Zaid Seedat, an ex-inmate, is set to receive over R1 million in compensation after contracting tuberculosis while awaiting trial at Pollsmoor Prison. The Western Cape High Court has ruled that the Minister of Correctional Services is fully liable for the damages, concluding a lengthy 21-year legal battle that highlighted issues of negligence in prison health management.
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In a court battle spanning more than two decades, an ex-inmate will be compensated to the tune of more than R1 million after he contracted pulmonary Tuberculosis (TB) while awaiting trial.
Zaid Seedat sued the Minister of Correctional Services after he contracted the disease while he was being held at Pollsmoor Prison.
This week, the Western Cape High Court ruled that the Minister of Correctional Services is 100% liable for the plaintiff's damages, following a protracted legal process that culminated in the parties reaching agreement on the issue of negligence after 21 years.
According to court records, Seedat was imprisoned between approximately June 15, 2000, and August 30, 2003, in Pollsmoor Prison as an awaiting-trial prisoner.
Prisoners live in overcrowded cells in Pollsmoor Prison.
Image: Henk Kruger / ANA Studio Archives
While in custody, he had numerous court appearances.
The criminal proceedings against him eventually culminated with him being convicted and given a suspended sentence and a fine. For most of his imprisonment, he was held in the Hospital Section of Pollsmoor Prison, occupying a single cell, with frequent visits to a 12-person communal hospital cell.
It was during this time of incarceration, and as a result of the detention, that Seedat contracted and was diagnosed with TB in late November 2001.
This was approximately 17 months after being imprisoned.
Seedat’s matter ground to a slow halt after pleadings closed, and the matter entered a period of inactivity.
Court judgment detailed: “This was in the main because of a similar action having been instituted by a Mr Dudley Lee against the same Minister (the “Lee action”) arising from his contraction of TB, also at Pollsmoor Prison. It therefore made sense for (Seedat’s) action to await the outcome of the Lee action.
“The Lee action was first litigated in this Division, where Davis J found in Mr Lee’s favour on liability, and then through the Supreme Court of Appeal, which overturned that finding on the issue of causation.”
The Western Cape High Court has determined that the Minister of Correctional Services is entirely responsible for the damages, underscoring significant concerns regarding health management and negligence within the prison system. Depicted are prisoners in an overcrowded cell in Section B2 at Pollsmoor Prison.
Image: Leon Muller / File
The Lee action concluded in December 2012 in the Constitutional Court, when that court granted Lee leave to appeal the Supreme Court of Appeal’s judgment.
The Constitutional Court held that the responsible authorities’ failure to maintain an adequate system for the management of TB constituted negligence, and that the common law of causation required development in accordance with the spirit, purport, and objects of the Bill of Rights to accommodate claims of that nature.
Lee was an awaiting-trial detainee at Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison from 1999 to 2004, who contracted TB due to extreme overcrowding and negligent health management. He was tried for various financial crimes and found not guilty.
During his incarceration, Lee regularly underwent sputum tests, the results of which were negative until June 2003. He was diagnosed with TB after three years of his incarceration.
High Court Acting Judge Adrian Montzinger ruled that Seedat is entitled to pre-judgment mora interest on the agreed capital amount of R350,000 at the rate of 15.5% per annum, running from December 11, 2012, to the date of the parties' agreement on March 2, 2026.
This meant that for the period from December 11, 2012, to March 2, 2026, at a rate of 15.5% per annum on a capital of R350,000, the annual interest amounted to R717,734.93.
The total judgment sum was R1,067,734.93 (R350,000 + R717,734.93).