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Citation
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Judgment date
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| March 2025 |
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Claims with RAF1 forms and medical reports that substantially comply with section 24 cannot be rejected for lack of Board Notice 271 documents.
Road Accident Fund — Section 24 procedure — Substantial compliance with prescribed RAF1 and accompanying medical reports — Board Notice 271 cannot trump Act — Rejection/return of claims may be administrative action but refusal not determinative where s24 substantially complied with — Special plea dismissed.
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12 March 2025 |
| 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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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 |
| October 2023 |
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12 October 2023 |
| September 2023 |
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Appellant’s self‑defence plea upheld where eyewitness contradictions and radio recording showed a real, immediate threat.
* Criminal law — self‑defence and putative self‑defence — objective test but facts viewed from defender’s perspective in sudden threat; * Evaluation of evidence — credibility and reliability of eyewitnesses; * Use of contemporaneous audio recordings and CCTV as corroborative evidence; * Onus — State must disprove self‑defence beyond reasonable doubt.
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5 September 2023 |
| August 2023 |
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Pleadings failed to show deceased drafted or caused the 2021 document; statutory will formalities strictly applied, exceptions upheld.
Wills — revocation — s 2A(c) Wills Act — strict approach: deceased must have drafted or caused a document to be drafted and intended revocation; mere oral instruction insufficient. Wills — validation — s 2(3) Wills Act — strict and narrow application; document must be shown to have been intended by the deceased to be his will. Lex non cogit ad impossibilia — principle does not readily excuse non‑compliance with Wills Act formalities; requirements for its application not met on pleaded facts. Civil procedure — exception — pleading must disclose cause of action; court assumes pleaded facts true and weeds out claims lacking legal foundation.
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22 August 2023 |
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Motion dismissed and referral to oral evidence refused as a fishing expedition; attorney-and-client costs awarded to respondent.
Motion procedure – referral to oral evidence (Uniform Rule 6(5)(g)) – limits on fishing expeditions and roving inquiries; Contract law – requirements for written, tacit or ratified agreement – need for unequivocal conduct and pleaded facts; Procedural law – dismissal of motion where applicant fails to disclose cause of action or real dispute of fact; Costs – attorney-and-client scale for abusive or vexatious litigation.
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17 August 2023 |
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Reported
Master’s failure under s47 is reviewable; court remits decision to Master with directions, substitution refused.
Administration of estates — s47 Administration of Estates Act — sale of immovable property — section governs manner and conditions of sale, not decision to sell — executor’s duty to realise assets; Master’s oversight role — Master’s failure to decide is reviewable administrative action — substitution versus remittal — court not in as good a position as Master; remit with directions to call for representations.
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16 August 2023 |
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A counterclaim not shown on the pleadings to arise from the divorce falls outside Regional Magistrates’ Court jurisdiction.
Magistrates’ Courts – jurisdiction in divorce matters – s29(1B) Magistrates’ Court Act; "any question arising therefrom" requires a sufficient link to the divorce; jurisdiction determined by pleadings; s7(5)(d) Divorce Act inapplicable absent a claim for division of assets; marriage out of community of property not determinative.
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14 August 2023 |
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Warrant and attachment set aside as school fees were already reimbursed; condonation granted but respondent ordered to pay wasted and condonation costs.
Civil procedure – condonation for late filing of answering affidavit – discretion to admit late papers where no prejudice and defence has merit; Interpretation of contract – triad of text, context and purpose – clause requiring payment on date of receipt of pension funds does not mean payment from those funds; Motion proceedings – admission of new matter in replying affidavit – exceptional circumstances and respondent’s failure to address new allegations; Execution law – setting aside warrant and attachment where debt already satisfied or reimbursed; Costs – order for wasted costs and costs of condonation; no order as to costs in main application.
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11 August 2023 |
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Executive Mayor’s dismissal of appeal reviewed and set aside for fettering discretion and error of law; matter remitted for reconsideration.
