Case against Mt Nelson slides

2003-08-01 10:00

Cape Town - The Cape High Court has dismissed a damages claim against the Mount Nelson Hotel by a British woman who slipped, breaking her hip, in the dressing area of her room, the Cape Times reported on Friday.

Jeanette Owide, who was on holiday from London, was wearing towelling slippers provided by the five-star hotel when she slipped on the marble floor of the dressing area in December 1997.

Claiming about R267 000 for medical expenses and general damages, she argued that the Mount Nelson Hotel owed clients a duty of care to ensure their safety.

In her view, she fell because of the marble floor and the towelling slippers which did not have rubber soles.

Giving judgment on Thursday, Justice Abe Motala said Owide had failed to prove that a reasonable person would have foreseen that the slippers would cause her to fall on the marble floor.

"Save for a short stay by (Owide) in a local hospital, she and her husband continued to live at the hotel for more than two weeks after the fall."

The court found that Owide had honestly believed she had fallen because the hotel had been negligent.

"Whether she is correct in her belief is another matter," Motala said.

He ruled that he could not, in the absence of expert evidence, find that her belief was correct.

Motala ordered Owide to pay costs.

- SAPA