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Citation
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Judgment date
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| July 2024 |
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Applicants obtained urgent order compelling respondents to place unplaced learners within ten days; remedial-plan and investigatory relief refused.
Education law – Right to basic education – placement of unplaced late applicants – urgency – mandatory interdict to compel placement; Schools Act s3(5)(a) – discretionary investigatory power; Remedial support – SIAS policy and individualized assessment; Remedies – ongoing violation, court-ordered placement and costs (two counsel).
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24 July 2024 |
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Voluntary homeowners’ association; title-deed clause creates personal rights; 2010 constitutional amendments and trustee loan resolution void.
Property law – title-deed conditions – distinction between limited real rights and personal contractual rights under title conditions; Associations – homeowners’ association constituted as voluntary association, not statutory under LUPO; Constitutional/contractual governance – entrenched constitutional clauses cannot be amended or circumvented by trustees to permit cession of levy and consent powers; Contracts/security – levy finance agreement and security cessions invalid where trustees exceeded authority and procedural requirements (defective notice, improper signatures) were not met; Procedural – defective notice of meeting and lack of internal authorisation render amendments/resolutions ultra vires and void.
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23 July 2024 |
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A restraint of trade clause was partially enforced but modified for reasonableness due to limited protectable interests and public policy.
Labour law – Restraint of trade – enforceability – Confidential information – Reasonableness and public policy – Employee’s right to work – Scope and duration of restraint – Balance of proprietary interests and fairness.
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12 July 2024 |
| June 2024 |
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Appeals from a division on a tax appeal require SCA special leave; this Court lacked jurisdiction to grant it.
Tax law; Appeals — Tax Administration Act s 133; Superior Courts Act s 16(1)(b) — special leave to SCA; jurisdiction of full court on appeals from tax court; tax courts as courts of revision vs courts of law; distinction from Lewis Stores statutory-appeal jurisprudence; costs on Scale B.
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28 June 2024 |
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Reported
Mandament van spolie granted for Willemskraal; state officials and occupiers found in contempt for wilful non‑compliance.
Spoliation (mandament van spolie) — restoration ante omnia; Contempt ex facie curiae — wilful and mala fide non‑compliance; criminal standard beyond reasonable doubt for committal; joinder and consolidation; ESTA inapplicable where no consent; key possession does not substitute for physical possession.
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27 June 2024 |
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Section 2 of PRIA gives an ex‑lege entitlement to post‑judgment interest on judgment debts, including unliquidated claims.
Prescribed Rate of Interest Act s 2 – post‑judgment interest runs ex‑lege on all judgment debts (including unliquidated); s 2A – intended for pre‑judgment interest on unliquidated debts and confers discretionary relief; res judicata inapplicable where judgments silent on interest; RAF Act s 17(3)(a) 14‑day commencement for interest on compensation.
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25 June 2024 |
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Section 19(2) requires compensation to be measured by the fair market value of the animal or thing in a healthy (uninfected) state; Director’s nil award set aside.
Administrative law — review under PAJA — interpretation of s 19(2) Animal Diseases Act — compensation to be based on fair market value of animal/thing in a healthy state — Minister’s s 23(4)(a) instruction and Director’s duty under s 2(2) — amendment of regulation 30 does not displace s 19(2) principle — remittal appropriate; substitution inappropriate.
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21 June 2024 |
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Doormax's unauthorised dealing in 'QS' products infringed the applicants' common-law trade mark goodwill; final interdict granted.
Trade mark law – common-law (unregistered) trade mark – long‑standing use creating goodwill – protectable interest. Unlawful competition – wrongful interference with goodwill by unauthorised dealing in mark-bearing products. Interdictory relief – requirements for final interdict satisfied where no real disputes of fact exist. Competition Act – alleged cartel conduct; standing to refer JV — non-parties cannot invoke or attack contracts to which they are not a party.
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21 June 2024 |
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Court postponed summary judgment and, exercising its NCA s85 discretion, referred the matter to a debt counsellor for time‑bound evaluation.
