A Gqeberha pensioner has lost his bid to appeal against a high court ruling that dismissed his damages claim against the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality after a fall on a Richmond Hill pavement that caused extensive injuries, including a brain injury.
Mike McCormack, 80, took the municipality to court after tripping on uneven paving outside a Stanley Street restaurant on April 10 2015.
He first took action in August 2017, and the matter went to trial before high court judge Ivana Bands, who in April 2021 ruled in favour of the municipality, ending McCormack’s claim after he presented his case.
McCormack represented himself throughout his trial.
According to the appeal judgment delivered on Monday, McCormack approached the municipality’s attorneys on December 2 2024, asking them to consent to a late appeal, 32 months after the 15-day deadline had expired.
McCormack filed his application for leave to appeal, together with a request for condonation of the delay, on June 27 2025, three years after the original judgment.
In her judgment on Monday, Bands dismissed the application for condonation, refused leave to appeal, and ordered McCormack to pay the municipality’s costs.
McCormack told the court he was a pensioner without tertiary education, that he could not afford a lawyer, and that the fall had left him financially destitute.
He said that a friend had helped him draft his court papers.
He said he suffered ongoing mobility problems and post-concussion symptoms, and relied on documents from two doctors to support this.
Bands found that neither doctor’s letter was confirmed under oath and said both letters were outdated by the time the application was launched.
According to Bands, one doctor had not physically examined McCormack at all, and his opinion was allegedly based on a video consultation, photographs of McCormack’s injuries and McCormack’s own account of his symptoms.
“While I have sympathy for the personal and physical hardships the plaintiff describes, the plaintiff’s explanation falls significantly short of the required threshold,” the judgment said.
Bands said McCormack had given no detailed, chronological account of the 32-month delay, and had not explained what steps he took to find legal help sooner.
McCormack raised 23 grounds of appeal, nine of them argued against an alleged finding that McCormack was intoxicated at the time of his fall.
Bands said she never made that finding.
“I explicitly declined to make a finding relevant to the state of the plaintiff’s sobriety, same not being necessary on the evidence before me.”
The court found that the area where McCormack fell was well lit and that the defect was clearly visible.
According to the judgment, McCormack had walked past it several times a week for a considerable period before his fall.
Bands said there was no evidence to suggest that the municipality was aware of the damaged paving.
She said that McCormack had shown no reasonable prospect of success.
Afterwards, McCormack said he felt that he had no options left.
“The only next step for me is to go to the high court in Bloemfontein, and I definitely can’t afford that.”
McCormack said that before the incident, which was 11 years ago, he had several business interests and also worked with authorities to combat crime in Richmond Hill and Central.
“My wife was mugged in 2004, and since then I have been doing everything in my power to help decrease crime in Richmond Hill.”
He said that between 2004 and 2015 he assisted police with arrests, and on the night of his fall was following a tip-off about an alleged drug dealer.
“I was at the bar waiting for about three hours for someone to give me details about a heroin dealer who had been involved in the death of a young local man.
“I had one beer and left with a friend and tripped on the loose paving and landed head-first in the hole.”
McCormack said his skull had been fractured in the fall, resulting in a serious brain injury that had affected his life tremendously.
“I have a concussion syndrome that cannot be repaired.
“I had to have an artificial right shoulder put in, I lost teeth, I still can’t turn my neck, and my eyesight is almost gone in my right eye.
“I have not been able to work since the accident, and I lost everything,” he said.
“I have had to live with my ex-wife since the accident because my only income is my Sassa cheque once a month.
“My son and my sister have had to help me with medical bills along the way, but it is not enough.
“Suing the municipality is not about money for me. It’s about what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong.
“I need neurological care, I need my shoulder to be fixed, I need my teeth to be fixed, and my eye really needs attention.
“I have been living like this for 11 years.”
McCormack, who sat with his 30-year-old parrot Stompie on his shoulder for the interview, said the bird has been his saving grace.
“From the day I got home from the hospital, this bird has not left my side once for 11 years.
“Stompie even helped me learn how to talk again.
“Without him, I don’t know how I would have gotten through this.”
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