Administrative law – review – fettering of discretion – municipal development charges policy – paragraph 9 discretion vs paragraph 14.1 guidance – adjustment of bulk services contributions; Land use planning – development charges credit – reliance on SPLUMA principles – error of law; Remedy – review and remittal; Costs including two counsel.
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10 August 2023 |
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Reported
Pending action does not bar liquidation where cause of action differs and the debt is not bona fide disputed.
Company law – liquidation – lis alibi pendens: pending action for same monetary claim does not bar liquidation where cause of action and relief differ; indebtedness and insolvency – an acknowledgement of debt and statutory demand raise a rebuttable presumption of insolvency; bona fide dispute – debtor must particularise and prove reasonable grounds to rebut presumption (Badenhorst rule applies at final stage alongside Plascon‑Evans evidential principles).
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10 August 2023 |
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Director‑General’s s29(2) refusal set aside where decision materially relied on an erroneous factual premise; matter remitted for reconsideration.
Immigration law – s29(1) prohibited persons – s29(2) Director‑General’s discretion to lift prohibition – first‑instance decision not appealable under s8(6); administrative law – irrationality where decision rests on material bad/irrelevant reason; remedy – remittal vs substitution; evidentiary burden on applicant to show 'good cause' and innocence of fraud.
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10 August 2023 |
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Appeal succeeds: daughter lacked proven locus standi and insufficient evidence existed to end curatorship without further neuropsychological assessment.
Mental health/curatorship – Rule 57(14) locus standi – requirement of direct and substantial legal interest; curatorship – discharge requires clear evidence of material change and capacity to manage large funds; court should give weight to curator ad litem and neuropsychological assessments before terminating protections; cultural considerations cannot replace clinical evidence when protecting vulnerable persons.
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7 August 2023 |
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Default judgment set aside where pleadings failed to allege a cause of action against the appellant.
* Civil procedure – rescission of default judgment – requirements: reasonable explanation for default and bona fide defence with prospects of success. * Pleadings – necessity of a pleaded cause of action against the defendant for contractual liability. * Agency/receipt of funds – payment into defendant’s account does not alone create contractual liability absent appropriate pleadings. * Appellate review – interference where lower court applied wrong principle of law.
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3 August 2023 |
| July 2023 |
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Readmission refused: applicant failed to identify the character defect and prove genuine reformation.
Readmission of advocate; onus to prove genuine, complete and permanent reformation; applicant must identify and explain character defect causing misconduct; full and frank disclosure required; character references alone are insufficient; role of GCB/constituent Bars under LPA (per Nthai).
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31 July 2023 |
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The applicant charged with a Schedule 5 drug offence failed to satisfy s60(11)(b); bail was properly refused.
Bail — section 60(11)(b) onus where accused charged with Schedule 5 offence — fixed residential address and access to vehicle as indicators of flight risk — strength of State’s case and seriousness of drug offences (mandrax) — community petition and public interest relevant to bail discretion.
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31 July 2023 |
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Reported
An accused’s remedy for incapacity to stand trial lies under ss 77/79 Criminal Procedure Act, not by civil stay despite inordinate prosecutorial delay.
• Criminal procedure – permanent stay of prosecution – grounds: unreasonable delay; accused’s mental/intellectual incapacity; reliance on self‑incriminating evidence.
• Evidence law – s 35(5) Constitution – exclusion of evidence obtained in breach of Bill of Rights is a trial‑court discretion.
• Subsidiarity – where ss 77 and 79 Criminal Procedure Act comprehensively address fitness to stand trial, accused must rely on those statutory procedures rather than a civil constitutional stay.
• Delay – inordinate prosecutorial delay requires proof of material trial‑related prejudice to justify a permanent stay.
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31 July 2023 |
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Municipal report on alternative accommodation was inadequate; eviction postponed pending comprehensive municipal response and official testimony.
