Mom sues after boy disfigured

INLSA

File photo: Dumisani Sibeko

Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal - The mother of a boy who suffered permanent disfigurement when he suffered an electric shock is suing the Ulundi municipality for more than R2 million.

Doreen Nzimande launched her application in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday. Her son, Solomuzi, suffered severe burns to his face, neck, arms, legs and torso when he came into contact with a distribution transformer unit near their family home in Ngwegwe Crescent, Ulundi, on February 26, 2007.

The boy was five at the time.

Solomuzi is believed to have touched part of the distribution unit that conducted live current.

He was treated at four hospitals for his injuries and has since undergone various treatments including, skin grafts, plastic reconstruction surgery and physiotherapy.

“He has been severely and permanently disfigured and has suffered extreme pain, which he will continue to suffer with in the future,” Nzimande said.

Solomuzi will also require further medical treatment and because of his permanent disability, he will also suffer a loss of future earning capacity.

Nzimande says the municipality had an obligation to maintain the distribution unit, knowing that it was close to a residential area and included parts that conducted live current.

The boy’s mother claims that the municipality ought to have taken precautions such as ensuring that the distribution unit was locked securely or sealed off, preventing unauthorised access, or ought to have inspected the unit regularly to ensure people could not come into contact with it.

Nzimande claims that by failing to do these things, the municipality was in breach of its duty as the unit posed a great risk to people of serious injury by electric shock.

The case has been adjourned to allow for the municipality to respond. - Daily News