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Citation
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Judgment date
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| June 2022 |
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Condonation and leave to appeal granted where explained delay and reasonable prospects of success on excessive general damages award.
Civil procedure – condonation for late filing – Melane factors applied; Superior Courts Act s 17(1)(a) – leave to appeal where reasonable prospects of success exist; quantum of general damages – alleged disparity with comparable authorities and possible misdirection by trial court.
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29 June 2022 |
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Leave to appeal granted against business rescue order amid disputed service, standing and appropriateness of business rescue.
Companies Act s131(2) – mandatory notification to affected persons; Companies Act s163 – jurisdiction for relief for oppressive or prejudicial conduct; Business rescue (Chapter 6) – 'financially distressed' and 'reasonable prospect of rescue' tests; Motion proceedings – Plascon‑Evans and Wightman principles on disputes of fact; Leave to appeal – test under s17 Superior Courts Act; Interim measures – continued involvement of interim business rescue practitioner; Costs – costs in the appeal.
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29 June 2022 |
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Applicant failed to establish urgency or exceptional circumstances to stay execution of a CSOS adjudicator’s order pending appeal.
Community Schemes Ombud Service Act – s56 enforceability; s57 appeals are true appeals limited to questions of law; Superior Courts Act s18(3) – suspension of execution requires proof of exceptional circumstances/irreparable harm; urgency and interim-relief tests applied.
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28 June 2022 |
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Court rescinded a liquidation order where applicant was absent and material disputed facts were not before the trial judge.
Companies law – rescission of winding‑up order; Uniform Rules r 42(1)(a) – judgment granted in absence and erroneously granted; Common law rescission – reasonable explanation and bona fide defence; Section 345(1)/354(1) Companies Act – stay or set aside winding‑up; Electronic litigation – CaseLines access and failure to notify affected party.
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28 June 2022 |
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Accused convicted of multiple rapes and kidnappings where victims’ credible testimony and corroboration disproved consent.
Criminal law — Sexual offences — Rape and repeated rape; Kidnapping and impersonation as means to obtain submission; Single-witness evidence — evaluation, corroboration (including DNA) and credibility; Accused’s contradictions and the ‘reasonably possibly true’ test.
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28 June 2022 |
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Irregular service by sheriff and unsanctioned email were invalid; Rule 23(1) exception is not a "further step" under Rule 30(4).
Civil procedure – service of process – Rule 4 mandatory – sheriff's return prima facie but rebuttable – irregular emailed service invalid – Rule 30 relief where service irregular – "further step" in Rule 30(4) requires action advancing pleadings (plea) not a Rule 23(1) exception.
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27 June 2022 |
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Applicant’s dismissal and unemployment constituted a material change warranting pendente lite maintenance and retrospective arrears.
Family law — Rule 43(6) — Variation for material change of circumstances — Unemployment following dismissal as material change — Maintenance pendente lite: need and ability to pay — Interim maintenance may be ordered retrospectively where applicant demonstrates imminent inability to survive — Court will not decide substantive partnership/corporate veil disputes on interim application.
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27 June 2022 |
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Condonation refused where applicant failed to give a full, reasonable explanation for the unexplained delay in filing a trade mark opposition.
Trade marks — Condonation of late opposition under Reg 52(4) and s 21 — Requirement to show good cause and give full explanation for entire delay; Prospects of success relevant but not decisive where breach is flagrant; Heads of argument cannot introduce alternative relief.
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27 June 2022 |
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The applicant’s appeal against dismissal of future loss of earning capacity was upheld; experts’ joint findings and a contingency deduction produced a R1,338,752.52 award.
* Damages – Future loss of earning capacity – assessment involves actuarial calculation and judicial discretion for contingencies. * Expert evidence – weight of joint expert minutes; parties bound by agreed expert findings absent timely repudiation (Glenn Marc Bee). * Causation – linking psychological sequelae from childhood accident to later academic/work delay may be speculative; requires logical basis in expert opinion. * Contingency deductions – court may apply higher-than-normal contingencies where agreed psychological vulnerability and other vicissitudes increase risk of reduced earnings.
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27 June 2022 |
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Insurer's repudiation for alleged non‑material misstatements unjustified; policy required payment to financier, appeal dismissed.
Insurance law – interpretation against forfeiture; non‑material misrepresentation cannot exclude cover; insured entitled to financier settlement under policy clause; appellate interference only where trial court materially misdirected; parties bound by pleadings – failure to plead or lead evidence on salvage/quantum fatal.
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27 June 2022 |
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Interim maintenance denied but R50,000 contribution to litigation costs awarded from presumed joint estate proceeds.