Eviction proceedings — adequacy of municipal report under s 4(7) of PIE Act — municipal duty to investigate availability of alternative accommodation and consider occupiers’ vulnerabilities — emergency shelter material insufficient without realistic land/consent or resource explanation — postponement and subpoena of municipal official ordered.
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28 July 2023 |
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Applicant failed to prove the deceased intended the purported will; s2(3) condonation requires contemporaneous intention and full disclosure.
Wills Act s2(3) – condonation of non‑compliance with formalities; execution by mark (s2(1)(a)(v)) – absence of commissioner not automatically fatal if identification/evidentiary purpose met by other means; requirement to prove contemporaneous intention to make the document a will; heightened duty of full and frank disclosure in s2(3) applications; proof of intention cannot be supplied for the first time in reply or by refusing oral evidence.
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28 July 2023 |
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Validity of non‑compliant will under s2(3) and competence of a witness‑related beneficiary under s4A(2)(a).
* Wills Act 7 of 1953 – s 2(1) formalities – attesting witnesses must sign in each other's presence – non‑compliance remedied by s 2(3) if document intended to be will.
* Wills Act – s 4A(1) disqualification where spouse attests a will; s 4A(2)(a) exception where beneficiary shows no fraud or undue influence.
* Burden of proof – would‑be beneficiary bears onus to establish absence of fraud/undue influence.
* Civil procedure – real, genuine and bona fide dispute of fact required to resist factual averments.
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20 July 2023 |
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Reported
A contingent beneficiary has no automatic right to extensive trust/company records absent vesting or specific proof of trustee maladministration.
Trust law – discretionary/contingent beneficiary’s entitlement to information – vesting of rights; Trust deed obligations (clause 8.2) – preparation vs dissemination of financial statements; Section 19 Trust Property Control Act – remedy where trustee fails to perform duty; Allegations of maladministration – need for specificity; Differentiating trustee acts in personal capacity from trustees’ collective acts.
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18 July 2023 |
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Reported
Court dismissed applicants' constitutional challenges to provincial school governance, intervention facilities and evaluation authority.
Education law — Provincial legislature may establish additional types of public schools; provincial provisions (Collaboration and Donor Funded Schools) valid when read subject to SASA; MEC regulation-making powers lawful. Intervention facilities — challenge premature pending Norms and Standards; referral with parental consent not ‘detention’; statutory safeguards required (best interests, right to be heard). School evaluation — provincial evaluation authority (WCSEA) lawful; collective agreements do not trump provincial legislative competence. Conflict of laws — prefer interpretation avoiding conflict (s150); national law prevails only where s146 conditions met. Costs — Biowatch principle applied (each party pays own costs).
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17 July 2023 |
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Municipality rationally required cumulative impact assessment; not bound to follow provincial environmental approvals; review dismissed.
Land‑use planning — municipal discretion in considering desirability — requirement for cumulative Atmospheric Impact Report on odour and flies; PAJA review — rationality, arbitrariness and bias; interplay between municipal planning decisions and provincial environmental approvals — SPLUMA does not oblige municipal abdication; late introduction of new review grounds inadmissible.
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13 July 2023 |
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Reported
A taxed bill may be rescinded where a lay debtor lacked proper formal notice; taxation award and execution set aside.
Taxation of costs – Rule 70(3B) and 70(4)(a) – adequacy of notice; service by email v personal service by Sheriff; taxed allocatur comparable to judgment debt – rescission (setting aside) competent remedy – common‑law rescission requirements (good cause, good faith, bona fide defence) applied – warrant of execution set aside.
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13 July 2023 |
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An accused’s prior s 204 confession or admission is inadmissible against others under ss 219/219A despite Hearsay Act exceptions.
Criminal procedure – admissibility of prior s 204 statements – recanted s 204 statements of witnesses – interplay between s 3(1)(c) Law of Evidence Amendment Act and ss 219/219A Criminal Procedure Act – s 3(2) limits Hearsay Act where other statutory prohibitions apply – Mhlongo/Makhubela/Mabaso bind trial courts; Makhala distinguishable.
