Nomonde Sithole

Subscribe to Nomonde Sithole's Posts

In November 2025, the High Court considered a claim arising from a birth injury. The defendant Member of the Executive Council for Health had been held liable for all agreed or proven damages. Although the matter was trial‑ready by January 2024, the damages hearing was set for 17 August 2027, creating a lengthy gap. The court granted…

A September 2025 decision from the federal court in New Mexico confirmed that the effect of a standard policy exclusion that excluded loss caused by vandalism if the building had been vacant for more than 60 consecutive days turned on the presence of sufficient personal property to conduct the insured’s customary operations, rather than on…

In October 2025 the High Court granted default judgment against a surety after neither the surety nor her attorney appeared for the scheduled trial, finding that the surety’s dilatory conduct and her attorney’s failure to manage the case offered no justification to delay finalisation. The court emphasised that attorneys are officers of the court and…

This blog is co-authored by Justine Subramoney, candidate attorney.

In July 2025, the Supreme Court of Appeal confirmed that members of a close corporation are not personally liable for its debts or wrongdoing merely because they are members. Personal liability under section 65 of the Close Corporations Act arises only where a member’s own conduct…

The TN obo BN v Member of the Executive Council for Health, Eastern Cape judgment marked a major shift in South African medical negligence law by recognising two alternative remedies for awarding traditional lump‑sum damages where appropriate. The public healthcare remedy allows a health department to provide the injured person’s future medical services and supplies…

In September 2025, the High Court held a provincial health department liable after hospital staff operated on the wrong knee of a child and provided substandard care. The department was ordered to pay 100% of the patient’s proven damages. The judgment highlights the importance of simple safeguards, including accurate diagnosis, informed consent, surgical-site verification, and…

In February 2025, the High Court held that surveillance evidence of a claimant, taken in public, was admissible and lawfully processed under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) where it was necessary to defend a substantial civil claim. The court emphasised that privacy rights must be balanced against the public interest in discovering the…

The inventiveness of North American class action litigants should never be underestimated. 

This case dealt with Reese’s Peanut Butter pumpkins sold in a packaging depicting a pumpkin candy that had triangle eyes and a smile. The sweet inside is pumpkin-shaped but doesn’t have a face.

The plaintiffs claimed that they were disappointed when they opened up…

A municipality can be held liable if it fails to repair dangerous public infrastructure of which it is or should be aware and someone is harmed as a result. A September 2025 Supreme Court of Appeal judgment has confirmed that a municipality can be held legally responsible for injuries or death caused by an uncovered…