been practicing as a general practitioner for eight years. He is Vice-President of the Medical and Dental Council of Namibia and serves on the Executive Committee of the Medical Association of Namibia. [19] He testified that he regularly performs procedures at the Central State Hospital but do not work at the Katutura State Hospital and is not acquainted with the facilities at Katutura Hospital. In respect of the Central State Hospital there is an acute shortage of theatre space for a number of reasons and that the staff work under tremendous pace and pressure. He testified that he examined and consulted each one of the plaintiffs in his consulting rooms. Each one of the plaintiffs had given birth by way of a caesarean section, and a surgical procedure of bilateral tubal ligation (BTL) (performed on women to bring about sterilisation) had been performed on the plaintiffs. 10 [20] In respect of the first plaintiff the witness testified that he had on 20 April 2010 consulted with the plaintiff and a laparoscopy was done on 26 April 2010 at the Central Hospital. He found that the plaintiff had been sterilised and that the prognosis for a future reversal was poor. It was the plaintiff’s third pregnancy at the age of 26 years of which the first child one was stillborn. The two previous pregnancies resulted in normal deliveries. From a perusal of the antenatal and maternity records there was little in the hospital records indicating what type of information was given to the plaintiff regarding the tubal ligation procedure and whether alternative methods of contraception were offered to her. [21] It appears from form “consent” that the plaintiff had signed and had given her consent for a “C/S due to CPD + BTL (ON HAART)” on 13 June 2005. Dr Kimberg testified that C/S means caesarean section and CPD is cephalic pelvic disproportion which means that the head of the child is either too big or in a wrong position or the pelvic too small to allow for a normal vaginal delivery. HAART means highly active antiretroviral therapy which means that the plaintiff was on treatment for her HIV condition. On the reverse side of this consent form is the doctor’s report of the operation with a reference inter alia to the name of the patient and the signatures of two doctors and a nurse. This consent form is the standard hospital consent form and was the only form signed by the first plaintiff. [22] In respect of the second plaintiff she was seen by him on 16 April 2010 at his consulting rooms and a laparoscopy was performed on her on 19 April 2010 at the Central Hospital. He found that the tubal ligation operation had severed the fallopian tubes very close to the fimbrial ends which gave a very poor prognosis for a reversal of the sterilisation. She gave birth to three children, two of whom were by way of caesarean section. The second plaintiff signed the standard consent form for an operation on 8 December 2007. On this form it is indicated that she gave consent for a “caesar + BTL 11 due to