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12 July 2023 |
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Interim payment certificates are not absolutely final; contractual defences and arbitration can determine enforceability.
Building contract — Interim payment certificates — Whether certificates are absolutely or temporarily final — Contractual adjudication and arbitration clauses — Availability of defences, set-off and counterclaims to actions on interim certificates — Admission of late supplementary affidavit — Effect of pending arbitration on enforcement of payment certificates.
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10 July 2023 |
| June 2023 |
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Court corrected a patent addendum/date error in a guardianship order and held R10,000 is payable per child per month.
Family law – guardianship and maintenance – Court’s power under Rule 42(1) to correct patent errors in orders – contractual interpretation of settlement addenda in context – R10,000 maintenance construed as per child – Family Advocate recommendations made orders.
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30 June 2023 |
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The applicant permitted to file supplementary affidavit and amend relief; respondents’ rule 30 challenge to set-down dismissed.
• Civil procedure – amendment and supplementation of affidavits in opposed applications – rule 6(5)(e) and rule 28 discretion – amendments allowed where bona fide and not unduly prejudicial.
• Trade mark / contract – dispute over whether 1988 arrangement was a trademark licence or mere co-existence/territorial restraint; repudiation and cancellation may be pleaded as extension of contractual claim.
• Irregular proceedings – rule 30 challenge to alleged premature set-down; set-down governed by rule 6(5)(f); rule 29 and Practice Directives relating to trials do not prevent allocation of opposed application dates.
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20 June 2023 |
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Urgent interdict granted: respondents failed to prove truth/public interest for defamatory social-media publications; removal and publication of court order ordered.
Defamation – publication on social media – corporate plaintiffs – meaning and defamatory effect; Defence of truth and public interest – onus and evidentiary foundation; Urgency and condonation in motion proceedings; Final interdict to restrain ongoing defamatory publications; Appropriate remedies where damages not claimed – publication of court order; Attorney-and-client costs for mala fide publication and conduct.
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13 June 2023 |
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Court grants final interdict against foreign respondents for harassment and defamatory electronic communications, finding jurisdiction where harm was suffered.
* Civil procedure – interdict – jurisdiction over foreign respondents – connecting facts arising where electronic communications are received and rights vest – Superior Courts Act s21.
* Electronic communications – place of receipt/reception – ECT Act s23 – data message received at addressee’s usual place of business or residence.
* Interdict – requisites (clear right; threatened/continuing breach; no adequate alternative remedy) – harassment, defamation and protection.
* Alternative remedies – Protection from Harassment Act and criminal prosecution not providing similar preventive protection where respondents reside abroad.
* Relief – court may tailor overbroad notice of motion to fit established wrongs.
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13 June 2023 |
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Plaintiff failed to prove an attorney-client mandate; absolution granted for lack of prima facie case.
Civil procedure – Absolution from instance – test: whether evidence adduced could reasonably allow a court to find for plaintiff – Attorney-client mandate – requirement of evidence (written mandate/power of attorney/fee agreement) to prove acceptance of instructions – Prescription raised but primary failing was absence of mandate evidence.
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9 June 2023 |
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Reported
Fraudulent non-disclosure permits rescission despite contractual clauses; adequacy of restitution and non-joinder are triable matters.
* Contract law – rescission for fraud – fraudulent non-disclosure renders contract void ab initio and exclusion clauses cannot bar rescission for fraud.
* Restitution – adequacy of tender – substituted or post-scheme shares and fungibility of listed shares may suffice; adequacy is a triable issue.
* Civil procedure – exception vs special plea – non-joinder objection is generally a special plea unless pleading on its face lacks necessary averments; exception appropriate only where want of cause of action or evident lack of standing appears ex facie the pleadings.
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9 June 2023 |
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Applicant failed to prove debt or clean‑hands just and equitable grounds; provisional winding‑up discharged.