National Credit Act – s129 notice – valid service by sheriff and registered post; Summary judgment – bona fide defence threshold; NCA s85 – court’s discretion to refer proceedings to debt counsellor in High Court; Over‑indebtedness – factor for s85 referral but not automatic defence; Prescription and in duplum – addressed and not fatal to short referral.
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21 June 2024 |
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Applicants failed to prove the children were habitually resident in Germany; Hague Convention relief dismissed.
Hague Convention – habitual residence – jurisdictional fact; Plascon‑Evans test in motion proceedings; parental intention/settled purpose; article 13(b) grave risk defence; interim contact and passport retention pending domestic determination.
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19 June 2024 |
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Applicants who abandoned constitutional surrogacy challenges after non-compliance ordered to pay respondents' costs on attorney-client scale.
Constitutional litigation – costs – application withdrawn after non-compliance with court orders and mootness – Biowatch principle not absolute; vexatious conduct, failure to comply with Rule 16A and Rule 41(1) justify adverse costs on attorney-client scale; late amicus conduct censured.
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19 June 2024 |
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Procedural and evidential irregularities, including reliance on hearsay and defective CLA-based charge, rendered the trial unfair; convictions set aside.
Criminal procedure — defective plea and enquiry process under ss 112/115 CPA; inadmissible hearsay relied upon; defective charge invoking CLA Part 3 minimum sentences and magistrate’s lack of jurisdiction to impose them; impermissible off‑record correction of conviction; cumulative irregularities vitiating trial and breaching s 35 fair trial rights.
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19 June 2024 |
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Eviction granted after meaningful engagement; city-centre safe spaces upheld as suitable alternatives; broad re-occupation interdict refused.
Eviction (PIE & s26(3)) – meaningful engagement by municipality; suitability of city ‘safe spaces’ as alternative accommodation; limits on interdicts to avoid PIE process; Dladla considerations (lockout/family-separation rules) and remedial supervision.
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18 June 2024 |
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Reported
Where payment certificates are disputed on reasonable grounds, they are challengeable, but adjudication determinations that are "implemented" may require payment pending arbitration.
Companies — Winding-up — s 344(f) Companies Act 61 of 1973 — statutory demand under s 345(1)(a) — deeming inability to pay — Badenhorst rule — bona fide dispute on reasonable grounds to underlying claim — interim/payment certificates under JBCC contract not immune to attack — adjudicator’s determination immediately binding and implemented (JBCC clauses) — payment pending arbitration — discretion under s 347(1) to stay liquidation pending arbitration.
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18 June 2024 |
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Reported
Municipal senior-manager appointment and maximum remuneration invalid for non-compliance with competency and remuneration rules.
Administrative law – municipal senior manager appointment – compliance with Systems Act, Senior Manager Regulations and Minimum Competency Regulations – requirement of two years’ Senior Management Level experience – administrative action under PAJA – rationality and unreasonableness review – remuneration subject to Ministerial Upper Limits Notice – councillor immunity from personal liability.
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18 June 2024 |
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Reported
Appellant’s prior common-law rape convictions count for minimum-sentence purposes; third-offender sentence upheld.
Criminal law; minimum sentences – s 51(2)(b) Criminal Law Amendment Act – whether prior common-law rape convictions qualify as previous convictions for minimum-sentence purposes; statutory interpretation – Sexual Offences Act subsuming common-law rape; purposive and Constitutionally-informed interpretation; sentencing – substantial and compelling circumstances.
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18 June 2024 |
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Accused convicted of murder and related offences; diminished capacity defence rejected and killing found planned/premeditated.
Criminal law – Murder and attempted murder – assessment of diminished criminal capacity (pathological incapacity) – premeditation/planning – admissibility of hearsay (s 53(1)(c)) – firearms offences – dolus eventualis regarding co‑occupant (daughter).
