You can sue a person in court for loss caused to you by the wrongful actions of that person and claim compensation for this loss. This will have to be done through an attorney who will prepare the case and take it to the court.

(See: Ways to resolve environmental disputes)

Example

Eric owns a small-holding with a few animals. He makes a small living from his animals. The small-holding borders on a national road.

A truck carrying fertiliser goes out of control, leaves the national road and overturns on Eric’s land spilling the load of fertiliser into the small dam on his property. As a result the water in the dam is contaminated or polluted. Eric’s animals drink from this dam. Eric is not at home to stop his animals drinking the water and as a result they become sick and die. Can Eric claim compensation from the owner of the fertiliser company?

The general rule of delict says that Eric can claim compensation from someone who has done him harm, but he will have to show that all of the elements of delict are present. This means that he will have to show that:

• That the action of the driver in spilling the fertiliser into his dam was wrongful
• That the driver, and therefore the company, was negligent
• The accident caused the damage (in other words, the spilling of the fertiliser polluted the dam, resulting in the death of the animals)
• That as a result of the negligent action of the driver he suffered a quantifiable monetary loss