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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2024 |
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Reported
A municipality must reasonably provide temporary emergency accommodation near inner‑city evictees where gentrification foreseeably displaces them.
Constitutional law – socio‑economic rights – right of access to adequate housing (s 26) – temporary emergency accommodation – locality and ‘as near as possible’ standard; reasonableness and progressive realisation; non‑retrogression and gentrification; municipal obligations to plan and mitigate displacement; remedies and mandatory relief.
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20 December 2024 |
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Reported
A valid VDA that includes interest precludes a taxpayer from seeking remission of that VAT interest post‑VDA.
Tax law – VAT interest – section 39(7) remission – availability after conclusion of voluntary disclosure agreement (VDA). Tax Administration Act – Voluntary Disclosure Programme (sections 225–233) – VDA finality and enforceability; interest expressly incorporated in VDAs. Administrative law – PAJA – no duty to consider a request when substantive power to grant relief is lacking. Statutory interpretation – in pari materia construction of TAA and VAT Act; legislative memorandum and related provisions (eg s89quat) support exclusion of post‑VDA interest remission. Costs – Biowatch protection denied; costs including two counsel awarded to the Commissioner.
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20 December 2024 |
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Reported
A court may not convict solely on a recanted section 204 statement without adequate safeguards and corroboration.
Criminal procedure — section 204 witness statements — admissibility where witness recants; Hearsay Act (definition of hearsay) — extra‑curial statements by testifying declarant not hearsay; Criminal Procedure Act ss 219/219A — do not bar statements by non‑accused witnesses; procedural safeguard — trial‑within‑a‑trial to assess voluntariness and reliability; reliability assessment — procedural and substantive indicia, videotaping and corroboration; fair trial rights (s35) — right to challenge and adduce evidence.
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20 December 2024 |
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Reported
Statutory authorisation for traditional councils to levy compulsory rates is unconstitutional; only legislatures may impose taxes.
Constitutional law — Taxing power reserved to elected legislatures — Delegation to Executive or traditional leaders impermissible; traditional levies authorised by statute constitute taxes when compulsory, uniform, paid into a general fund and used for public/traditional-council purposes — Section 25 of Limpopo Traditional Leadership and Institutions Act 6 of 2005 declared unconstitutional and invalid.
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20 December 2024 |
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Reported
Whether an employer may fairly dismiss on grounds of age after an employee continues beyond agreed/normal retirement age.
Labour law – s187(1)(f) & s187(2)(b) LRA – age discrimination and automatically unfair dismissal; scope of protection for dismissal 'based on age' when employee continues beyond agreed/normal retirement age; employer’s election/waiver; remedy – 24 months’ remuneration.
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20 December 2024 |
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Reported
Executive control of boards, short renewable judge assignments and Executive removals undermine military judicial independence.
Constitutional law; military courts as ‘courts’ and military judges as ‘judicial officers’ – judicial independence; Defence Act s101–102 – Executive‑convened boards of inquiry investigating judges unconstitutional; MDSMA s15 – short renewable judicial assignments undermine security of tenure; MDSMA s17 – removal by Executive without independent inquiry unconstitutional; interim remedies: reading down/exclusion, two‑year non‑renewal rule, independent inquiry prerequisite; declarations suspended 24 months for remedial legislation.
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20 December 2024 |
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Reported
A non-parole period imposed without notice or findings of exceptional circumstances is invalid and set aside.
Criminal procedure – section 276B CPA – fixing of non-parole period; Procedural fairness – sentencing court must afford parties opportunity to make submissions before fixing non-parole period; Substantive requirement – exceptional circumstances must be established to justify non-parole order; Misconduct in sentencing – failure to invite submissions or record exceptional circumstances is material misdirection; Remedy – non-parole period set aside; leave to appeal convictions refused.
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20 December 2024 |
| November 2024 |
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Reported
Municipalities may not impose open‑ended transfer embargoes beyond SPLUMA and the Systems Act; the impugned provisions were invalid.