Family law – Rule 43 interim relief – maintenance pendente lite; contribution to litigation costs – spouses married in community of property; ability to meet maintenance from income or proceeds of joint estate; evidentiary requirements for quantum of interim costs award.
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27 June 2022 |
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An insurance broker must inform the applicant of material policy changes; absolution was wrongly granted.
Insurance broker’s duty — to act with reasonable skill and care and to take reasonable steps to convey material changes in cover; Absolution from the instance — low threshold: plaintiff must make out a prima facie case; Contract interpretation — relevance of prior policy endorsement to assess material change; Caveat subscriptor — signature does not relieve broker of duty to explain material changes; Adverse inference — not warranted where witness absence was known and evidence was uncontradicted.
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24 June 2022 |
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Leave to appeal refused: no reasonable prospect of success; punitive costs not warranted.
* Civil procedure — Leave to appeal — Section 17 Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013 — higher subjective threshold; appeal must have reasonable prospects or compelling reasons to be heard. * Company names and trademarks — whether a company name constitutes a protectable trademark absent registration; abandonment and genericism issues. * Costs — punitive costs (attorney-and-client) exceptional; ordinary costs follow result.
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24 June 2022 |
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24 June 2022 |
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24 June 2022 |
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Minor pedestrian doli incapax: defendant 100% liable; R5,674,891 awarded; trust and Section 17 undertaking ordered.
Road Accident Fund liability where child doli incapax; serious injuries; assessment of general damages; choice of actuarial scenario for future loss of earnings; establishment and protection of trust; Section 17(4)(a) undertaking; costs including experts and curator ad litem.
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24 June 2022 |
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Incomplete trial record (unreconstructable) breached right to appeal; conviction and sentence set aside.
* Criminal procedure – Appeal – Incomplete or inadequately transcribed trial record – Where missing record prevents proper consideration of appeal, conviction and sentence set aside.
* Constitutional law – Right to fair trial and to appeal – Inability to reconstruct record (presiding magistrate deceased) breaches right to appeal.
* Evidence/procedure – Reconstruction of record – Another magistrate cannot substitute for original presiding officer when reasons are missing and cannot be reconstructed.
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24 June 2022 |
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A prima facie inference of negligence arose from a box falling due to unsafe packing; defendant failed to rebut and appeal dismissed.
Negligence – occupier’s duty of care to shoppers; res ipsa loquitur/primafacie inference of negligence; evidentiary burden to explain unexplained accidents; contributory negligence – requirement of credible evidence; appellate review of credibility findings.
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24 June 2022 |
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An insolvent may not interdict creditors’ meetings or halt estate administration; s381 (Companies Act) does not apply to trustees.
Insolvency law – concursus creditorum and creditor-driven administration; interim interdict – requirements and insufficiency of hearsay/defective affidavits; Insolvency Act (ss 40, 41, 64, 152, 60) – duties of Master and trustees; Companies Act s381 – applies to liquidators in company winding-ups, not trustees of natural-person estates; locus standi of insolvent to halt administration.
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24 June 2022 |
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Applicant’s review of municipal decision to prohibit scrap yard dismissed; declaratory relief on SAPS jurisdiction refused.
Administrative law – Review under PAJA – applicant may only impugn decisions pleaded and supported by the record; unpleaded administrative acts cannot be challenged at hearing without amendment; declaratory relief not granted in the abstract; municipal land‑use enforcement vs SAPS registration of second‑hand goods dealers.
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23 June 2022 |
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An urgent ex parte spoliation order obtained after ineffective truncated service was set aside on reconsideration, with costs.
Urgent procedure – Rule 6(12)(c) reconsideration of orders granted in absence – ineffective truncated service (WhatsApp nine minutes before hearing) – duty to ensure effective notice in urgent matters – non-joinder of interested third party – ex parte order set aside with costs.
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23 June 2022 |
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Plaintiff injured in train collision awarded R1,099,290.35 for future medical care, loss of earnings and general damages.
Delict – train collision – assessment of damages; Future medical expenses – conservative allowance for physiotherapy, medication, OT and assistive devices; refusal to award speculative future surgery; Loss of earnings – actuarial approach with contingencies informed by occupational therapy and industrial psychology; Evaluation of conflicting expert evidence and joint minute; General damages for pain, suffering, scarring and loss of amenities.
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23 June 2022 |
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Court dismissed respondent’s action for abuse of process due to inordinate, inexcusable delay and lack of credible excuse.
Civil procedure – dismissal for want of prosecution; abuse of court process – inordinate and inexcusable delay; requirement of credible excuse and proof of prejudice; pleadings and Rule 39(11) compliance; costs including two counsel on attorney-and-client scale.
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22 June 2022 |
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Applicants granted interim relief preventing board meeting to remove them as directors due to breach of natural justice and risk of irreparable harm.
