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Bomb deaths - Widow sues state for R5m

25 Sep 2013

Minister of Defence Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and the Tshwane municipality have been hit with a R5m lawsuit by a Pretoria mother whose son and husband were killed in a bomb explosion more than two years ago.

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula (Image: GCIS)

The claimant, 28-year-old Bellinah Matsane, narrowly escaped death in the explosion that killed her husband, Amos Khoza, 37, and their three-year-old son in their home in Phomolong informal settlement in July 2011.

In the 1940s and 1960s, the area known as Schurveberg was used by the South African National Defence Force as a testing and shooting range for mortars.

Squatters invaded the land in 1992 and, though tons of ammunition have since been removed following random explosions, it is believed that more unexploded munitions remain buried in the area, which is home to about 90,000 people.

In papers filed in the Pretoria High Court, Matsane claims that the municipality failed to prevent injury or death to the public, or to warn the public of munitions in the area.

She argues that the municipality failed to remove munitions when it learned that the area was being, or had been, populated by members of the public.

Area not made safe

Turning her attention to Mapisa-Nqakula, Matsane said her ministry had failed to de-militarise the area before it relinquished control over it to the municipality.

She claims that the ministry failed to ensure that adequate measures were taken to protect the public from injury or death caused by unexploded munitions.

Matsane states that she sustained severe injuries and disfigurement, pain and suffering caused by shrapnel from the exploding munitions that struck and penetrated her upper body.

She had to undergo a number of operations and will continue to suffer pain as a result of her injuries.

In its defence, the municipality of Tshwane admitted ownership of the land but placed the blame squarely at the defence ministry's door because the ministry had a legal duty to have taken reasonable steps to have rendered the land safe.

The municipality states in its court papers that the defence force knew that the land had been a firing range.

The state attorney filed notice in March of the state's intention to contest the suit on behalf of Mapisa-Nqakula but has yet to file a defence.

Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

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