May June PORTFOLIO Semester 1 2026
Unique number:
Due date: 28 May 2026
QUESTION 1
1.1
FALSE. Damages in South African law are primarily compensatory, aiming to restore the
plaintiff to the position they would have been in had the wrongful act not occurred, rather
than to punish the defendant.1
1.2
FALSE. Only harm that the law recognises as legally compensable qualifies as damage;
mere personal disappointment or speculative harm does not automatically constitute
recoverable damage.1
1.3
TRUE. Patrimonial loss includes both actual loss (damnum emergens), the direct reduction
, QUESTION 1
1.1
FALSE. Damages in South African law are primarily compensatory, aiming to restore
the plaintiff to the position they would have been in had the wrongful act not
occurred, rather than to punish the defendant.1
1.2
FALSE. Only harm that the law recognises as legally compensable qualifies as
damage; mere personal disappointment or speculative harm does not automatically
constitute recoverable damage.2
1.3
TRUE. Patrimonial loss includes both actual loss (damnum emergens), the direct
reduction in value of assets, and loss of profit (lucrum cessans), the gain the plaintiff
would have received if the wrongful act had not occurred.3
1.4
FALSE. Factual causation is determined by establishing a direct link between the
defendant’s conduct and the plaintiff’s loss, typically using the “but for” test, rather
than by considerations of fairness or policy.4
1.5
TRUE. Legal causation limits liability by excluding losses that are too remote or
unforeseeable, ensuring that the defendant is only liable for consequences closely
connected to their wrongful act.5
1
JM Potgieter, L Steynberg and TB Floyd, Visser & Potgieter Law of Damages 3rd ed (2012) Juta 8–
9.
2
Ibid 22–23
3
Ibid 34.
4
Ibid 49.