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12 June 2024 |
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High Court dismisses premature challenge to creditors’ meeting and claims, stressing statutory insolvency remedies must be exhausted.
Insolvency law – proof of claims at creditors’ meeting – application of sections 44 and 45 of the Insolvency Act; review under section 151 – locus 'person aggrieved' – premature High Court intervention where statutory remedies not exhausted; removal/nomination of liquidator – sections 371 and 379; procedural complaints (Regulation 12, audi) assessed against prima facie proof standard.
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10 June 2024 |
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A trust's claim for policy benefits based on a settlement agreement was struck out due to inapplicability of stipulatio alteri and pactum successorium.
Contract – stipulatio alteri – requirement for third party acceptance – absence of vinculum iuris unless benefit accepted by trust – exceptions to general rule – Perezius exception only applies on proper pleading and facts – succession – pactum successorium – settlement agreement conferring benefit on third party on death – invalidity of pactum successorium except in antenuptial contract context – exception to particulars of claim upheld.
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7 June 2024 |
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A plaintiff may recover past medical expenses from the RAF despite medical aid payments; late unpleaded subrogation and statutory-defence arguments dismissed.
Road Accident Fund liability – section 17 RAF Act – recovery of past medical expenses despite medical aid payments; subrogation – insurer’s subrogation collateral and not a defence to RAF liability; Medical Schemes Act Regulations 7 & 8 and s19(d)(i) RAF Act – do not exclude RAF liability; pleading rules – late unpleaded defences disallowed; costs – plaintiff awarded taxed or agreed costs.
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6 June 2024 |
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Reported
Court recognised a foreign receiver to permit transfer of surplus South African insolvency funds to foreign estate, subject to conditions.
Cross-border insolvency – recognition of foreign receiver – comity, convenience and equity – locus standi of foreign trustee – relation of s116 Insolvency Act to removal of surplus funds – protection of local creditors – costs for unreasonable and misleading opposition.
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5 June 2024 |
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Investigators under s106 may compel disclosure of fundraising records when funds served municipal purposes, subject to limited privacy protections.
Municipal law - s106 Municipal Systems Act - investigator designation valid; Fundraising by mayor held for municipal purposes - funds subject to investigation; POPIA and privilege do not justify blanket refusal to disclose trust account and donor records; Protective measures for unrelated trust creditors permitted; Costs awarded to applicants (Scale B).
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3 June 2024 |
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Reported
PSC grievance recommendations are not binding; "senior managerial" experience may be demonstrated outside the SMS/Levels 13–16.
Public administration — Public Service Commission — grievance investigations and recommendations under s196(4)(f)(ii) — recommendations not binding; Directive interpretation — "experience at a senior managerial level" — not limited to prior SMS (Levels 13–16) service; administrative law — executive decisions reviewable under PAJA or principle of legality; jurisdiction — High Court competent where constitutional rights directly invoked.
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3 June 2024 |
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Reported
A putative parent’s conduct and undertakings can create a legal duty to maintain a de facto adopted child despite incomplete formal adoption.
Children — Maintenance — De facto adoption — Where a putative parent by conduct and clear undertakings assumes parental obligations, courts may recognize a legal duty of support despite incomplete formal adoption; best interests of the child paramount — interim maintenance pending enquiry.
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3 June 2024 |
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Application to amend notice of motion to prescribe risk-assessment standards denied as moot after respondent procured a new risk assessment.
• Civil procedure — amendment of notice of motion — amendment after exchange of affidavits and regulatory change — when permissible; • Mootness — application overtaken by events (effluxion of time and subsequent risk assessment); • Administrative/regulatory law — Major Hazard Installation Regulations 2022, SANS 1461 and compliance of risk assessments; • Declaratory relief — courts decline hypothetical or abstract declaratory relief absent full factual matrix; • Costs — award of costs including two counsel where complexity justifies higher tariffs.
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3 June 2024 |
| May 2024 |
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Whether a shareholder retains locus standi under s 163 after a deemed forced sale: first applicant retained standing, second did not.