Urgent interim interdict — directors' removal — audi alteram partem and procedural fairness — prima facie right, irreparable harm, balance of convenience — corporate governance dispute.
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22 June 2022 |
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Joinder granted for party holding disputed assets; application for security for costs under Rule 47 dismissed.
* Civil procedure – Rule 47 – security for costs against natural persons requires proof of impecuniosity and that proceedings are vexatious. * Civil procedure – Joinder (Rule 10) – person in possession of assets subject to litigation and asserting a lien has a direct and substantial interest and must be joined.
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22 June 2022 |
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Leave to appeal refused: guarantor’s liability was principal, section 133 inapplicable, applicants lacked reasonable prospects.
• Civil procedure – leave to appeal – test for reasonable prospects under s17 Superior Courts Act
• Construction law – construction guarantee – guarantor’s liability (principal vs accessory)
• Payment certificates – role in triggering payment under a guarantee; responsibility of guarantor to raise disputes
• Companies Act s133 – business rescue/enforcement action not engaged where enforcement is between employer and guarantor
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22 June 2022 |
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Late disclosure of investigation reports justified splitting costs: insurer pays earlier costs; plaintiff pays attorney-and-client costs after disclosure.
Costs — withdrawal under Rule 41(1)(a) — court may depart from usual costs rule where a party's conduct (withholding relevant documents) reasonably induced litigation; effect of late disclosure on costs allocation — attorney-and-client costs vs party-and-party costs — costs de bonis propriis require serious negligence or improper conduct; awarding costs of Senior Counsel.
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22 June 2022 |
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Beneficiaries lack locus standi to remove an administrator appointed by the executrix absent exceptional circumstances.
* Succession law – locus standi – executor (executrix) is proper person to act for estate; beneficiaries lack standing save in exceptional circumstances (executor delinquent/conflicted). * Agent/mandate – administrator (attorney) acts as agent to executor and owes fiduciary duties to the executor. * Conflict of interest – sale to agent’s relatives not automatically void; s49 applies to executor’s relatives, not agent’s children; Master may order appraisal. * Civil procedure – disputes of fact on papers not sufficient where respondents’ denials are uncontradicted and corroborated.
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21 June 2022 |
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Tribunal’s unanimous finding that injuries were not 'serious' was rational and not reviewable; review application dismissed.
Road Accident Fund – Appeal Tribunal decision under Regulations – application of Narrative Test and AMA impairment ratings – administrative action reviewable under PAJA – distinction between review and appeal; court will not substitute its evaluation for discretionary value judgments by tribunal unless decision irrational, procedurally unfair or unlawfully reached.
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20 June 2022 |
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Winding-up refused where claimed debt was bona fide disputed and respondent lawfully terminated contract due to COVID-19 force majeure.
Companies Act – winding-up under s344(f) – inability to pay under s345 – statutory demand and bona fide dispute (Badenhorst) – Plascon–Evans rule – force majeure (COVID-19 lockdown) – discretion to refuse liquidation – costs on attorney and own client scale.
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20 June 2022 |
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Appeal upheld: amended Form MC26 and voting Class B shares set aside; Registrar's registration treated as clerical, not PAJA, act.
* Company law – special resolutions – registration of Form MC26 – effect of unauthorised amendment by director.
* Administrative law – distinction between discretionary administrative acts and mechanical/clerical functions – applicability of PAJA to Registrar’s registration.
* Remedies – setting aside of registered corporate documents versus PAJA review – time bar under PAJA.
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20 June 2022 |
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20 June 2022 |
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Leave to appeal refused where plaintiff failed to show prospects of success on loss of earnings claim.
Leave to appeal — evaluation of expert evidence and factual inconsistencies — prospects of success — onus to prove loss of earnings/earning capacity — no question of law for SCA.
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20 June 2022 |
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Court postponed an unopposed divorce to protect the defendant’s section 34 right to a fair hearing and legal representation.
Constitutional law — Section 34 right of access to courts — fair public hearing in civil matters includes effective access to legal representation in appropriate cases; Family law — unopposed divorce — presence of unrepresented defendant may warrant postponement to protect fair hearing rights; Civil procedure — postponement and costs where lack of representation is not the defendant's fault.
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20 June 2022 |
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20 June 2022 |
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The defendant negligently failed to treat a disclosed human bite, causally resulting in the plaintiff’s finger amputation; liable for damages.
Medical negligence – emergency treatment of human bite – disclosure to treating staff – reliability of contemporaneous medical records – duty to prescribe prophylactic/IV antibiotics and arrange surgical/debridement management – factual causation for subsequent amputation.
