BULAWAYO - A motorist who sued the Bulawayo City Council for injuries sustained during an accident on a potholed road was left nonplussed when the Civil Court magistrate Merylene Mutshina granted a judgment in favour of the council.
Godwill Masiwa had sued the Bulawayo City Council for more than $5 600 in damages arising from an accident which occurred in December 2012 arguing the potholes on the road were the main cause of the accident, therefore council had to account for the damages and the injuries he suffered.
“The council is responsible for the accident because if it was not for the two potholes on the road the accident would have not occurred,” Masiwa argued.
But the council countered that damages Masiwa claimed were not caused by the local authority but rather his carelessness.
“It is difficult to believe that potholes caused the accident because he only wrote it in his application but did not report the accident soon after and he chose to do so after a month.
“He was probably travelling at a high speed leading to the accident,” she said.
The lawyer then applied for an order of rescission of judgment which magistrate Merylene Mutshina granted.
Masiwa, who was meant to attach the city council’s property in the form of the costs he had incurred, was denied the right to do so.