Municipal law – spatial planning by-laws – transfer/registration embargoes – limits of municipal by‑law making power under s156(2) and s156(5) – SPLUMA s53 – conflict with Systems Act s118 – arbitrary deprivation (s25) – remedy: invalidity of municipal transfer‑embargo provisions.
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19 November 2024 |
| October 2024 |
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Reported
Whether specific‑performance proceedings interrupt prescription of a later damages claim arising only upon cancellation.
Prescription — Judicial interruption (s 15 Prescription Act) — Whether motion for specific performance interrupts prescription of a later damages claim that only arises upon cancellation after non‑compliance — Distinction from Allianz and Cadac — Debt defined as existing enforceable right; damages debt accrues on cancellation.
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25 October 2024 |
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Reported
Publication of a privately used residential address on social media required removal; public‑domain disclosure does not automatically forfeit privacy.
Constitutional law — section 14 right to privacy — information in public domain; voluntary disclosure and purpose of disclosure; Bernstein dual‑expectation test (subjective and objective); balance with section 16 freedom of expression — public interest activism on social media; whether prior online disclosure extinguishes privacy; pleadings in motion proceedings — limits on relying on new causes of action raised in reply.
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9 October 2024 |
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Reported
PAJA review rights with a financial component survive death; material non‑disclosure requires inducement and fair procedure.
PAJA — administrative action — Appeal Board decisions are administrative action; PAJA review rights with financial component transmissible to deceased estate; substitution of executor permitted; procedural fairness — audi alteram partem — administrative bodies must allow opportunity to lead evidence on new unpleaded grounds; Medical Schemes Act s29(2)(e) — material non-disclosure — common-law inducement requirement remains; objective materiality alone insufficient; diagnostic procedures and conditions outside 12‑month window not necessarily material; remedy — substitution appropriate where remittal would be futile.
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9 October 2024 |
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Reported
Court upheld the expert Commission’s historical customary‑law findings and set aside the SCA’s re‑evaluation of facts.
Administrative law – judicial review under PAJA – deference to specialist commission findings; Customary law – living customary law assessed as at time events arose (historical inquiry) – ukungena and isifingo as succession mechanisms; Procedural fairness – no mandatory method prescribed for Commission investigations; Appeal vs review – prohibition on courts re‑weighing expert factual findings.
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3 October 2024 |
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Reported
Leave to appeal refused; complex remedial constitutional and common‑law issues inadequately pleaded and justice favoured prompt compensation.
Constitutional remedies – section 172(1)(b) – scope of just and equitable orders; Public procurement – unlawful contract extensions; Unjustified enrichment – development of common law; Courts raising issues mero motu; Interests of justice and leave to appeal.
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2 October 2024 |
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Reported
Whether paragraph 80(2) confines the conduit principle so capital gains tax stops at the first beneficiary trust.
Income Tax Act — sections 25B and 26A; Eighth Schedule paragraph 80(2) — conduit principle and capital gains; interpretation of paragraph 80(2) in multi‑tier trust structures; allocation of capital gains tax between vesting trust, intermediate trust and ultimate beneficiaries; Tax Administration Act s222 — understatement penalties and bona fide inadvertent error.
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2 October 2024 |
| September 2024 |
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Reported
Court extended suspension for two years to allow Parliament meaningful public participation and passage of the Marriage Bill.
Constitutional law — extension of suspension of declaration of invalidity under s172 — urgency — participatory democracy and public involvement in law‑making — Marriage Bill and recognition of Muslim marriages — prejudice and prospects of legislative cure.
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18 September 2024 |
| August 2024 |
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Reported
Section 59(3)’s "30 days" refers only to days when a Regular Force member is obliged to be on official duty.
Defence Act s59(3) – interpretation of "30 days" – whether calendar days or only duty days; exclusion of weekends/public holidays that are not duty days; consequences where s59(3) not triggered – competence of reinstatement, declaratory relief and arrear remuneration; statutory interpretation in light of disciplinary purpose and Constitution s39(2).
