The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Friday that the lawsuit brought by Toyota Motors against Transnet, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport (DoT) and eThekwini municipality could potentially be precedent-setting.

Media reports state that Toyota South Africa Motors’ insurer, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance brought the R6.5-billion lawsuit in the Durban High Court for 2022 flood damages that shuttered its plant near Durban.

The report alleged that the floods, which closed the Prospecton plant for four months, cost the company about R4.5-billion in repairs and rehabilitation and more than R2-billion in business interruption.

The lawsuit, which also claims interest, alleges that Transnet, the KwaZulu-Natal DoT and eThekwini municipality shared responsibility for failing to maintain waterways and drainage systems.

The DA, which said it would hold a watching brief in the Durban High Court during the case, argued that failing African National Congress-led governments neglected infrastructure that put financial responsibility for the cost on residents and businesses.

DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille accused ANC-led local and provincial governments of being governed to the point of “failure, through corruption, personal enrichment, maladministration and financial misconduct, enabled by bloated cadre-filled administrations, leaving residents with crumbling infrastructure”.

She said accountability only occurred during inter-governmental interventions, or during elections.

“But the opportunity for a legal precedent that could hold wrongdoers legal and financially accountable for their misgovernance, or malfeasance, when failures result in financial losses to residents or businesses, may open a new chapter of accountability,” she explained.