De Villiers v Parys Town Council [1910] ZASCOFSPD 5 (9 July 1910)

Purchase and sale.-Land sold in lots.-Mistake of purchaser. Auction .-Sec. 49 of Ordinance 12 of 1906.

Where V, at an auction sale of land belonging to P Town Council, had purchased certain lots of land marked and numbered on a general plan, having previously availed himself of an opportunity of seeing the plan at the town clerk's office and at the sale, and had refused payment after the sale on the ground that he believed that he was purchasing certain other lots, Held, that V's mistake was not a justus error, and did not entitle him to rescission of the sale. Sec. 49 of Ordinance 12 of 1906, requiring contracts of sales of fixed property to be in writing, does not apply to auction sales.