Briesch v Geduld Proprietary Mines Ltd [1911] ZATPD 111 (1 August 1911)

Master and Servant - Workmen's Compensation - "Accident" - Rupture - Act 36 of 1907

To constitute an accident within the meaning of Act 36 of 1907, the injury must be caused by some untoward or unexpected event, capable of definite ascertainment as to nature, time and place, but there need not necessarily be any agency external to the workman injured.

An event is unexpected if unexpected by the workman injured, or by any reasonable person, having regard to the nature of the work being performed at the time of its occurrence; the physical condition of the workman is immaterial.

A strain occasioned to a workman in the course of his employment which causes a complete rupture incapacitating him from employment is an accident within the meaning of Act 36 of 1907, even though previous strains in the course of his employment have started the protrusion leading to the rupture.