The Law of Delict: Theme 1 - 9
Private Law 373: 2021
Table of Contents
THEME 1: INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................. 3
1.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 NATURE OF THE LAW OF DELICT.............................................................................................................. 4
1.3 THE FUNCTIONS OF THE LAW OF DELICT................................................................................................... 4
1.4 REMEDIES.......................................................................................................................................... 6
1.5 LAW OF DELICT OR LAW OF DELICTS?....................................................................................................... 9
1.6 PROTECTED INTERESTS....................................................................................................................... 10
1.7 FAULT-BASED LIABILITY VS FAULTLESS LIABILITY.......................................................................................10
1.8 THE LAW OF DELICT & THE LAW OF INSURANCE.......................................................................................11
THEME 2: HARM.............................................................................................................. 14
2.1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 14
2.2 PATRIMONIAL HARM & NON-PATRIMONIAL HARM.......................................................................................18
2.3 PAIN & SUFFERING............................................................................................................................. 21
2.4 INFRINGEMENT OF A PERSONALITY RIGHT................................................................................................ 23
THEME 3: CONDUCT........................................................................................................ 35
3.1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 35
3.2 CONDUCT......................................................................................................................................... 36
3.3 OMISSION & COMMISSION.................................................................................................................... 41
3.4 ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR............................................................................................................................ 42
THEME 4: FACTUAL CAUSATION.......................................................................................43
4.1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 43
4.2 DETERMINING FACTUAL CAUSATION & THE CONDITIO SINE QUA NON TEST.....................................................45
4.3 CRITIQUE OF THE ‘CONDITIO SINE QUA NON’ TEST....................................................................................54
4.4 ALTERNATIVES TO THE CONDITIO SINE QUA NON TEST...............................................................................57
4.5 THE CURRENT COMMON LAW POSITION REGARDING THE APPROPRIATE TEST FOR FACTUAL CAUSATION.................60
THEME 5: LEGAL CAUSATION........................................................................................... 70
5.1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 70
5.2 THE GENERAL TEST – THE ‘FLEXIBLE APPROACH’......................................................................................72
5.3 SUBSIDIARY TESTS............................................................................................................................. 74
5.4 NOVUS ACTUS INTERVENIENS............................................................................................................... 79
5.5 TALEM QUALEM RULE (THE THIN SKULL RULE)..........................................................................................81
THEME 6: FAULT............................................................................................................. 91
6.1 INTRODUCTION TO FAULT..................................................................................................................... 91
6.2 ACCOUNTABILITY................................................................................................................................ 92
6.3 INTENT.......................................................................................................................................... 101
6.4 NEGLIGENCE................................................................................................................................... 109
THEME 7: WRONGFULNESS............................................................................................140
7.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................ 140
7.2 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT................................................................................................................ 141
7.3 DIFFERENT APPROACHES................................................................................................................... 147
7.3 ROLE OF WRONGFULNESS.................................................................................................................. 152
7.4 IS WRONGFULNESS AN ATTRIBUTE OF CONDUCT OR A LEGAL QUESTION?.....................................................153
7.5 WRONGFULNESS: POLICY CONSIDERATIONS........................................................................................... 155
1
, 7.6 CONFUSION: LEGAL DUTY VS “DUTY OF CARE”.......................................................................................160
7.7 CONFUSION: NEGLIGENCE VS WRONGFULNESS.......................................................................................168
THEME 8: GROUNDS OF JUSTIFICATION..........................................................................171
8.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................ 171
8.2 DIFFERENT GROUNDS OF JUSTIFICATION................................................................................................ 173
8.3 APPLICATION................................................................................................................................... 193
THEME 9: CONCURRENCE OF REMEDIES & ACTIONS........................................................195
9.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................ 195
9.2 WHY DOES CONCURRENCE OF ACTIONS IN CONTRACT & DELICT, MATTER?...................................................196
9.3 EXCLUSIVELY DELICTUAL ACTIONS ARISING FROM A CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP..........................................198
9.4 WHEN IS THERE CONCURRENCE, AND WHEN DOES LIABILITY IN CONTRACT EXCLUDE AN ACTION IN DELICT?........199
2
,THEME 1: INTRODUCTION
What is a delict & what is the function of the law of delict?
