The respondent, a lessee of three farms in the southern Free State, sued the appellant, the owner of a neighbouring farm, for damages caused when a veld fire that started on the appellant’s farm spread onto the respondent’s farms. The fire originated when two labourers lit a fire to smoke bees, failed to extinguish it properly, and it spread out of control. The appellant’s employees lacked proper firefighting equipment, and no prior precautionary measures such as firebreaks had been taken. The magistrate dismissed the claim, finding no negligence and no vicarious liability. On appeal, the High Court held the appellant liable for failing to prevent the spread of the fire and for not rebutting the statutory presumption of negligence under s 84 of the Forest Act 122 of 1984. The appellant then appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The appeal was dismissed with costs, confirming the High Court’s finding that the appellant was liable for the damages caused by the fire.
This case reaffirmed and clarified the legal duty of landowners in South African law to control or extinguish veld fires on their property to prevent harm to neighbours. It confirmed that such a duty renders omissions potentially wrongful and that statutory presumptions of negligence in veld fire cases place a heavy evidentiary burden on landowners. The judgment is a key authority on wrongfulness and negligence in delictual claims arising from veld fires.