Companies Act s 163 — locus standi — only shareholders may seek relief under s 163; standing assessed at time of launching proceedings; deemed forced sale provisions challengeable where they form subject-matter of pending litigation; amendments may be permitted despite transfers if no substantive prejudice; costs awarded on scale B.
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30 May 2024 |
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Reported
Provisional liquidation refused where alleged unlawful competition claims were bona fide disputed and disgorgement claims lie against the employee personally.
Companies — Winding up — Just and equitable ground — Unlawful competition alone not established ground; proven debt from unlawful competition may suffice. Companies — Locus standi — Contingent/prospective creditor — vinculum iuris by attribution/alter‑ego. Attribution — Sole director/shareholder as directing mind — company’s acts attributable. Disgorgement — Secret profits from employee’s breach of fiduciary duty lie against employee personally. Civil procedure — Provisional liquidation — Badenhorst rule: refuse where debt genuinely disputed on reasonable grounds.
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30 May 2024 |
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Court grants urgent relocation of child to Germany as being in the child’s best interests, dismissing the father’s counterclaim.
Family law – relocation of minor – best interests of the child paramount – consideration of child’s views, expert reports, schooling and language integration. Relocation – good faith and reasonableness of parent’s motive. School placement – necessity of child’s presence for German enrolment and integration programmes accommodating non‑German speakers. Timing – urgency justified to enable commencement of foreign academic year. Contact – post-relocation parenting/contact plan endorsed by experts.
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30 May 2024 |
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Late, last-minute Rule 6(5)(g) referral refused; interim interdict pending leave to appeal dismissed with costs.
• Civil procedure – Rule 6(5)(g) – referral to oral evidence – stringent test: real, material dispute not amenable to affidavit determination; must conduce to an effective and speedy resolution. • Urgency – proper management: nominate hearing date and truncated timetables; late tactical referral disfavoured. • Interim interdicts – not generally granted pending applications for leave to appeal interlocutory rulings; court requires prima facie right/prospects tied to the substantive proceedings. • Abuse of process and conduct in motion proceedings may justify refusal of referral.
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29 May 2024 |
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Divorce granted; spousal maintenance refused; R4,000 child support; pensions retained; property division adjusted for minor.
Family law – divorce on irretrievable breakdown; parental responsibilities – approval of parenting plan; maintenance – spousal maintenance refused, child maintenance set at R4,000 CPI-indexed; forfeiture – court declines applicant’s forfeiture of M[] property, awards S[] property to respondent; pensions retained by each spouse; sale of residence delayed to protect minor’s interests; costs mostly each party to bear, respondent to pay wasted postponement costs.
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28 May 2024 |
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Owner liable for prepaid electricity fixed charges, but municipality may recover only the three-year prescri bed period.
Municipal law – owner liability for consumption charges – owner as 'customer' where no occupier; duty to select and monitor tenants and utility arrangements; owner bears incidental risk. Prepaid electricity meters – daily fixed charges accrue and may continue after tenant vacates; municipality may refuse removal until arrears settled as incidental power for credit-control. Prescription – electricity and water charges prescribe after three years; amounts older than three years are not recoverable. Administrative law/municipal credit control – municipality obliged to act reasonably and in line with governance, but may employ measures to secure payment.
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27 May 2024 |
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Spoliation claim dismissed for failure to prove exclusive/quasi‑possession, deficient evidence, and impracticality of the order.
Property law – mandament van spolie – requirement of possession or quasi‑possession (gebruikersreg) and wrongful dispossession; joinder and amendment of process; admissibility and sufficiency of affidavit evidence; practicality/enforceability of spoliation orders.
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27 May 2024 |
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Applicant lawfully disqualified for material non‑compliance with mandatory tender documentary requirements.
