Falls as a result of uncovered manholes and damaged water-storm drains are becoming a growing concern as municipalities battle vandalism and theft of metal covers. 

Many of the City of Joburg’s 1.3-million sewer manholes remain uncovered because of thieves who steal metal covers to sell at scrapyards.

By 2017, at least 4,000 such holes had remain wide open and prompting the city to pilot a project to replace metal covers with plastic ones.

Legal practitioner Kirstie Haslam from DSC Attorneys, who specialises in personal injury, said last year alone they took on 54 cases related to manhole falls.

Municipal failure to repair uncovered manholes and drains is a persistent problem throughout SA and that individuals can certainly claim compensation for falls into uncovered manholes, said Haslam.

Last June, a Joburg woman who fell into a manhole near Eldorado Park in 2019 when she was a pregnant teenager, successfully sued the City of Joburg for more than R7,8m after she suffered severe injuries. 

In August 2023, 10-year-old Tshepo Moloi of Mofolo, Soweto, lost his life after he fell into a large hole filled with water on an open field as he was chasing after his soccer ball. Moloi’s body was found by police divers hours later. The hole was at Joburg Water’s construction site and situated a few meters away from homes. 

Haslam said in some cases, victims of falls do not know who to turn to for help. 

“Victims often are uncertain about who to approach or have difficulty getting hold of the appropriate functionary. We will generally receive approaches from victims after their discharge from hospital or once they have become mobile [there are often serious injuries involved with such falls].

“Whenever you are dealing with such a claim, there is a statutory obligation to give a formal notice of intention to sue within six months from the date of the injury occurring, so it is important to get to an attorney as soon as is reasonably possible,” said Haslam.

She said the biggest challenge for lawyers is gathering of supportive evidence, specifically in order to establish precisely how long the specific manhole cover had been missing or broken, and whether the authority had actual knowledge thereof.

Haslam said these factors are critical to establishing the wrongfulness of the authority’s failure to take the necessary corrective and preventative action.

She advised victims to immediately document their incident. 

“If you are able to do so, you should take plenty of photographs of the area to depict the condition of the roadway or sidewalk where the manhole is located.

“Once you have received medical treatment and are able to do so, you should also report the incident to the local authority [principally so that they must urgently address the problem in order to avoid further injury to others].

“It is immeasurable to improve your prospects of a successful claim if you identify and approach a suitably experienced attorney as soon as possible after the incident, as the attorney will be in a position to conduct early and thorough investigations to perhaps identify witnesses, video footage of the incident and other information which is relevant to the case,” said Haslam. 

She said lawsuits can take up three years because of pretrial processes.