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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 1952 |
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Whether the accused’s drunkenness negated the requisite intent for murder—court held it did not.
Criminal law — Voluntary intoxication as defence — Onus of proof — Crown must prove specific intent for crimes requiring it even if drunkenness alleged; psychiatric evidence of psychopathy/pathological intoxication; inference of intent from conduct; sentencing and mitigating circumstances.
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15 December 1952 |
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Refusal of a licence based on applicants' race is unlawful; court review not barred by pending executive action.
Administrative law – Judicial review – Refusal by local authority to grant licence – Section 18(d) permits refusal where grant would depress surrounding property values but does not authorise racial discrimination – Section 22 does not preclude court review prior to executive action.
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12 December 1952 |
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A postdated-cheque representation can constitute fraud if the maker knew it would not be honoured and intended to defraud.
Criminal law – Fraud – false representation as to future payment (postdated cheque) – dishonest belief and intention to defraud – proof of state of mind; Criminal procedure – appellate interference with sentencing discretion – good grounds required to alter magistrate’s sentence.
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12 December 1952 |
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Appeal from jury murder convictions dismissed; no misdirection on alternatives or mandatory corroboration of prostitute’s evidence.
Criminal law – Murder v. culpable homicide – jury summing‑up – cautionary approach to disreputable witnesses (prostitute) – no general rule of corroboration – appellate review of jury verdicts limited despite 1948 amendments – intoxication and competent verdicts.
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12 December 1952 |
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Rents Act does not automatically void a lease for stipulating rent above an earlier Rent Board figure; option validity requires trial.
Property law — Lease and option to purchase — Effect of Rent Board determination on validity of lease — Rents Act (Act 33 of 1942) does not void leases for stipulating rent in excess of earlier determination — Validity/exercise of option and vagueness/misrepresentation issues require trial evidence — Declaratory relief and remittal to trial court.
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8 December 1952 |
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Whether the conviction was unsafe because contradictions and unsatisfactory evidence failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – conviction unsafe – insufficiency and unsatisfactory nature of evidence – contradictions between accused’s statements and prosecution case – inferences from quantity of recovered property.
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2 December 1952 |
| November 1952 |
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25 November 1952 |
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Appellate court upheld conviction for housebreaking and theft, accepting Crown evidence and rejecting appellant's implausible denial.
Criminal law – housebreaking and theft – evidential assessment and credibility – possession and subsequent disposal of alleged stolen property – prior convictions and sentence under statutory provisions – appellate review of factual findings.
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25 November 1952 |
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Truck driver's failure to stop at a stop sign caused the collision; respondent's driver not negligent; appeal dismissed.
Motor-vehicle collision — Intersection controlled by stop sign — Failure to stop and crossing into main road — Driver of main-road vehicle not negligent where sudden emergency and immediate braking occurred — Burden on party alleging contributory negligence.
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18 November 1952 |
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A council’s registered definition of its industry limits the scope of industrial agreements; agreements extending beyond that definition are ultra vires and not cured by ministerial declaration.
Industrial Conciliation Act – industrial council registration certificate and constitution – definition of industry – limits council's competence – agreement transmitted beyond registered industry ultra vires – ministerial declaration under s.48 cannot validate agreements negotiated outside council’s statutory sphere – neighbouring industry’s employers and unions have locus standi to challenge encroachment. |
18 November 1952 |
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9 November 1952 |
| October 1952 |
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Court upheld convictions where identification and possession corroborated rape, acquitted where identification was unreliable, and refused leave to appeal.
Criminal law – Rape and robbery – Identification evidence – Reliability and corroboration – Doctrine of common purpose – Possession of suspected stolen property as corroboration – Leave to appeal refused.
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17 October 1952 |
| September 1952 |
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Accused may be declared habitual if convicted after amendment, regardless of when the offence was committed.
Criminal law – Habitual criminal declarations – Temporal operation of statutory amendments – Whether eligibility is determined by time of conviction or time of commission – Amended s.344 (Act 33 of 1952) construed to depend on conviction date.
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30 September 1952 |
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Whether a term discharging the contract if an import licence is not granted within a reasonable time can be implied to give business efficacy.
Contract — Implied terms — Business efficacy test — Implied term that contract discharged if required import licence not granted within reasonable time; Reasonable time — factors include nature of commodity and expected time for third‑party authority to decide; Pleadings — exception for vagueness and failure to disclose defence — when a plea sufficiently informs plaintiff of defence.
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30 September 1952 |
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In a vindicatory attack on a Messenger’s sale, the claimant must allege and prove the purchaser’s bad faith or notice of defect; appeal dismissed.
Civil procedure – Sale in execution – Section 70, Act 32 of 1944 – Protection of purchaser in good faith and without notice of any defect – Interpretation does not shift onus of proof – Onus on claimant to prove purchaser’s bad faith or notice of defect.
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29 September 1952 |
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Conviction for stock theft set aside where magistrate misdirected himself by shifting onus and failing proper credibility assessment.
Criminal law — theft — onus of proof — alibi — misdirection by magistrate in shifting burden — improper inference from insufficient evidence — credibility assessment of Crown witnesses — appeal — conviction set aside.
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23 September 1952 |
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"Within two years from the date hereof" in a policy means the policy's date, not an earlier commencement date.
Insurance — Policy interpretation — Suicide exclusion stating "within two years from the date hereof" — "Date hereof" refers to date of the policy document, not to earlier deemed commencement of assurance absent express provision or averment of antecedent contract.
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22 September 1952 |
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Applicant’s continuous negligence in crossing in front of an approaching vehicle bars recovery despite possible driver negligence.
Delict — Pedestrian crossing — contributory and simultaneous negligence — proximate cause — emergency reaction by driver — credibility of reconstructed evidence (distance/speed).
