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Citation
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Judgment date
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| November 2019 |
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Premeditated, brutal stabbing murder with no substantial and compelling circumstances — life imprisonment imposed.
Criminal law – Murder – Premeditation and planning; Sentencing – Zinn triad; Section 51(1) Criminal Law Amendment Act – prescribed life sentence; Substantial and compelling circumstances – burden to deviate; Aggravating factors – multiple stab wounds, brutality, lack of remorse; Protection of women – deterrence and retribution.
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27 November 2019 |
| September 2019 |
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Reported
RICA's deficiencies violate constitutional rights due to inadequate notification, judge appointment, data management, and protection for lawyers and journalists.
Interception of Communications – Constitutionality of RICA – Notification procedures for surveillance subjects – Independence of designated judge – Adequate safeguard system – Protection of privileged communications and journalistic sources – Lawfulness of bulk interception.
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16 September 2019 |
| August 2019 |
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21 August 2019 |
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8 August 2019 |
| June 2019 |
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27 June 2019 |
| May 2019 |
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Reported
The Public Protector's Vrede Dairy Project Report was irrational, inadequately investigated and was set aside as unlawful and invalid.
Public Protector – powers and duties – duty to investigate complaints within jurisdiction – scope and quality of investigations – use of subpoenas, search and seizure and obtaining documents – obligation to take statements from beneficiaries – limitations of resource constraints defence – referral to SIU and Auditor-General – appropriateness and efficacy of remedial action – legality, rationality and constitutionality of Public Protector reports.
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20 May 2019 |
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Court allowed amendment converting review to declaratory/damages claim, supplementary affidavit disregarded; applicant to pay wasted costs.
• Civil procedure – Uniform Rule 28 – amendment of notice of motion – discretion to allow amendments to determine real issues between parties.
• Motion versus action – conversion of review/motion proceedings into declaratory and damages claim – not fatal to amendment if prejudice remediable.
• Excipiability – proposed amendment raising legal bar to damages from tendering cannot be decided without amended papers.
• Further affidavits – supplementary affidavit filed without leave is pro non scripto for interlocutory determination.
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10 May 2019 |
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An attorney who misappropriates trust funds and commits dishonest offences is unfit to remain on the roll.
Attorneys — Misappropriation of trust funds — fiduciary duty and record-keeping; Unauthorized guarantees — acting beyond written mandate; Criminal convictions for fraud/theft — relevance to fitness to practise; Striking off — sanction to protect public and preserve professional integrity.
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10 May 2019 |
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Arbitration and lien defences do not excuse non‑compliance with court orders; respondent ordered to vacate and pay costs.
Contempt of court – Enforcement of prior court order – Arbitration clause does not bar contempt proceedings; Duty to obey orders; Waiver of lien in contract; Salvage and debtor/creditor liens considered and rejected.
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10 May 2019 |
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9 May 2019 |
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9 May 2019 |
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The respondent's second insured driver negligently failed to keep a safe distance and take evasive action.
Motor-vehicle collision – negligence – whether insured drivers caused collision after tyre burst of third vehicle – analysis of reaction time and following distance. Expert evidence – accident reconstruction – weight of expert opinion versus direct eyewitness testimony. Duty to keep proper lookout and maintain safe following distance – liability where driver fails to take evasive action in emergency. Application of Kruger v Coetzee negligence test.
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9 May 2019 |
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9 May 2019 |
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Court rejects bank’s broadened cession interpretation and rectification; supplier’s 2014 cession ranks prior to agribusiness/Land Bank interests.
Bank finance – deed of cession – interpretation and rectification – scope of ceded ‘crop income’; rectification barred post concursus creditorum; seasonal cessions limited to specified production seasons; ranking of competing cessions – supplier’s cession (5 Oct 2014) held valid and prior to agribusiness/Land Bank interests; conditional counterclaims for damages and unlawful appropriation dismissed for lack of proof.
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9 May 2019 |
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6 May 2019 |
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Applicants' re-enrolment after rescission and pending action barred sequestration; bona fide dispute defeated provisional sequestration.
Insolvency law – Section 150 Insolvency Act – appeal against rescission of provisional sequestration – requirement to appeal rather than re-enrol. Res judicata/idem actio – pending action relating to same cause of action bars subsequent sequestration proceedings. Provisional sequestration – Badenhorst rule – bona fide and reasonable dispute as a bar to sequestration. Court discretion – refusal of provisional sequestration where material dispute of indebtedness exists.
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6 May 2019 |
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2 May 2019 |
| April 2019 |
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After the plaintiff's death and reduced quantum, costs were split: High Court scale to 27 Jan 2018, Magistrate's scale thereafter.
Costs — jurisdictional quantum changed after plaintiff's death — Rule 39(22) permits transfer to Magistrate's Court but does not impose obligation — duty of plaintiff's legal representatives to inform opponent promptly of death — costs discretion: split award where transfer should have occurred.
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26 April 2019 |
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Business rescue refused where close corporations were commercially insolvent with no reasonable prospects of rehabilitation.
Companies Act – business rescue – requirement of reasonable prospects of rehabilitation – applicant must show factual basis enabling a practitioner to devise a rescue plan; business rescue will be refused where applications are speculative, dilatory, or will not yield a better return than liquidation.
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26 April 2019 |
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Leave to appeal dismissed as moot; wasted costs ordered against applicant’s attorneys de bonis propriis.
