Anyone who has studied the law of delict since 1951 is aware of the English case of Bolton v Stone which found that hitting a cricket ball out of a cricket ground is an incidence of the game and did not amount to negligence so that the passer-by injured by the ball could not sue
Delict
Vicarious liability for creating a risk
The Supreme Court of Appeal has again extended the scope of vicarious liability. A security company was found liable for a murder committed by their site supervisor in an attempt to rob the deceased who was the financial manager at the premises which the security company were required to guard.
The court held that…
Responsibility of holding company for delicts of subsidiary (UK)
A group of 218 Kenyans sued the English holding company of a subsidiary company in Kenya for which the plaintiffs worked, for failing to protect them against political violence that erupted in Kenya after the 2007 presidential election. The English court held that there was no arguable case against the holding company that it owed…
The once-and-for-all rule for delictual damages
A person who claims for damages sustained as a result of injuries negligently caused by someone else has a single, indivisible cause of action and must sue for all damages in one claim.
This proposition was reasserted in the context of a prescription allegation regarding a Road Accident Fund Act claim.
The RAF Act only…
Delictual claim for unlawful interference with contract reined in
In the battle between Pick ‘n Pay and Masstores for exclusive rights to trade as a supermarket in a shopping complex the Constitutional Court, in holding for Masstores, has set out the limits for this type of delictual claim.
Pick ‘n Pay sued Masstores directly because their method of trading allegedly infringed Pick ‘n Pay’s…
Competition law has created a new form of delictual liability
The high court award of R104 million payable by South African Airways to Nationwide Airlines is the first case to confirm that the Competition Act has created a new form of delictual liability for anyone that uses its dominant position in a market to impede or prevent a competing firm from entering into or expanding…