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21 August 2024 |
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Reported
Appointment of a curator ad litem does not remove section 13(1) protection for a mentally incapacitated creditor.
Prescription Act s13(1)(a),(i) — mental incapacity — appointment of curator ad litem — does not terminate impediment; interplay with s12(3) unnecessary to decide; right of access to courts (s34) and s39(2) interpretation obligations; Endumeni applied.
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15 August 2024 |
| July 2024 |
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Reported
Premier must refer contested customary leadership nominations to provincial and local houses under section 12(2).
Traditional leadership — Interpretation of section 12(1)–(2) Limpopo Traditional Leadership and Institutions Act — only one statutory royal family per recognised traditional community may identify headman/headwoman — where competing identifications or allegations of non‑compliance exist Premier must consider section 12(2) options, notably referral to provincial and relevant local houses of traditional leaders — Premier’s decision reviewable if based on erroneous material or failure to exercise discretion — further decision‑making to take into account TKLA s2(1) obligations (non‑discrimination, equality, gender representation).
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17 July 2024 |
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Reported
Whether a grant provider’s lawful, innocent interest in property falls within POCA’s definition of "interest" for forfeiture exclusion.
POCA – definition of "interest" – wide, non‑exhaustive meaning – exclusion from forfeiture; preservation of pre‑existing innocent interests; ranking competing claims by common‑law principles (real rights over personal rights; prior tempore potior est iure).
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12 July 2024 |
| June 2024 |
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Reported
A registered union is bound by its constitution and cannot represent employees it cannot validly admit as members.
Labour Relations Act ss 161 & 200 — legal standing of trade unions; trade union constitution — scope of membership binding; admission outside registered scope ultra vires and void; representation by legal practitioner under s161(1)(a) distinct from union authority under s200; application of Lufil precedent.
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21 June 2024 |
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Reported
Whether delegated fund-management operations can satisfy the section 9D foreign business establishment exemption.
Income Tax Act s9D – foreign business establishment (FBE) – meaning of “business” and “primary operations”; delegation/outsourcing of functions; distinction between fund management (oversight/regulatory responsibility) and investment trading; purposive interpretation balancing anti-deferral and international competitiveness; economic substance requirement for FBE.
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21 June 2024 |
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Reported
Direct access refused; High Court’s dismissal of premature acting‑leader recognition and sought substitute relief was incompetent.
Constitutional jurisdiction — traditional leadership recognition; direct access to Constitutional Court — interests of justice; prematurity of acting-leader appointment; judicial review for failure to make a decision; functus officio and limits on remedial substitution; parties bound by pleadings; urgency in urgent-motion procedure.
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21 June 2024 |
| May 2024 |
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Reported
Consent order requiring municipal purchase of properties set aside for statutory non‑compliance and attorney’s lack of authority.
Consent orders and settlements — Eke requirements — relation to lis, consistency with Constitution and statute, practical advantage; municipal agents’ authority — municipality may not be bound to acquire immovable property absent prior statutory compliance (section 79(24) LGO, Structures Act); rescission of consent orders — common law grounds, delay and discretion; condonation for late filings; costs.
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31 May 2024 |
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Reported
Majority: prenuptial maintenance clause may co-exist with antenuptial contract; ousting section 7 not properly before court.
Matrimonial property — Prenuptial agreement providing for maintenance — Relationship with antenuptial contract — Enforceability as donation vs. contract — Section 7 Divorce Act — Whether prenuptial maintenance ousts court discretion — Pleadings and scope of appeal.
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22 May 2024 |
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Reported
s189A(13)(d) can be standalone compensation; s189A(18) does not oust Labour Court’s s189A(13) jurisdiction.
