TM obo MM v Member of the Executive Council for Health and Social Development, Gauteng

The applicant, Ms TM, acting on behalf of her minor child MM, sued the Gauteng MEC for Health and Social Development for damages arising from alleged medical negligence during MM’s birth at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in August 2010. Ms TM experienced delays in receiving an emergency caesarean section after foetal distress was detected. Due to theatre unavailability and prioritisation of other patients, the caesarean section was performed approximately 155 minutes after the decision to operate. MM was born with hypoxic ischemic injury resulting in permanent mixed-type cerebral palsy. Ms TM alleged that the hospital negligently mismanaged its resources, failed to provide timely surgical intervention, failed to take interim measures to mitigate foetal distress, and failed to refer her to another hospital.

Leave to appeal was refused. No order as to costs.

The case affirms the Constitutional Court’s restrained approach in medical negligence matters, emphasising that not every claim framed in constitutional terms raises a constitutional issue. It underscores the distinction between constitutional adjudication and factual disputes concerning negligence and causation, and confirms that systemic healthcare failures do not automatically translate into delictual liability without proper pleading and proof.