Israel James was nine years old in November 2010 when he
received electric shocks from live wires negligently left lying on the ground
by the power company’s workers.
He was thrown into the air several times before he was
rescued, suffering both burns and fall injuries, leaving a permanent deformity
on his torso and back.
Now a grown up man, he also suffered a head injury when he
was hit by a piece of a plate which holds cables together when that exploded
during the accident. He was hospitalised for 19 days.
His father Mr Alphas James launched a High Court bid
against ZESA’s subsidiary company, the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and
Distribution Company, (ZETDC) for the injuries his son suffered.
He claimed US$250 000 being damages for pain and suffering,
physical deformity, shock and trauma due to exposure to electricity.
But Justice Priscillah Munangati-Manongwa reduced the award
to US$20 677 payable in local currency.
ZESA had not denied liability but challenged the quantum of
damages claimed, leaving the court facing the daunting task of quantifying the
damages.
In her ruling, Justice Munangati-Manongwa considered that
the claim of US$250 000 was not only exorbitant, but way out of the scale of
the awards granted by the courts.
ZESA had proposed an award of US$3 000 but the court
considered that to be inappropriate given the extent of the injuries, pain and
physical and mental suffering experienced by the Israel.
The court also refused to consider the proposal by Mr James
that considerations should be made to the fact that the injured boy was a male
child hence this would affect his ability to look after his family when he
ultimately marries.
“This would amount to speculation which has no place in the
legal realm,” said Justice Munangati-Manongwa.
“Further where damages for pain and suffering are concerned
future repercussions on the person of the claimant may require to be
substantiated by medical reports lest the courts blindly rely on unfounded
claims by a litigant seeking to maximize on the culpability of the defendant.”
The judge noted that damages were never meant to penalise
the negligent party but to achieve justice and place the plaintiff in a
position he would have been before the occurrence of the incident, and at the
same time being fair towards all the parties.
Sometime in November 2010, then a nine-year-old Israel
suffered the severe electric shocks after transmission poles fell following a
rain storm.
The poles were very old. The boy had removed his shoes to
preserve them as he walked from school.
He was pulled by an electric current from the live
electricity cables which were lying on the ground and thrown into the air
several times before he was rescued. Herald
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