Pretoria - The City of Tshwane will have to pay damages to a Pretoria North man who injured his leg so badly when he stepped into a pothole that doctors initially wanted to amputate it.
Theunis Brink, 62, spent more than two months in the Tshwane District Hospital after the incident.
He is claiming more than R900 000 in damages from the city. The city did not file papers to oppose the matter.
The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, ruled that the city was 100% liable for the damages, which Brink could prove he had suffered.
Brink, who is unemployed, said that on March 18 last year he visited a friend in Pretoria North to watch a rugby game. He walked to his friend’s house earlier that night and planned to walk home again after the match.
But when it started to rain, he called a friend to fetch him.
“I ran outside and had to cross the road. At that stage, it was raining hard and the road was covered in water. I could not see the surface. I simply accepted the integrity of the road would be in place as I had no reason to believe otherwise.”
Brink said there were no signs indicating potholes or any warnings of roadworks. It was dark and the street lights were not working.
As he crossed to the last lane he stepped into a deep pothole, which was close to the edge of the road. He fell and severely injured his right leg.
He blamed the city and said it had allowed Veldkornet Roos Street to deteriorate to such an extent that a pothole had formed. The city was well aware of the pothole as two of his friends who lived nearby had reported it numerous times, he said.