- Toddler drowned in uncovered stormwater drain in Uitenhage in 2014.
- Parents and community members repeatedly reported the danger.
- SCA finds municipality wrongful and negligent, restoring liability.
The heartbreak of losing a child is something no parent should endure. For the family of a 17-month-old girl in Uitenhage, the pain has been compounded by the knowledge that her death could have been prevented. On 13 September 2014, little J, barely old enough to speak, slipped into an uncovered stormwater drain in Grootboom Street, Greenfields. The tragedy unfolded in seconds, but its impact has haunted her parents and community for more than a decade.
On Tuesday, 2 September 2025, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) finally delivered what her family sees as justice. In a powerful judgment, the court held the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality liable for her death, overturning a previous ruling that had cleared the municipality of responsibility. The judges made it clear that municipalities cannot ignore dangerous infrastructure, especially when lives – and particularly children’s lives – are at stake.
At the centre of this case were two grieving parents who had never stopped insisting that their daughter’s death was preventable. Testimony before the trial court painted a damning picture; community members, including a pastor and neighbours, had repeatedly reported the open drain since as far back as 2012. Children were often seen playing nearby, and warnings about the danger were ignored.
Pain deepened by the courts
The trial court believed this evidence and ruled against the municipality. But in 2022, a full bench of the Eastern Cape High Court overturned that decision, reasoning that there was no proof complaints had been made and that the child’s mother could have prevented the tragedy by keeping her under closer supervision. This ruling compounded the family’s anguish, seemingly shifting the blame onto them.
The SCA firmly rejected this approach. It held that the trial court’s findings about the credibility of the witnesses could not simply be disregarded. It also stressed that expecting grieving parents or neighbours to keep reference numbers for complaints years later was unreasonable. Once a hazard is reported, the responsibility lies with the municipality to act.
Municipal duty cannot be ignored
More importantly, the court highlighted that entrusting a young child to the care of a 15-year-old, a common practice in many households, did not absolve the municipality of its constitutional and legal duty to maintain safe public infrastructure. Judge ESJ Steyn, writing for a unanimous bench, emphasised that accountability is central to governance: “The municipality had knowledge of the open drain. Its failure to act was both wrongful and negligent, and it caused the death of J.”
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