Lawsuits related to the 2022 flood damage in Durban are piling up, with a claim of R540 million filed by affected businesses against the Department of Transport, Transnet, and the eThekwini Municipality.
The claims filed at the Durban High Court indicate that the insurers of packaging companies (Corruseal Properties Limited and Corruseal Corrugated KZN Ltd) are suing for R540 m to cover the damage and the costs of recovering from the disaster.
The Mercury reached out to the company several times but could not obtain a comment. Attempts to contact the Durban, Johannesburg, and Cape Town offices were also unsuccessful.
Craig Woolley, a director at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa Inc., confirmed that they have filed the claim on behalf of the insurer relating to the 2022 flood damage. It is a subrogated recovery claim, whereby the insurer takes over the right to sue.
This is the third subrogated lawsuit filed against the three defendants, with the insurer of Toyota South Africa and the insurer of the media company Caxton Publishers also filing lawsuits for R6.5 billion and R340m, respectively.
In the latest claim, the first plaintiff is Corruseal Properties (Proprietary) Limited, while the second plaintiff is Corruseal Corrugated KZN (Proprietary) Ltd, which is listed as the second plaintiff.
Both plaintiffs list their business address as the Prospecton area, south of Durban, one of the areas that were worst affected by the floods. Transnet, the Department of Transport, and the eThekwini Municipality are listed as defendants.
The second plaintiff conducts cardboard manufacturing, printing, and packaging from its premises in the Prospecton Industrial Area, located. The first plaintiff owns the premises from which the second plaintiff’s business is conducted.
The basis of the claims is that the three defendants owned and operated flood control equipment and failed in their duty of care to ensure that the equipment functioned optimally. Consequently, they failed at a critical moment, leading to floodwaters entering the business premises of the two plaintiffs and causing extensive damage.
The claim specifies that three structures failed: the Umlaas Canal, the diversion berm, and the stormwater management system. According to the court papers, the claim states that the three defendants should have been aware that the failure of their infrastructure and the lack of maintenance of their flood control systems would result in flooding of the business premises.
The court papers said as a result of the aforementioned circumstances, on or about 12 April 2022, the structural integrity of the diversion berm was compromised, causing it to collapse and resulting in stormwater flowing uncontrollably into the Prospecton Industrial Area and onto the plaintiffs’ premises, causing extensive flooding and resultant damage.
As a result of these events, the plaintiffs suffered damages amounting to R540 762 462.20, made up as follows: R417.8m for the fair and reasonable costs necessarily incurred in the repair and reinstatement of the plaintiffs’ premises and property, and R122.9m for the second plaintiff’s business interruption.
“The first defendant, alternatively the second defendant, alternatively the third defendant, and further alternatively the defendants, jointly and severally, are liable to compensate the plaintiffs for the aforementioned amounts, together with interest thereon,” said the court papers.
The Department of Transport spokesperson Ndabe Sibya stated that the department will not comment on the matter and will allow their legal officials to handle it. Transnet acknowledged the litigation initiated and has filed a notice of its intention to defend the summons. The eThekwini Municipality said it is aware of the case and has responded to it.
THE MERCURY