Prescribed:
o Loubser & Midgley: Chapter 1
1.1 General introduction
1. What is a delict & what is the law of delict?
o Eg: you were assaulted/ someone punched you in the face. You have a fractured
cheekbone. You go to hospital for treatment & your medical bill is R10 000. You
have therefore suffered a loss & want to be compensated for the fact that you’ve
been harmed & that you’ve suffered a loss. In summary, the assault led to
damage & the damage led to loss & you want to be compensated. When you
suffer bodily injury, you have a financial loss associated with the repair of that
injury BUT you also have pain & suffering. Sometimes you lose enjoyment loss
in the amenities of life which is also compensable.
o The assault itself is the delict & the law of delict is the legal instrument
that facilitates the compensation for the harm you have suffered.
Ultimately, the fundamental goal of the law of delict is the compensation for
harm suffered as a result of a specific kind of conduct.
2. Specific instances of delictual liability
a. Assault
b. Omission (failure to act)
c. Defamation (eg. someone attempts to destroy your character publicly on social
media)
d. Privacy infringement (eg. you are being stalked)
e. Professional liability
f. Emotional shock (eg. witnessed something particularly traumatizing)
3. Basic definitions
a. Delict A civil wrong. Not a criminal wrong – which is when the state takes
charge of the matter.
b. Law of delict Branch of law that facilitates compensation arising from/ relating
to the civil wrong.
Definitions
- Debate between authors
*Van der Merwe & Olivier: A delict is understood to be a
regarding the best
wrongful and culpable act that causes another harm/ definition.
infringes another’s personality interest.
Boberg: Van der Merwe & Olivier regard fault as an essential - Van der Merwe & Olivier &
Van der Walt & Midgley are
characteristic of delictual liability, so that instances of no- the best/ most frequently
fault liability (such as liability for damage caused by animals used
& the vicarious responsibility of an employer for the delicts of his employee) are in their
view not delictual, but arise ex variis causarum... For the same reason an interdict
(which can be obtained without showing fault) does not seem to them a delictual
remedy... There seems to be no warrant for this curtailment of the ambit of delict...
Neethling, Potgieter, Visser: Boberg...defines a delict as the ‘infringement of another’s
interests.’ This description is, however, both incomplete and misleading. On the one
hand there is an omission to state fault as a general delictual requirement, and on the
other hand the erroneous impression is created that all individual interests, and not
only those that are legally recognised and protected, are relevant in this regard.’
3
, *Van der Walt & Midgley: In general terms a delict can be defined as civil wrong...A
narrower definition considers a delict to be wrongful and blameworthy (culpability)
conduct which causes harm to a person.
= A delict refers to a situation where a person (the defendant), through his or her conduct,
has wrongfully, culpably caused harm to another person (the plaintiff).
Requirements for delictual liability
Harm
Conduct
Causation
Fault
Wrongfulness
1.2 Nature of the law of delict
1 Compensation
o Corrective justice
We want the law of delict to achieve corrective justice.
Eg. I am assaulted by person X & I suffer severe bodily injuries resulting in
pain, suffering, trauma & financial loss. I want to institute a claim in delict
against person X, and I want person X to compensate me. Therefore,
correcting the wrong that he caused.
I, the plaintiff, suffered harm. I institute a claim in delict to shift the
burden of my harm onto the defendant.
o Compensation is the exception to the general idea
The general idea in life is that if something bad happens to you (eg. you
broke your leg), it’s your problem.
Law of delict allows us to have someone else compensate us for our loss if
they caused the loss.
2 Regulation
o Influence behavioral pattern?
It’s a legal (and social) instrument used to regulate & influence society’s
behaviour.
o Law of delict prescribes a set of ethical rules & principles for social interaction.
3 Morality
o The law of delict tries to reflect certain moral values back to us.
o The core principle: Personal responsibility the idea is that where you have
caused loss, wrongfully & culpably to another person, you have to take personal
responsibility for the consequences that follow. One such responsibility is legal
liability.
Telematrix (Pty) Ltd t/a Matrix Vehicle Tracking v Advertising Standards Authority SA 2006 1
SA 461 (SCA):
“The first principle of the law of delict, which is so easily forgotten and hardly appears in any
local text on the subject, is [... t]hat everyone has to bear the loss he or she suffers.”
