PVL3703 Assignment 1 2025 Due 19 August 2025

Description

PVL3703 Assignment 1 2025
Semester 2 of 2025
DUE 19 August 2025

Assessment 1

Tumelo suffers from insomnia and when he does sleep often sleepwalks. His doctor
has prescribed him medication to control this condition. Tumelo goes on a camping trip
with his friends. On one evening while sleepwalking, he thinks he is being attacked by
a robber and stabs one of his friends, Mandla. In reality, there was no robber and
Mandla was trying to assist Tumelo to get back to his bed. It transpired that Tumelo
had not taken his medication prescribed by the doctor that morning. Mandla was
seriously injured and hospitalised. Mandla would like to institute a delictual action
against Tumelo.

Discuss with reference to relevant authority whether Tumelo indeed acted for
the purposes of the law of delict. Restrict the scope of your answer to the
element of conduct.

In order for a person to be held delictually liable, one of the fundamental requirements
is that the damage-causing event must stem from conduct. In delictual law, conduct is
defined as a voluntary human act or omission (Van der Merwe and Olivier 25; Van der
Walt and Midgley Delict 90). A voluntary act implies that the person’s muscular
movements were subject to their will at the time of the incident.