Labour law – mass retrenchments – section 189A(13): remedial hierarchy and availability of (d) compensation as standalone relief; section 189A(18): scope — precludes adjudication under s191(5)(b)(ii) only, does not oust s189A(13) jurisdiction; procedural fairness and consultation obligations; selection criteria (knowledge, skills and behaviour); reinstatement primary remedy for substantive unfairness; costs awarded.
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21 May 2024 |
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Reported
Majority refused direct access/leave: OCNS held functional; applicants’ non‑compliance due to tardiness; dissent favoured PAJA review and proactive investigation by the Commission.
Electoral law — Election timetables and section 27 compliance — OCNS (online nomination portal) functionality — objective impossibility to comply — Commission’s power under s20(2)(a) to amend timetable — PAJA review for failure to consider complaints — Plascon‑Evans approach to disputes of fact in urgent electoral motion proceedings — direct access and issue estoppel under s96(1) Electoral Act — admissibility of further evidence and co‑respondent affidavits.
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20 May 2024 |
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Reported
A finally convicted and sentenced respondent is disqualified under section 47(1)(e), and remission does not negate that sentence.
Constitutional law – section 47(1)(e) – interpretation and operation of proviso; Presidential remission – administrative effect on execution of sentence not retrospective alteration of judicial sentence; civil contempt – criminal conviction for disqualification purposes; Electoral Act – Commission empowered to determine candidate eligibility; recusal – double requirement of reasonableness; no reasonable apprehension of bias from general, non‑specific public statement by Commissioner.
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20 May 2024 |
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Reported
Delictual debts based on alleged presidential unconstitutionality became due on the facts and prescribed before constitutional confirmation.
Prescription — delictual claims against State organs — cause of action completed when wrongful conduct and damage occur and creditor has identity/facts; Constitutional Court confirmation not precondition to debt becoming due; Institution Act condonation requires court to decide prescription; interruption under Prescription Act requires process whereby creditor claims payment; third‑party review/intervention did not interrupt prescription here.
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6 May 2024 |
| April 2024 |
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Reported
A court may not unilaterally alter a parties’ settlement agreement without giving them the opportunity to be heard.
Settlement agreements – Courts’ power to make compromises orders of court; limits on judicial intervention; Eke requirements (must relate to dispute; not offensive to law/public policy; practical advantage); audi alteram partem; inadmissible evidence; separation of powers and public-funds oversight.
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25 April 2024 |
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Reported
Whether rule 39(2)(b) permits de novo review and the correct causation test for merger‑specific retrenchments.
Competition law — mergers — Commission rule 39(1)–(2): special statutory review requiring Tribunal to decide afresh whether a firm has substantially complied with merger conditions; causation — test for merger‑specific retrenchments requires factual (but‑for) and legal/proximate causation; mere ‘some nexus’ to controller incentives insufficient; appellate deference to Tribunal’s specialised factual findings.
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17 April 2024 |
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Reported
Rule 46A covers residential property held by trusts; occupiers may be affected, but ESTA/PIE protections can obviate notice.
Execution – Rule 46A – Execution against residential immovable property of a judgment debtor – Applicability to property registered in name of juristic persons (trusts) if property is residential by character and use – Distinction between provisions directed at a judgment debtor’s primary residence and those applying to residential property generally – Rule 46A(3)(b) notice to “any other party who may be affected” – Interaction with ESTA, PIE and huur gaat voor koop – Standing and constitutional jurisdiction.
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12 April 2024 |
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Reported
A free loan-cover insurance supply can be taxable; s16(3)(c) deductions require apportionment when supplies are partly exempt.
VAT — free-of-charge supplies — a supply for no consideration may still be a taxable supply if made in the course or furtherance of an enterprise; section 10(23) valuation rule does not determine taxability; section 16(3)(c) deduction for payments under insurance contracts; mixed supplies — part taxable/part exempt — apportionment required; section 17 input-tax apportionment does not directly govern s16(3)(c) but apportionment is implied by statutory scheme; capitalisation of fees does not change their character.
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12 April 2024 |
