High Court of South Africa Eastern Cape, Mthatha - 2022 November

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3 judgments

Citation	Judgment date
November 2022
MEC for Health v Gamede (CA05/2022) [2022] ZAECMHC 39 (29 November 2022) Defendant failed to prove prescription; court refused remit for further evidence and dismissed the special plea. Civil procedure – prescription – burden on defendant raising special plea to prove inception and completion dates and claimant’s knowledge; where facts lie within claimant’s knowledge defendant bears a reduced evidentiary burden but must still adduce evidence; parties’ agreement to separate issues must be respected; condonation under s 3 of the Act does not necessarily operate as res judicata.	29 November 2022
MEC for Health v Caka (4947/2017) [2022] ZAECMHC 38 (22 November 2022) Condonation refused where Rule 30(2)(b) notice was defective, delays inadequately explained, and prospects of success absent. Civil procedure – Rule 30 irregular proceedings – Requirement that a Rule 30(2)(b) notice must afford ten days to remove causes of complaint and warn of consequences – Rule 30(1) applications must be instituted within prescribed time – Condonation principles (Melane factors) – Attorney negligence and limits to relying on representatives’ delays – Prejudice and undue delay in minor child medical negligence claims.	22 November 2022
Minister of Police v Mnukwa and Others (CA38/2021) [2022] ZAECMHC 40 (8 November 2022) Appeal reinstated; default judgment not void ab origine, but illegal usurious interest corrected to prevailing legal rate. Condonation — reinstatement of lapsed appeal; rescission of default judgment — Rule 49(1) (20-day rule) v Rule 49(8)/s36(1)(b) Magistrates’ Court Act; void ab origine — limited to no service/no mandate/no jurisdiction; magistrate’s discretion to accept affidavit evidence (rule 32(2)); prescribed/presiding rate of interest — illegal usurious interest corrected; costs allocation for condonation and abandoned application.	8 November 2022