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Citation
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Judgment date
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| September 1983 |
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Conviction based on uncorroborated accomplice testimony and inferences was unsafe and quashed.
Criminal law – murder – conviction based on accomplice evidence – requirement of caution and corroboration; inferences from threats and motive insufficient alone to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt; acquittal of co-accused can materially weaken accomplice testimony; unsafe conviction set aside. |
29 September 1983 |
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Reported
An acceptance phrased "subject to" conflicting tender documents is ambiguous and does not create a contract.
Contract formation – acceptance – requirement of clarity and unequivocality; ambiguity caused by phrase "subject to all the conditions and terms embodied in the relative official tender documents" where tender and official documents conflict on completion period; objective test of reasonable tenderer; effect of qualified tenders and subsequent formal agreement (PW 54). |
29 September 1983 |
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Appellate court affirms bakkie driver’s negligence; car driver not negligent; appeal dismissed with costs.
Road traffic — collision at junction — assessment of probabilities — eyewitness and police track evidence — driver on wrong side — negligence of bakkie driver upheld; entering vehicle not negligent.
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29 September 1983 |
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Appeal allowed: the applicant's conviction unsafe due to unreliable child eyewitness likely influenced, creating reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – identification and credibility – juvenile eyewitness testimony – assessment and dangers of suggestion; influence by interested third party; corroboration requirement for unreliable or vulnerable witness; appellate review of trial court credibility findings; conflict in corroborative witnesses' accounts and impact on safety of conviction.
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29 September 1983 |
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Reported
An option to buy included in a lease must be exercised during the lease; it lapses on termination absent clear contrary intention.
Lease and option — option to purchase contained in lease — where no exercise period stated, option prima facie to be exercised during lease — option does not survive termination of lease absent clear contrary intention — monthly tacit relocation after expiry does not revive untimely exercise. |
27 September 1983 |
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Whether scene markings and probabilities justify inferring contributory negligence by the Mazda driver — appeal dismissed.
* Road traffic – head-on collision – inference of contributory negligence from scene markings (glass, mud, scrape mark) – evaluation on balance of probabilities. Evidentiary issues – reliability of post-collision scene evidence and witness measurements. Burden of proof – competing hypotheses assessed by overall probabilities; sudden swerve hypothesis not equally probable. |
27 September 1983 |
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Reported
A fidelity-fund's articles can be a public offer and a claimant's written notice may constitute acceptance creating contractual liability.
* Company law – articles of association as offer to public – fidelity fund articles creating a public offer to reimburse losses for member theft. Contract law – acceptance – implied acceptance and objective test – written correspondence constituting acceptance. Contract law – notice requirements in constitutive documents – sufficiency of notice to enable investigation under Article 177. Remedies – fidelity fund liability where member's liquidation yields no dividend. |
27 September 1983 |
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26 September 1983 |
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26 September 1983 |
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Whether appellants' confessions, some taken by police or via police interpreters, were voluntary and admissible under s 217(1).
Criminal procedure - admissibility of confessions - voluntariness under s 217(1) - police officers as confessing officers or interpreters - investigating officer taking confession - individual assessment of confessions despite general pattern of investigative irregularities.
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26 September 1983 |
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Applicant’s conviction for murder as a participant in a common purpose is upheld; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – Common purpose liability – Participation in pursuit and cornering of victim as evidence of sharing murderous common purpose – Disassociation from common purpose must be reasonably established; mere possibility insufficient.
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26 September 1983 |
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Accomplice testimony, corroborated by strong circumstantial evidence, upheld murder and robbery convictions; appeals dismissed.
Criminal law — accomplice evidence — prior inconsistent statements do not automatically invalidate trial testimony; cautionary rule applies strictly but conviction may stand if corroborated; circumstantial corroboration (possession of victim’s property, concealed coins, blood evidence) sufficient to support murder and robbery convictions; absence of mitigating circumstances upheld.
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26 September 1983 |
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Agent entitled to commission where its introduction remained the effective cause of a later, related sale despite initial financing failure.
Agency and commission – effect of purchaser’s initial inability to obtain finance – whether introduction remains effective cause when sale later concludes on different but related terms; liability where sellers refuse third‑party security requiring suretyship; assessment of purchaser's ability and timing for commission entitlement; interest a tempore morae payable from demand/placement in mora.
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20 September 1983 |
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Appeal dismissed: reliable single-witness identifications and corroborative evidence upheld convictions.
Criminal law – identification evidence – single eyewitness identification – cautionary approach – corroboration by medical/photographic evidence – credibility of accused’s alibi.
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16 September 1983 |
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A negotiated settlement applied and acted on can bind parties and operate like an arbitral award; agent inferred for the dormant contracting company.
Agency – inference of mandate where holding company controls dormant subsidiary and performs its contractual obligations – agency may be inferred without express board resolution. Contract – variation and settlement – a negotiated transactio resolving a dispute can be binding and operate as res judicata, akin to an arbitral award. Contract formalities – requirement for written signed variation does not preclude binding settlement reached by negotiation and acted upon. Arbitration – disputes referred to or reserved for arbitration may be finally disposed of by consensual settlement.
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14 September 1983 |
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Confession taken by a police‑attached officer/interpreter admissible if voluntary and corroborated; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – robbery with aggravating circumstances – admissibility of confession; desirability but not automatic exclusion where confession taken by justice of the peace attached to investigating unit and interpreter from same unit. Voluntariness – allegations of assault must be proved; mere allegation insufficient. Corroboration – confession may suffice where supported by aliunde evidence (s 209, Act 51 of 1977). Sentence – appellate court will not interfere absent misdirection or manifest excessiveness.
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9 September 1983 |
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No reasonable prospects of success: trial court properly found death in custody to be suicide and refused leave to appeal.
Police detention – death in custody – whether death was suicide or caused by police assault; authenticity of suicide note – handwriting expert evidence; evaluation of lay witness credibility; application for leave to appeal in forma pauperis – prospects of success. |
2 September 1983 |
