Constitutional Court provides certainty: Provinces are not liable for injuries at ECD centres

MAVERICK CITIZEN OP-ED

While sympathetic to the ongoing pain of the parents and a child struck by tragedy at a private crèche in Bredasdorp, we believe that the Constitutional Court was right in this case to keep the door to provincial liability closed.

Nurina Ally is a lecturer in the faculty of law at the University of Cape Town and former director of the Equal Education Law Centre. Tess Peacock is the founder of the Equality Collective and sits on the National Council of Equal Education.

In August 2018, tragedy struck at a private crèche in Bredasdorp (Western Cape). A five-year-old girl suffered a severe brain injury while playing on a swing. A loose beam collapsed on her, causing permanent disability. Uncontested expert evidence indicated that the swing’s design was defective and that failure to address continuous wear and tear would probably cause such an accident.

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