The appellants appealed against a judgment of the Cape High Court which declared them liable to pay damages arising from a veld fire that broke out on their farm and spread to the respondent’s plantations.

The fire was negligently started by one De Jager who was using the appellant’s farm with their consent for keeping bees. The SCA found on the facts that the appellants had themselves been negligent in failing to create and maintain a firebreak on the common boundary with the respondent’s property and that the trial court had correctly held that the appellants had not discharged the statutory onus of proving that the damage caused to the plantations had not been causally related to their negligence. The trial court had also been correct in finding that the appellants had not proved contributory negligence on the part of the respondent.

The appeal was accordingly dismissed with costs.