Lee v Minister for Correctional Services

Mr Dudley Lee was incarcerated at Pollsmoor Prison from 1999 to 2004. He was not infected with tuberculosis (TB) when admitted. Pollsmoor was severely overcrowded, poorly ventilated, and the correctional authorities were aware of the high risk of TB transmission. Screening, isolation, and treatment systems for TB were inadequate and inconsistently applied, contrary to Standing Correctional Orders and statutory duties. Lee shared cells with other inmates for long periods and, after being diagnosed with TB in 2003, was not properly isolated despite being potentially contagious. He subsequently sued the Minister for Correctional Services for delictual damages, alleging negligent omissions that caused him to contract TB while detained.

Leave to appeal was granted; the appeal was upheld; the order of the Supreme Court of Appeal was set aside; and the High Court’s order declaring the Minister liable in delict for Mr Lee’s TB infection was reinstated.

This case is a landmark decision on state liability, prisoners’ rights, and causation in delict. It affirms that the state bears a positive constitutional duty to safeguard the health of prisoners and clarifies that factual causation does not require scientific certainty where systemic negligence materially increases risk. The judgment aligns delictual principles with constitutional norms and strengthens accountability for conditions of detention.