Prinsloo v Van der Linde
South Africa Constitutional Court
1997 (3) SA 1012 (1997)
- Written by John Reeves, JD
Facts
Gerhardus Stephanus Van der Linde (plaintiff) suffered damage to his farmland as a result of a fire that had started on the land of Willem M. Prinsloo (defendant). Van der Linde sued Prinsloo under a South African law that created a negligence cause of action for anyone whose property had suffered damage as a result of a fire that had started on another’s property. The law had a unique provision that presumed the defendant had acted with negligence in allowing the fire to spread. The defendant bore the burden of rebutting this presumption of negligence. The Parliament of South Africa had enacted the statute as an attempt to combat the pervasive spread of wildfire across the country. Prinsloo argued that the law’s presumption of negligence for defendants in forest-fire matters violated the South African constitution’s prohibition on unfair discrimination. Van der Linde, in contrast, argued that the law was valid because it did not amount to unfair discrimination.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ackermann, O’Regan, Sachs, J.J.)
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