At 8pm on a Friday night, Lincoln, a Fauna resident, lights an old paraffin lamp as he has no electricity
due to scheduled load-shedding of electricity. Lincoln leaves the old paraffin lamp burning in his
bedroom with the bedroom window open and proceeds to spend the next half hour in the
neighbouring bedroom reading his son a bedtime story. A strong draft of wind blows the lamp over. As
a result of this a fire starts and spreads rapidly, engulfing his house and spreading to his neighbour’s
house. Penny [his neighbour] was holding a party when the flames engulfed her house. Penny’s house
is also destroyed in the fire. Richard [her husband] who was in the toilet at the time the fire broke out,
runs out of the house, undressed. Neo then takes a video of Richard running naked and sends it to his
friends. The following day Richard finds out almost everyone in Fauna has seen the video. Richard feels
utterly humiliated says that: "I honestly felt like just sitting in my house and not coming out. I want to
crawl into a hole." Amanda, a university lecturer who was also one of Penny’s guests succumbs to burn
wounds.
Sarah, Amanda’s daughter working in Durban, hears of the news about the fire and mother’s death
and is so shocked thatshe later suffers from catastrophic neurosis and is unable to work for 15 months.
Some 2 years earlier, Sarah had been a voluntary patient at a mental hospital, where she had been
treated for a neurotic condition. Lethula, Penny’s other guest, is shocked at what he sees happening
at Penny’s house and as a result suffers from extreme grief and later needs extensive psychiatric
counselling to overcome his post-traumatic stress disorder caused by what he witnessed
The whole cause of action arose within the jurisdiction of the court.
Based on the information given, it seems that the cause of action may involve multiple legal issues, such as negligence, property damage, privacy invasion, defamation, and emotional distress. The court with jurisdiction would need to determine the specific claims being brought by each individual affected and assess the liability of the parties involved.
The cause of action in this scenario is a series of events that resulted in various damages and injuries. It can be summarized as follows:
1. Lincoln, a Fauna resident, lights an old paraffin lamp in his bedroom due to load-shedding of electricity.
2. Lincoln leaves the lamp burning in his bedroom with the window open.
3. A strong draft of wind blows the lamp over, causing a fire to start and rapidly spread.
4. The fire engulfs Lincoln's house and spreads to Penny's house, destroying both properties.
5. Penny was holding a party in her house when the fire engulfed it, leading to the destruction of her property.
6. Richard, Penny's husband, was in the toilet when the fire broke out. He runs out of the house undressed.
7. Neo records a video of Richard running naked and shares it with friends.
8. The video spreads around Fauna, and Richard feels humiliated and wants to isolate himself.
9. Amanda, a guest at Penny's party, sustains burn wounds and later dies from them.
10. Sarah, Amanda's daughter, who works in Durban, hears about the fire and her mother's death, which shocks her greatly.
11. Sarah suffers from catastrophic neurosis and is unable to work for 15 months.
12. Sarah had previously been a voluntary patient at a mental hospital and had been treated for a neurotic condition.
13. Lethula, another guest at Penny's party, witnesses the events and suffers extreme grief.
14. Lethula requires extensive psychiatric counseling to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder caused by what he witnessed.
The jurisdiction of the court is relevant because all of these events occurred within its scope.