The Supreme Court will give us closure – Komape family

The Polokwane High Court yesterday dismissed the Komape family’s application for leave to appeal against the decision to grant them no compensation for the trauma they suffered when their five-year-old son fell into a pit toilet and drowned in faeces at Mahlodumela Primary School in Limpopo in 2014.

The Komape family is claiming R780 000 from government for the pain they suffered after Michael died just a few days after he had started Grade R.

Judge Gerrit Muller, however, did grant the family leave to appeal their second claim in which they are asking for R2 million for constitutional damages.

The Komape family, with the help of Section 27, filed for leave to appeal after their civil claim for R3 million was rejected by Judge Muller in April.

The judge had ordered only that two of Michael’s younger siblings be paid R6 000 each for general medical expenses.

While handing down judgment yesterday, Muller said he did not believe that another court will make a different finding. An appeal is now set to be filed directly at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.

Michael Komape fell and drowned inside a pit toilet during break time at Mahlodumela Lower Primary School in Chebeng village, outside Polokwane, four years ago. His older sister, Lydia Komape, said the family had been struggling to find closure with the case still dragging through the courts.

The family were absent from court yesterday but Lydia said: “We are still going to sit down and discuss a way forward with Section 27, but I am confident that the Supreme Court will give us the closure which we have been waiting for for years.

“We’ll not stop fighting for justice for my brother. Justice will be served in Bloemfontein as we will come back there victorious, and we will find the closure we need.”

The family recently claimed that their local community of Chebeng, outside Polokwane where they reside, had turned against them since learning about the original amount the family was claiming from the department of education.

During the initial judgment in April, Judge Muller ordered the department of basic education to provide a structural interdict to supply and install proper sanitation at all rural schools across Limpopo. – ANA