• Companies — application for winding-up — final liquidation refused where debts are bona fide disputed on substantial grounds (Plascon-Evans; Badenhorst).
• Civil procedure — replying affidavit — new matter — court may strike out new case raised in reply where it prejudices respondents and should have been in founding papers.
• Companies — just and equitable winding-up — applicant must come with clean hands; misconduct by petitioner militates against relief.
• Referral — alleged statutory contraventions (Share Block Control Act; Sub-division of Agricultural Land Act) referred to DPP and CIPC for investigation.
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8 June 2023 |
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Reported
Section 56(1)(c) limits acting senior‑manager appointments to one three‑month term, extendable once by MEC on written application.
Local government — s56(1)(c) Systems Act — acting senior managers limited to one three‑month term, extendable once by MEC on written application and good cause; Appointment Regulations 2014 and MFMA Competency Regulations apply to acting senior-manager appointments; MEC has duty and standing to enforce compliance; section 56(1)(c) constitutional.
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7 June 2023 |
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An email demanding refunds and threatening guarantees can objectively constitute repudiation; leave to appeal dismissed with costs.
Contract law – repudiation – anticipatory breach by demanding return of deposits and threatening to cancel guarantees – objective test for repudiation; Civil procedure – leave to appeal – section 17 Superior Courts Act – no reasonable prospect of success; Conveyancing – duties of conveyancers limited to conveying instructions, not averting consequences of repudiation; Notice to remedy – precedent not requiring notice under comparable breach clauses.
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6 June 2023 |
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Interlocutory legality review to pre‑decide GAAR and compensating‑adjustment issues refused; compensating adjustments are discretionary and not challengeable by assessed taxpayer.
Tax — GAAR (Part IIA) — interpretation of pleadings — whether listed steps constitute separate arrangements or only combined scheme; Evidence — inadmissibility of ex post facto explanations by auditor; Statutory discretion — s80B(2) compensating adjustments not mandatory and assessed taxpayer lacks locus standi to challenge; Civil procedure — interlocutory legality review under rule 51(2) refused; Costs — awarded for delay and prolix, baseless application.
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2 June 2023 |
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Failure to give a shareholder statutory notice invalidated a director appointment and subsequent removal for breach of procedural fairness.
Companies Act — s62: peremptory notice requirements for shareholders’ meetings; shareholder as juristic person must be given notice — invalidates resolutions where not given. Companies Act — s71(4): directors entitled to sufficient notice and reasonable opportunity to make representations before removal; failure breaches audi alteram partem. Estoppel cannot validate procedural non-compliance with statutory public-interest protections. Delinquent director relief (s162(5)) is peremptory and requires high threshold of dishonesty, wilful misconduct or gross negligence; conditional applications inappropriate.
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1 June 2023 |
| May 2023 |
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Reported
Simultaneous delivery of a replication and a summary judgment application is not inherently an irregular step under Rule 32/Rule 30.
Civil procedure – Rule 32 – summary judgment – whether plaintiff may deliver replication simultaneously with summary judgment application; Rule 30 – setting aside alleged irregular step – requirement of no further step taken with knowledge of irregularity and proof of prejudice; waiver – substantive, fact‑specific inquiry.
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29 May 2023 |
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Settlement disposing of assets of a liquidated company was void; auction proceeds must be paid to the liquidators.
Companies law – winding-up – final winding-up order establishes concursus creditorium; s341(2) Companies Act 61/1973 – dispositions after commencement of winding up void ab initio; landlord’s tacit hypothec – cannot be perfected to prefer creditor post winding-up; contract interpretation – Endumeni applied; onus on claimant to prove ownership of movables sold at auction.
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26 May 2023 |
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Gross receipts constitute a juristic person’s "turnover" for NCA thresholds; applicant need not register and may enforce notarial bonds.
* National Credit Act – registration of credit providers – juristic person threshold – definition of "turnover" as total monies received (gross receipts) into business account; * Effect of non-registration – unlawful/unenforceable agreements; * Notarial covering and collateral bonds – enforcement against movable property; * Rule nisi granted ex parte confirmed; * Costs – attorney-and-client and interlocutory costs in the cause.
