City loses court case against Cell C over stadium damage

THE City has lost its court bid to claim damages against Cell C over damage to the Cape Town stadium.

- NICOLA DANIELS

The Western Cape High Court ruled that the debt had prescribed, and the claim was dismissed with costs.

According to court papers, the issue dates back to 2015 when the City gave Cell C permission to access the stadium to install infrastructure for its customers.

Cell C had contracted Huawei to do the installation work.

“On November 18, 2015, the (City) discovered extensive damage to the external facade of the stadium which was caused by a metal panel which had dislodged from gridline 50 on level 6 of the stadium and which fell on or through the facade, damaging the same.

“At all material times it was (Cell C's) duty to ensure that the installation was done without any harm or damage to the stadium and inasmuch as the damage was caused by (Huawei), alternatively, the third, alternatively the fourth defendant's action, it remained the duty of (Cell C) to ensure that no damage was done to the stadium and it could not rid itself of this duty by appointing a contractor,” court papers read.