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17 June 2022 |
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A recognition order vested South African assets in the trustees, permitting eviction despite the respondent’s rehabilitation claim.
• Insolvency — Recognition of foreign sequestration — Effect of recognition order conferring trustee powers to administer South African assets.
• Interpretation of judgments — Endumeni principles applied to construe recognition order.
• Rehabilitation under s127A/s129 Insolvency Act — Does not oust a valid recognition order vesting assets in trustees.
• PIE — Eviction just and equitable where trustees must realise estate and occupier fails to establish defence; implementation date fixed.
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17 June 2022 |
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Conviction for child rape upheld; life sentence reduced to 25 years with partial suspension for rehabilitation.
Criminal law – identification and credibility of a single child complainant; appellate restraint on credibility findings (R v Dhlumayo); alibi evidence evaluated and rejected as improbable; mandatory minimum sentencing for child rape (s 51 Criminal Law Amendment Act) – substantial and compelling circumstances required for departure (S v Malgas) – court reduced life term to 25 years with partial suspension for rehabilitation.
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17 June 2022 |
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17 June 2022 |
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Appeal against rape convictions and life sentence dismissed; trial court credibility findings and sentence upheld.
Criminal law – rape – proof of non-consensual intercourse – assessment of single-witness evidence and credibility; appellate review of trial court factual findings; absence of medical corroboration not always fatal; sentencing – prescribed minimums and substantial and compelling circumstances; ineffective assistance of counsel standard.
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17 June 2022 |
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Appellate court will not disturb sentence where trial court properly found substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate.
Criminal law – robbery with aggravating circumstances – Minimum Sentences Act s51(2) and Part II of Schedule 2 – substantial and compelling circumstances – appellate review of sentence – identification, lack of remorse and pre-trial custody as sentencing factors.
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17 June 2022 |
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17 June 2022 |
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Applicant awarded future loss (with 25% contingency); past loss dismissed; RAF4 compliance required for general damages.
Road Accident Fund – compliance with RAF Regulations (Reg 3(3)(c)) for RAF4 submissions required before court may award general damages; quantum of past and future loss – burden of proof for past earnings and application of contingency on actuarial future loss; entitlement to s17(4)(a) undertaking; costs where defendant unrepresented/defence struck out.
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17 June 2022 |
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Master’s 2018 letters of authority to rival trustees set aside for fraud and procedural unfairness; lawful trustees reinstated.
• Administrative law – judicial review of Master’s decision – letters of authority issued to trustees – decision vitiated by fraud and procedural unfairness. • Trusts – appointment and removal of trustees – only beneficiaries have locus standi to challenge trusteeship; trust deed control. • Corporative/associational law – validity of internal meetings and elections – improperly convened meeting yields invalid resolutions. • Condonation – late institution of review justified where applicants were obstructed from obtaining Master’s file.
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17 June 2022 |
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Business rescue application referred to trial due to disputed facts and insufficient deponent knowledge.
Companies Act – Business rescue (s131, s131(4), s128) – Applicant must show company is financially distressed or has failed to pay obligations and a reasonable prospect of rescue; Motion procedure – personal knowledge and authority of deponent to institute proceedings; Motion vs trial – when material disputes of fact require referral to oral evidence/cross-examination; Contract/dispute – delivery of goods, applicability of Incoterms/CIF and payment terms; Burden – applicant must establish reasonable grounds for prospect of rescue (more than prima facie/speculative).
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17 June 2022 |
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Court awards primary residence to father, grants supervised and telephonic contact to mother, and orders each party to pay own costs.
Children's Act – parental rights and responsibilities; residency awarded to primary caregiver in children's best interests; supervised and phased-in contact; telephonic contact schedule; costs in family litigation – each party to pay own costs; prior Children's Court proceedings rendered moot.
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17 June 2022 |
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17 June 2022 |
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Applicant failed to prove locus standi to seek trade mark rectification; leave to appeal refused with costs.
* Trade Marks Act – rectification of Register – requirement that applicant be an "interested person" (ss 24, 26, 27). * Civil procedure – leave to appeal s17(1)(a)(i) – test is whether appeal "would" have reasonable prospects of success (Smith v S). * Evidence – locus standi must be established in founding papers; failure to challenge registrations or present interest is fatal. * Reliance on authorities (Ritz Hotel) for assessing "interested person" status.
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15 June 2022 |
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Applicant awarded R4,346,185.12 for unpaid SLA maintenance, with interest and punitive attorney-and-client costs.
Contract law – Service Level Agreement – unpaid maintenance invoices – admission of indebtedness by correspondence – contradictory and unmeritorious defences – expert evidence not proffered properly – punitive costs (attorney-and-client) and interest awarded.
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15 June 2022 |
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15 June 2022 |