Administrative law – Public procurement – Mandatory pre‑qualification and responsiveness criteria – Tender disqualification for material non‑compliance with documentary requirements. Procurement law – Functionality thresholds – Requirement to submit specified source documents and reference letters to prove experience. Labour/NBC documentation – Distinction between NBC registration certificates and letters of good standing; certificate mandatory for responsiveness. Clarification/condonation – No general duty to seek clarification or condone material non‑compliance absent express discretion or immateriality.
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24 May 2024 |
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Lease validly terminated; eviction granted as just and equitable with four‑month suspension and conditional costs.
Eviction – PIE s 4(7) – court must consider just and equitable factors including municipal housing report and rights of children; notices compliant with lease deemed received. Month‑to‑month tenancy lawfully terminated by 30‑day notice – unlawful occupation found. Court may decline to compel mediation – may grant eviction with suspended execution period. Costs ordered against respondent but suspended pending compliance.
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21 May 2024 |
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Appellate court upheld rape conviction based on credible single child witness, supporting medical and circumstantial evidence.
Criminal law – Sexual offences – Rape of child – Single child witness: application of cautionary principles, trustworthiness and capacity to narrate. Delay in reporting – Delay explained by fear, threats and trauma; statute and case law preclude adverse inference solely from delay. Corroboration – Medical J88 (non‑intact hymen) and circumstantial evidence (bloodied sheet, victim’s description) supportive. Alibi/incarceration – Periods of custody did not create reasonable doubt where charge pleaded "upon or about/during" a month and date uncertainty was plausible.
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20 May 2024 |
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PAJA review dismissed for unreasonable delay; applicants failed to prove entitlement or procedural unfairness.
Administrative law – PAJA s 7(1) time limit and s 9 extension – undue delay fatal to review; municipal housing – Unlawful Occupation Policy – normalisation of tenancy; procedural fairness – requirement to identify mandatory procedure for review; entitlement to municipal tenancy/transfer.
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20 May 2024 |
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Court convicts accused 1–3 of multiple human‑trafficking and related offences; victim-assessment procedures not prerequisite to prosecution.
Human trafficking – elements: act, means, purpose – exploitation need not be actualized; procedural victim-recognition under HT Act not prerequisite to prosecution; indictment drafting errors not per se fatal; credibility assessment and mosaic approach to evidence; convictions on multiple trafficking, exploitation and related counts; separate conviction for dealing in drugs.
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17 May 2024 |
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Urgency refused where applicant’s delay, procedural non-compliance and alternative Family Advocate process made redress available in due course.
Family law — Urgency — Uniform Rule 6(12) and Practice Directives — self-created urgency — substantial redress in due course; procedural compliance (practice note, indexed papers); Family Advocate investigation as alternative remedy; immediate return of children and school enrolment issues made moot.
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14 May 2024 |
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Applicant's deception, inconsistencies and credible risks to witnesses and trial justified dismissal of bail appeal.
Criminal procedure – Schedule 5 bail application – s60(11) onus on accused; s60(4) grounds for refusal (endangerment, evasion, witness interference, jeopardising justice). Credibility and dishonesty central in paper‑based bail proceedings; new‑facts applications require genuinely new and relevant information. Court may undertake its own analysis on appeal if lower court not plainly wrong.
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13 May 2024 |
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Reported
An Equality Court cannot exercise High Court jurisdiction absent parallel proceedings; applicant failed to establish harassment or discrimination.
Equality Court jurisdiction – s 20 of Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act – Equality Court is a special-purpose forum and cannot assume High Court jurisdiction absent parallel High Court proceedings (Manong SCA); Harassment and discrimination – definition under Equality Act (persistent or serious) – claimant must adduce facts enabling a plausible inference of discrimination (Nedbank SCA); School language policy – home languages permitted outside class; bare allegations insufficient for prima facie case.
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8 May 2024 |
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Court declared irregular appointments invalid but, as a just and equitable remedy, declined to set them aside.
Administrative law – principle of legality – appointments by acting official lacking delegated authority – declaration of invalidity under s172(1)(a) – discretion under s172(1)(b) to set aside or not – factors: bona fide error, fair process, reliance, prejudice to appointees, institutional interests and deterrence.