• Civil procedure – leave to appeal – section 17(1) Superior Courts Act – requirements for leave to appeal. • Mootness – effect of dismissal of related proceedings on an application for relief. • Interim relief – whether an interim prayer gives an application independent life. • Costs – punitive cost orders; wasted costs; de bonis propriis liability of attorneys.
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25 April 2019 |
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Minor entitled to R450,000 general damages and R110,000 future medical expenses for permanent facial/scalp disfigurement; no loss of earning award.
Medical negligence – negligent intravenous line placement causing scalp necrosis and permanent forehead scar; assessment of general damages for permanent disfigurement; recovery of future medical expenses; failure to prove diminished future earning capacity; costs order including medico-legal and counsel costs.
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24 April 2019 |
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Whether a vehicle used to transport stolen cattle is an instrumentality of crime and liable to forfeiture under POCA.
POCA – Forfeiture of property – Whether vehicle used to transport stolen stock is an instrumentality of crime – Close-link test (Mohunram). POCA – Innocent-owner defence – Requirements that owner neither knew nor had reasonable grounds to suspect property was used in offence. Evidence – Standard: balance of probabilities for forfeiture and assessment of surrounding circumstances to infer knowledge or reasonable suspicion.
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24 April 2019 |
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18 April 2019 |
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A bald, unparticularised affidavit and unsubstantiated counterclaim failed to defeat summary judgment on an acknowledgement of debt.
Civil procedure – Summary judgment: affidavit opposing summary judgment must disclose fully the nature, grounds and material facts of the defence (Uniform Rule 32(3)(b)); Unliquidated counterclaim: may constitute a bona fide defence if properly pleaded and substantiated; Acknowledgement of debt – mistake must be pleaded with particulars and evidence; Delay and unexplained late particulars undermine defence to summary judgment.
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18 April 2019 |
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Reconsideration under Rule 6(12)(c) set aside an ex parte contempt order where urgency, service and wilfulness were not established.
Contempt of court — urgency and service in ex parte urgent applications — Rule 6(12)(c) reconsideration — contempt requires wilfulness and mala fides where appeals against underlying orders are pending — relief for restoration of utilities not warranted where related proceedings and orders are pending.
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18 April 2019 |
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An exception to pleadings alleging a tacit universal partnership was dismissed; particulars sufficiently pleaded contributions supporting a partnership.
Family/property law – Universal partnership – Tacit universal partnership alleged between spouses – Pleading sufficiency where one spouse deposits income, invests gifted funds, and provides labour and skills towards property improvements; precedent in Butters applied. Civil procedure – Exception to particulars of claim – whether pleadings disclose reasonable cause of action.
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18 April 2019 |
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18 April 2019 |
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18 April 2019 |
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17 April 2019 |
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17 April 2019 |
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Applicant proved prima facie insolvency and evasion; court granted provisional sequestration to protect creditors.
Insolvency law – Provisional sequestration – requirements: prima facie claim, act of insolvency or factual insolvency, and advantage to creditors under s10 and s12(1)(c) of the Insolvency Act. Acts of insolvency – evasion of service and obstruction of execution as grounds under s8(a) and s8(b). Excussing assets – creditor must make reasonable attempts to excuss movable property; debtor's evasion may justify sequestration. Evidence – adverse inference from debtor's failure to disclose current financial position.
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16 April 2019 |
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Appellate court upheld trial credibility findings and dismissed appeal against rape and assault convictions.
Criminal law – rape and assault – credibility findings and corroboration – delay in reporting – appellate review of factual findings; deference to trial court unless demonstrable material misdirection (S v Hadebe).
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16 April 2019 |
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4 April 2019 |
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4 April 2019 |
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4 April 2019 |
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Reported
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1 April 2019 |
| March 2019 |
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28 March 2019 |
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28 March 2019 |
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Reported
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27 March 2019 |
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Whether the applicant suffers future loss of income; court found diminished earning capacity and awarded adjusted future loss.
Road Accident Fund — quantum: future loss of income; assessment of diminished earning capacity due to chronic pain and physical limitations; weight of expert evidence (industrial psychologist, occupational therapist, orthopaedic and neuro-surgeon); actuarial assumptions — use Patterson B3 not C1/C2; application of 15% contingencies to injured and uninjured income streams; costs and Section 17(4)(a) RAF undertaking.
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27 March 2019 |
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The respondent’s revival and flawed investigation of decade‑old complaints was procedurally and substantively irrational and set aside.
Administrative law — Public Protector — exercise of discretion to entertain time‑barred complaints — procedural fairness in investigations — requirement to obtain respondent’s version — principle of legality and rationality; Administrative law — substantive irrationality where enquiry rests on wrong legal premise; Remedies — remedial orders must be rationally connected to findings.
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27 March 2019 |
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26 March 2019 |
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26 March 2019 |
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26 March 2019 |
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26 March 2019 |
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26 March 2019 |
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Defendant held liable where driver’s unexplained absence and collision evidence supported inference of negligent lane intrusion; quantum postponed.
Road Accident Fund liability – negligence of insured driver – proof on balance of probabilities; adverse inference where defendant fails to call driver. Civil evidence – party’s failure to give evidence on matters within its knowledge – Galante v Dickinson principle applied. Facts – vehicle damage and scene debris supporting inference of opposite-direction collision and lane intrusion. Quantum – separation of issues; quantum postponed sine die.
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22 March 2019 |
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Reported
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22 March 2019 |
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22 March 2019 |
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22 March 2019 |