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19 September 1952 |
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Validity of broad ministerial prohibitions on attending gatherings and timing of resignation notices under the Suppression of Communism Act.
Suppression of Communism Act — section 9 prohibitions on attending gatherings — scope and validity of broad prohibitions; relationship of s.9 to s.5; retrospectivity of dated notices; service and period for compliance under s.5(1)(b).
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12 September 1952 |
| June 1952 |
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Buyer placed in mora from 1 August 1948 for failing to provide guarantee; seller entitled to interest; waiver not proved.
Sale of land – "cash against transfer" – demand for banker's guarantee – when buyer is in mora – seller's obligation to inform readiness to lodge transfer – interest a tempore morae and modern approach to waiver/protestatio.
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20 June 1952 |
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Whether severing an ultra vires appeal provision invalidates the remainder of a compensation‑court statute and the tribunal’s determinations.
Town‑planning — compensation — validity and severability of subordinate legislation provisions — power of Provincial Council to constitute compensation courts — competence of compensation court to decide legal questions without oral evidence — scope of review of administrative tribunal decisions.
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19 June 1952 |
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s.85(3) permits court-ordered execution against a wife’s assets, but recovery of penal additional tax is limited and construed in the taxpayer’s favour.
Income tax — s.85(3) — recovery from assets of wife married out of community — words "the assets of" to be given effect — enforcement requires court order and execution; Tax — whether penal additional tax under s.65(1)(b) included in "tax" recoverable under s.85(3) — ambiguous construction resolved in taxpayer's favour — recovery limited to proportionate amount.
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19 June 1952 |
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Court held that an established bank’s name and goodwill deserved protection; a confusingly similar proposed bank name was restrained.
Trade names/bank names — Banks Act registration — protection of goodwill — passing off/unfair competition — likelihood of confusion sufficient for interdict — exhaustion of administrative remedies not required for third parties.
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3 June 1952 |
| May 1952 |
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Applicants' murder conviction and death sentence upheld where reckless gagging causing suffocation and corroborated accomplice evidence proved guilt.
Criminal law – Murder – Recklessness and dangerousness of act – Forcible gagging and tying causing suffocation – Accomplice evidence – Corroboration and appellate review of credibility findings.
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29 May 1952 |
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Appellant's challenges to trial judge's summing-up and questioning rejected; conviction for indecent assault upheld.
Criminal law – indecent assault – summing-up – alleged misdirection – judicial notice of common behaviour – propriety of leading and investigative questions by trial judge – appellate review of trial irregularity.
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19 May 1952 |
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A passport is not a public document; endorsements proving presence require authentication and proof of official authority to be admissible.
Evidence — Hearsay — Admissibility of passport and endorsements — Passport not a "public document" for general use — Passport admissible to prove identity/nationality but endorsements proving presence or transit require authentication and proof of official authority — Absent such proof, endorsements inadmissible.
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19 May 1952 |
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Appellate court held complainant must prove school punishments were unjustified or excessive; disciplinary decisions receive limited judicial interference.
School discipline – Corporal punishment by teachers and authorised prefects – Onus on complainant to prove punishment unjustified or excessive – Limited judicial review of schoolmaster’s disciplinary discretion.
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2 May 1952 |
| March 1952 |
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Restraint-of-trade covenants in a share-sale were held enforceable as reasonable; clause 2(c) required seller’s information before indirect-sale restriction operated.
Company law; sale of shares – contract containing post-sale restraints – restraint of trade enforceable if reasonable and not against public interest; contract interpretation – clause requiring "information of" seller limits operation of indirect-sale prohibition; specific performance – purchaser entitled to delivery where covenants valid and no breach established.
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28 March 1952 |
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Whether the 1951 Separate Representation Act validly amended entrenched franchise provisions — court held the Act invalid for failing required procedure.
Constitutional law — Entrenched provisions — Sections 35 and 152 South Africa Act 1909 — Statute of Westminster 1931 — effect on entrenchment — Electoral law — Separate Representation of Voters Act 1951 — disenfranchisement by race — judicial review of parliamentary procedure — stare decisis and overruling prior Appellate decision.
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20 March 1952 |
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Complaint to a police superior was protected by qualified privilege; plaintiff must prove malice to defeat privilege.
Defamation — qualified privilege for complaint to superior about officer’s conduct — falsity presumed under privilege; plaintiff must prove malice to defeat privilege — appellate restraint in overturning trial judge’s credibility findings — partial success on counterclaim; nominal damages awarded.
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18 March 1952 |
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Where mixed motives exist, dominant purpose at acquisition determines whether share sale profit is capital or income.
Taxation — Income v capital — profit on sale of shares — dominant purpose test for mixed motives; burden of proof under s.54/64 of Income Tax Consolidation Act — whether taxpayer must be a dealer to render resale profits taxable — evidentiary assessment of intention.
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13 March 1952 |
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Appeal dismissed: convictions and sentences for culpable homicide and failure to render assistance upheld; post-conviction delay not mitigating.
Criminal law — culpable homicide; Motor-vehicle offences — failure to stop and render assistance (s.31(2) Ordinance); sentence mitigation — artificial disability not sufficient; appellate review — post-conviction delay not a ground for reducing sentence; executive relief for post-conviction hardship.
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13 March 1952 |
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Accomplice evidence corroborated by physical and other testimony convicted two accused of murder for gagging and robbing an elderly man.
Criminal law – Murder – Accomplice evidence – Corroboration and caution required (s.285) – Section 282 discharge of accomplice – Common purpose – Gagging causing mechanical obstruction of respiratory tract – Foreseeability and recklessness.
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3 March 1952 |