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8 May 2024 |
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A purported director without shareholder/liquidator consent lacked authority to institute business rescue; replacement director and attorneys authorised.
Corporate and insolvency law – business rescue vs liquidation – effect of business rescue application where liquidation proceedings exist; liquidators’ powers over subsidiaries. Rule 7 High Court Rules – challenge to authority of persons/attorneys acting for a party – onus to satisfy court of authority. Corporate governance – validity of director appointment by written shareholder consent; bylaws and shareholder control; when a self-appointment is invalid. Evidence – application of Plascon-Evans where disputes of fact on affidavits exist. Pleadings – allegations of forgery/fraud that are speculative may be struck as vexatious and scandalous.
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7 May 2024 |
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Court accepts plaintiffs’ expert on deceased’s earning trajectory, sets income, dependency ages, contingencies, and directs actuarial calculation.
Delict — Loss of support after fatal shooting by SAPS member — Assessment of deceased’s income and probable career path — Expert evidence on earning capacity accepted — Allocation of income between spouse and children — Age of dependency and contingency deductions determined — Actuarial computation directed.
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7 May 2024 |
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Rule 43 application adjudicated amidst jurisdiction and procedural compliance challenges, with interim relief proceedings held appropriate.
Family Law – Maintenance pendente lite – Rule 43 application – Jurisdiction of South African courts – Lis Pendens – Compliance with procedural rules
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6 May 2024 |
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Reported
Applicants failed to establish a prima facie right for interim interdicts pending PAJA review; applications dismissed.
Administrative law — Interim interdicts — Prima facie right must be same as, or affected by, right to be vindicated in main proceedings — Review under PAJA concerns section 33 only; unrelated constitutional or public-interest rights cannot found interim relief — Condonation: deliberate and unexplained delay, prejudice defeats condonation — Biowatch principle applied to ancillary interim relief costs.
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2 May 2024 |
| April 2024 |
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RAF cannot rely on s19(d)(i), Medical Schemes regulations or internal ICD directives to avoid paying past medical expenses.
• Road Accident Fund Act s 17/19(d)(i) – recovery of past medical expenses paid by medical schemes – limits on RAF’s exclusionary argument; subrogation and supplier/third-party claims. • Medical Schemes Act regs 7–8 – do not oust claimant’s right to recover past medical expenses from RAF. • Administrative law – internal RAF directives (ICD-coding) cannot be applied retrospectively or without procedural fairness/notification. • Evidence – admissibility, causation and proof determine recoverability of specific medical items.
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29 April 2024 |
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26 April 2024 |
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A taxpayer may not raise on appeal a new objection to a different part of the assessment than originally objected.
Tax procedure – Tax Court Rules – rule 32(3) (amended) – new grounds of appeal permissible only if they relate to the same part or amount objected to under rule 7; distinction between deduction and gross income; Matla Coal, ITC authorities and HR Computek support substance test; Capitec not decisive on rule scope.
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26 April 2024 |
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Reported
Intervenors lacked standing; court may not order BRP fee forfeiture and found no gross negligence.
Business rescue – intervention and standing – limits on affected persons after business rescue ends – reflective loss; Business rescue practitioner – remuneration (s 143) – court lacks inherent power to order forfeiture of BRP fees; BRP liability – section 140(3)(c)(ii) requires gross negligence; Costs de bonis propriis – not justified where settlement/order fixes costs; Rescission – wilful default bars relief; Strike out – application dismissed, further affidavit admitted.
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24 April 2024 |
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Director had authority to sign subordination; misrepresentation/mistake failed; in duplum caps capitalised interest.
Company law – actual and ostensible authority of director to bind company; Contract law – caveat subscriptor, iustus error and misrepresentation; Corporate finance – auditor‑requested subordination agreements; Civil/commercial – in duplum rule applies to capitalised (arrear) interest.
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24 April 2024 |