1.3 The functions of the law of delict
1. Compensation for harm suffered or an interest infringed
o Fose v Minister of Safety and Security 1997 (3) SA 786 (CC) [not prescribed]
4
Private Law 373: 2021
Table of Contents
THEME 1: INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................. 3
1.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 NATURE OF THE LAW OF DELICT.............................................................................................................. 4
1.3 THE FUNCTIONS OF THE LAW OF DELICT................................................................................................... 4
1.4 REMEDIES.......................................................................................................................................... 6
1.5 LAW OF DELICT OR LAW OF DELICTS?....................................................................................................... 9
1.6 PROTECTED INTERESTS....................................................................................................................... 10
1.7 FAULT-BASED LIABILITY VS FAULTLESS LIABILITY.......................................................................................10
1.8 THE LAW OF DELICT & THE LAW OF INSURANCE.......................................................................................11
THEME 2: HARM.............................................................................................................. 14
2.1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 14
2.2 PATRIMONIAL HARM & NON-PATRIMONIAL HARM.......................................................................................18
2.3 PAIN & SUFFERING............................................................................................................................. 21
2.4 INFRINGEMENT OF A PERSONALITY RIGHT................................................................................................ 23
THEME 3: CONDUCT........................................................................................................ 35
3.1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 35
3.2 CONDUCT......................................................................................................................................... 36
3.3 OMISSION & COMMISSION.................................................................................................................... 41
3.4 ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR............................................................................................................................ 42
THEME 4: FACTUAL CAUSATION.......................................................................................43
4.1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 43
4.2 DETERMINING FACTUAL CAUSATION & THE CONDITIO SINE QUA NON TEST.....................................................45
4.3 CRITIQUE OF THE ‘CONDITIO SINE QUA NON’ TEST....................................................................................54
4.4 ALTERNATIVES TO THE CONDITIO SINE QUA NON TEST...............................................................................57
4.5 THE CURRENT COMMON LAW POSITION REGARDING THE APPROPRIATE TEST FOR FACTUAL CAUSATION.................60
THEME 5: LEGAL CAUSATION........................................................................................... 70
5.1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 70
5.2 THE GENERAL TEST – THE ‘FLEXIBLE APPROACH’......................................................................................72
5.3 SUBSIDIARY TESTS............................................................................................................................. 74
5.4 NOVUS ACTUS INTERVENIENS............................................................................................................... 79
5.5 TALEM QUALEM RULE (THE THIN SKULL RULE)..........................................................................................81
THEME 6: FAULT............................................................................................................. 91
6.1 INTRODUCTION TO FAULT..................................................................................................................... 91
6.2 ACCOUNTABILITY................................................................................................................................ 92
6.3 INTENT.......................................................................................................................................... 101
6.4 NEGLIGENCE................................................................................................................................... 109
THEME 7: WRONGFULNESS............................................................................................140
7.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................ 140
7.2 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT................................................................................................................ 141
7.3 DIFFERENT APPROACHES................................................................................................................... 147
7.3 ROLE OF WRONGFULNESS.................................................................................................................. 152
7.4 IS WRONGFULNESS AN ATTRIBUTE OF CONDUCT OR A LEGAL QUESTION?.....................................................153
7.5 WRONGFULNESS: POLICY CONSIDERATIONS........................................................................................... 155
1
, 7.6 CONFUSION: LEGAL DUTY VS “DUTY OF CARE”.......................................................................................160
7.7 CONFUSION: NEGLIGENCE VS WRONGFULNESS.......................................................................................168
THEME 8: GROUNDS OF JUSTIFICATION..........................................................................171
8.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................ 171
8.2 DIFFERENT GROUNDS OF JUSTIFICATION................................................................................................ 173
8.3 APPLICATION................................................................................................................................... 193
THEME 9: CONCURRENCE OF REMEDIES & ACTIONS........................................................195
9.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................ 195
9.2 WHY DOES CONCURRENCE OF ACTIONS IN CONTRACT & DELICT, MATTER?...................................................196
9.3 EXCLUSIVELY DELICTUAL ACTIONS ARISING FROM A CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP..........................................198
9.4 WHEN IS THERE CONCURRENCE, AND WHEN DOES LIABILITY IN CONTRACT EXCLUDE AN ACTION IN DELICT?........199
2
,THEME 1: INTRODUCTION
What is a delict & what is the function of the law of delict?
