Injured biker sues over potholes

POTHOLES have landed two Gauteng metros with an R800 000 lawsuit. Mechanical engineer Franciscus Liebenberg was severely injured when he lost control of his motorbike while trying to avoid multiple potholes, a trench and sections of a road that had virtually disintegrated.

The 62-year-old instituted the claim against the Johannesburg Roads Agency, the City of Joburg and the East Rand’s Ekurhuleni metro in 2011, two years after the incident.

Liebenberg said he was travelling along Cote d’Azur Avenue in Bonaero Park, east of Johannesburg, when he crashed into a tree after hitting one of the potholes.

In papers filed at the High Court in Johannesburg, Liebenberg said he was hospitalised for three days and required extensive surgery, including a knee replacement.

His claim includes R500 000 for future medical expenses and R250 000 for general damages.

Aurrit Levin, a director at Levin Van Zyl Incorporated, the firm representing Liebenberg, said that he could not bring a case against the Road Accident Fund because the accident did not involve negligence.

Instead, she said, Liebenberg’s claim revolves around the failure of the municipalities or the roads agency to properly maintain the road.

Ekurhuleni Municipality denied that it had failed to do road maintenance, saying Liebenberg had failed to drive “with care” so as to avoid the accident.

The case had been scheduled to return to court on September 3, but was postponed due to “unforeseen circumstances”, said Levin.

The City of Joburg has fixed more than 800 000 potholes and patches at a cost of R205-million since 2009. Mpho Kau, acting MD of the Johannesburg Roads Agency, said roughly 4 500 potholes were fixed in July this year alone.

The City of Tshwane has spent R290-million repairing more than 634 153m² of potholes since 2009.