Section 27: State must pay up for Micheal Komape death

Section 27: State must pay up for Micheal Komape death

Advocacy group Section 27 will ask the Polokwane High Court to award damages of R3 million to the family of the late Michael Komape.

Michael Komape
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Advocacy group Section 27 will ask the Polokwane High Court to award damages of R3 million to the family of the late Michael Komape.

 


Five-year-old Komape drowned in a pit toilet at his primary school in January 2014.

 


Section27's Mark Heywood says the parties have wrapped up their evidence, with closing arguments due to be made early next year.

 


Michael's parents, Lydia and James, and their children are claiming damages from the Minister of Basic Education, the Limpopo MEC for Education and the school principal. They believe Micheal's death was due to negligence on the part of the state.  

 


"The damages (R3 million) break down to funeral and medical costs, but also include constitutional damages. This is such an agregious violation of rights that Michael's death was so horrible and prevantable that special damages should be awarded by the court," says Heywood.


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The Komape family has also asked the court to declare that government acted unlawfully and in violation of the five-year-old's rights. 

 


Government argues that Michael's was not due to any negligent or unconstitutional conduct on their part, but rather an unfortunate accident.

 


January [2018] will mark  four years since Komape died. His case has dragged on since 2015.

 


"How we prevent deaths like this is to fix toilets and sanatiation in schools. There are still many dangerous toilets in schools in Limpopo. We say to governet fix the toilets and fix them fast so that schools can be a safe environment for learners" says Heywood.

 

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