Prescribed:
o Loubser & Midgley: Chapter 1
1.1 General introduction
1. What is a delict & what is the law of delict?
o Eg: you were assaulted/ someone punched you in the face. You have a fractured
cheekbone. You go to hospital for treatment & your medical bill is R10 000. You
have therefore suffered a loss & want to be compensated for the fact that you’ve
been harmed & that you’ve suffered a loss. In summary, the assault led to
damage & the damage led to loss & you want to be compensated. When you
suffer bodily injury, you have a financial loss associated with the repair of that
injury BUT you also have pain & suffering. Sometimes you lose enjoyment loss
in the amenities of life which is also compensable.
o The assault itself is the delict & the law of delict is the legal instrument
that facilitates the compensation for the harm you have suffered.
Ultimately, the fundamental goal of the law of delict is the compensation for
harm suffered as a result of a specific kind of conduct.
2. Specific instances of delictual liability
a. Assault
b. Omission (failure to act)
c. Defamation (eg. someone attempts to destroy your character publicly on social
media)
d. Privacy infringement (eg. you are being stalked)
e. Professional liability
f. Emotional shock (eg. witnessed something particularly traumatizing)
3. Basic definitions
a. Delict A civil wrong. Not a criminal wrong – which is when the state takes
charge of the matter.
b. Law of delict Branch of law that facilitates compensation arising from/ relating
to the civil wrong.
Definitions
- Debate between authors
*Van der Merwe & Olivier: A delict is understood to be a
regarding the best
wrongful and culpable act that causes another harm/ definition.
infringes another’s personality interest.
Boberg: Van der Merwe & Olivier regard fault as an essential - Van der Merwe & Olivier &
Van der Walt & Midgley are
characteristic of delictual liability, so that instances of no- the best/ most frequently
fault liability (such as liability for damage caused by animals used
& the vicarious responsibility of an employer for the delicts of his employee) are in their
view not delictual, but arise ex variis causarum... For the same reason an interdict
(which can be obtained without showing fault) does not seem to them a delictual
remedy... There seems to be no warrant for this curtailment of the ambit of delict...
Neethling, Potgieter, Visser: Boberg...defines a delict as the ‘infringement of another’s
interests.’ This description is, however, both incomplete and misleading. On the one
hand there is an omission to state fault as a general delictual requirement, and on the
other hand the erroneous impression is created that all individual interests, and not
only those that are legally recognised and protected, are relevant in this regard.’
3
, *Van der Walt & Midgley: In general terms a delict can be defined as civil wrong...A
narrower definition considers a delict to be wrongful and blameworthy (culpability)
conduct which causes harm to a person.
= A delict refers to a situation where a person (the defendant), through his or her conduct,
has wrongfully, culpably caused harm to another person (the plaintiff).
Requirements for delictual liability
Harm
Conduct
Causation
Fault
Wrongfulness
1.2 Nature of the law of delict
1 Compensation
o Corrective justice
We want the law of delict to achieve corrective justice.
Eg. I am assaulted by person X & I suffer severe bodily injuries resulting in
pain, suffering, trauma & financial loss. I want to institute a claim in delict
against person X, and I want person X to compensate me. Therefore,
correcting the wrong that he caused.
I, the plaintiff, suffered harm. I institute a claim in delict to shift the
burden of my harm onto the defendant.
o Compensation is the exception to the general idea
The general idea in life is that if something bad happens to you (eg. you
broke your leg), it’s your problem.
Law of delict allows us to have someone else compensate us for our loss if
they caused the loss.
2 Regulation
o Influence behavioral pattern?
It’s a legal (and social) instrument used to regulate & influence society’s
behaviour.
o Law of delict prescribes a set of ethical rules & principles for social interaction.
3 Morality
o The law of delict tries to reflect certain moral values back to us.
o The core principle: Personal responsibility the idea is that where you have
caused loss, wrongfully & culpably to another person, you have to take personal
responsibility for the consequences that follow. One such responsibility is legal
liability.
Telematrix (Pty) Ltd t/a Matrix Vehicle Tracking v Advertising Standards Authority SA 2006 1
SA 461 (SCA):
“The first principle of the law of delict, which is so easily forgotten and hardly appears in any
local text on the subject, is [... t]hat everyone has to bear the loss he or she suffers.”
1.3 The functions of the law of delict
1. Compensation for harm suffered or an interest infringed
o Fose v Minister of Safety and Security 1997 (3) SA 786 (CC) [not prescribed]
4
