Stellenbosch University must pay damages to student burnt in hostel fire
Stellenbosch University has been found to be liable for damages to a student who was injured seriously in a fire at one of its hostels in 2007. Izak Potgieter, a 21-year-old‚ third-year student at the Eendrag men’s hostel, was asleep in his top-floor room when the fire broke out on August 9 2007. He heard the roar of fire and people shouting and running down the corridor. Opening his door he was faced by a wall of flames, so he escaped through the window of his third-floor room. The student regained consciousness in hospital two weeks later‚ a paraplegic‚ with burnt hands‚ arms‚ back‚ legs and feet. Potgieter’s case was that the university was obliged to ensure proper and reasonable safety measures and procedures at its student hostels. He said the absence of fire stops in the roof posed a fire risk to the residents on the top floor. There had been a fire in 1983 at the Huis Ten Bosch hostel with a roof structure similar to Eendrag’s. Potgieter said it was only in 2011 that the univ...
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