The mother of a child who was injured when a teacher assaulted the pupil by piercing his left eye with a pencil, which penetrated into the brain behind the eye, is due to receive more than R2.5 million from the Gauteng Education Department after she instituted a damages claim.
The mother turned to the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, following an incident in August 2014, when the child was only 6 years old. He is now 16 and blind in his left eye as a result of the pencil incident.
The MEC for Education in Gauteng was sued in a representative capacity as a nominal defendant for claims arising against the child’s former primary school.
The MEC earlier accepted liability on behalf of the teacher and the school and the court at the time ruled that the education department is 100% liable for the damages which could be proved.
The matter has returned to court where the amount of damages was determined. In determining this, the court did not discuss how the incident occurred, but rather what the lasting effects on the now teenager is.
The mother initially claimed R9.1m in damages from the department.
A host of experts provided the court with reports regarding the teenager and all agreed that he had suffered a severe injury to his left eye, rendering him blind in the eye. He also suffered a moderate brain injury due to the fact that the pencil which penetrated his eye, went into the brain causing an abscess/periosteal collection. He also suffers psychological injuries as a consequence of the event in addition to the physical injuries he suffered.
Neurosurgeons said the injury to the child’s brain resulted in a post-traumatic organic neuropsychological disorder. According to them, provision should be made for his headaches.
The sequelae of his injuries resulted in permanent losses of learning capacity, employment capacity, independence, amenities and enjoyment of life, the court was told.
Regarding his eye, the experts agreed that the injury had left him with no perception of light in that eye and with no recovery of vision possible.
It was agreed that he had suffered a traumatic experience that affected his family. He has poor self-esteem and a depressive disorder that is in remission. He requires ongoing counselling to deal with the issues caused by his blindness in the left eye. His employment options have become limited.
He is a vulnerable individual and any funds awarded should be protected by way of a trust, the court was told.
In deciding how much in general damages should be awarded to the child’s mother on his behalf, the court noted that each case must be decided on its own merits and that previous awards in comparable matters were intended to serve only as a guide.
Having considered the facts of this matter and the authorities, the court said in its view an award of R550 000 for the loss of an eye and disfigurement and R350 000 for the moderate brain injury sustained, neurocognitive and neuropsychological damage, headaches and the risk of epilepsy would be fair.
The court also awarded an amount of R418 812 for the child’s future medical expenses, slightly more than R1m for future loss of earnings and R900 000 in total for general loss of earnings.
The department will also have to foot the bill of R176 702 for the trust costs for the money to be held in trust. It was initially asked on behalf of the mother that the funds to be awarded be protected until the child reached the age of majority. But the court was of the view that it is in the interests of the boy and in the interests of justice that the funds be protected by means of a trust for life.
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Pretoria News