yuveshen Naidoo, a candidate attorney.

In December 2020 the High Court confirmed that a school is not automatically liable for every accident to learners during break time. Instead, liability arises when the school fails to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm including where dangerous equipment is left accessible to learners. The school was found liable because unsecured steel goal posts that collapsed and insured a learner created a risk that should have been anticipated and managed. The judgment makes it clear that schools must assess and address foreseeable dangers, rather than rely on blanket supervision or routine practices, to meet their duty of care.

A grade 8 learner who was a bystander at a public school was injured when a steel crossbeam from a loose-standing soccer goal post fell on him during a break. The goal post had been assembled by learners without teacher supervision. No educators were present. The injured learner was only taken to hospital nearly three hours later. The school argued that break time was not a “school activity” requiring supervision, and that teachers were entitled to their own lunch breaks.

The court found the school liable because it left dangerous equipment, being the steel goal posts, unsecured and accessible to learners during break, despite knowing soccer was regularly played. This created a foreseeable risk of injury, as children were likely to interact with the equipment unsupervised. The judgment emphasised that even minimal supervision or locking away the equipment could have prevented the incident, and that protocols for official activities did not excuse the lack of oversight during informal play. Schools must proactively manage foreseeable hazards by securing dangerous items or providing appropriate supervision.

Despite having protocols for official sporting activities, the school failed to supervise learners during break times and did not secure the dangerous equipment. The court held that this amounted to a breach of the school’s duty to prevent harm. It is important to clarify that not every accident occurring during break time automatically results in liability for the school. Instead, liability depends on whether the school failed to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm.

This judgment makes it clear that public schools must take reasonable steps to supervise learners or secure potentially dangerous equipment during the school day, including breaks, where risks are present. Schools cannot rely on internal routines or staff lunch breaks to avoid liability if they have failed to manage foreseeable hazards.

Daniso v MEC for Education, Eastern Cape Provincial Government 2021 JDR 0573 (ECB) Generated