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25 May 2023 |
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Acting magistrate’s hostile social media campaigning created reasonable apprehension of bias; proceedings set aside and remitted for rehearing.
Judicial impartiality — reasonable apprehension of bias arising from social media activity; recusal obligations of judicial officers; Code of Judicial Conduct for Magistrates and Bangalore Principles; review under Superior Courts Act s 22(1)(b),(c); proceedings rendered null by failure to recuse; remittal for rehearing before a different magistrate.
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24 May 2023 |
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Short‑term commercial letting and event use of a Single Residential 1 dwelling is unlawful without municipal consent.
* Municipal and planning law – land use schemes – Saldanha Bay Municipal Integrated Zoning Scheme By‑Law – primary uses versus consent uses; tourism and holiday housing require municipal consent.
* Zoning – Residential Zone 1 – 'dwelling house'/'dwelling unit' construed as residential living accommodation for one household; commercial short‑term letting and events not permitted without consent.
* Ancillary use principle – uses not expressly provided for in scheme are not permitted where scheme provides specific consent categories (Rustenburg jurisprudence).
* Neighbour enforcement – neighbouring owners may obtain interdicts for zoning contraventions; proof of imminent harm and lack of alternative remedy sufficient.
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24 May 2023 |
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Reported
A defective charge sheet did not invalidate conviction where the accused’s plea admissions established culpable homicide and no prejudice arose.
* Criminal procedure — defective charge sheet — statutory offence (s61(1) NRT Act) vs. common-law culpable homicide — insufficiency of factual averments. * Section 112(2) plea — admissions curing defects where accused intended and admitted elements of substituted offence. * CPA ss 86, 88 — amendment before judgment; review remedy where amendment post-conviction not possible. * Review (s304A) — substitution/confirmation of conviction on review where no prejudice to accused and evidence supports offence.
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24 May 2023 |
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Lease validly terminated on two months’ notice; matter remitted to determine whether eviction is just and equitable.
Property law – lease termination – clause permitting termination on two months’ written notice – termination effective on communication; Eviction procedure – organ of state may proceed under s 4 PIE; PIE’s just-and-equitable enquiry (s 6(3)) applies where residential occupation involved; Waiver – lapse of time and negotiations do not establish waiver absent unequivocal evidence; Remittal – where initial court fails to consider just and equitable factors, matter to be remitted for that enquiry.
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22 May 2023 |
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Summary judgment can be granted on penalty claims where the defendant fails to substantiate a bona fide s3 defence.
Summary judgment; Conventional Penalties Act s3; onus on debtor to prove disproportionality; bona fide defence requirement in summary judgment; qualification of Premier Finance on penalty claims.
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22 May 2023 |
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Reported
Applicants for bail on Schedule 6 charges must prove exceptional circumstances; evidence of witness interference and weak affidavits justified continued detention.
Criminal procedure – bail in Schedule 6 cases – onus on accused under s60(11)(a) to prove exceptional circumstances – witness intimidation and interference – relevance and limits of affidavit alibi evidence – detention conditions ordinarily not exceptional.
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22 May 2023 |
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An unqualified pre-trial concession admitting accident-related psychiatric injury prevents belated denial of causation; limited repudiation of certain expert findings allowed.
• Civil procedure – amendment of plea – withdrawal of prior admissions and compromises; limits on reopening pre-trial concessions.
• Evidence – expert agreements and joint minutes – when parties may repudiate expert opinions.
• Delict – causation of psychiatric injury – effect of pre-trial admissions and settlement on proof of causation.
• Case management – effect of late amendments on fairness and prejudice.
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18 May 2023 |
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Applicant proved debt and respondent failed to show a bona fide dispute; provisional winding-up ordered.
Company law – Liquidation – Urgent provisional winding-up where creditor proves claim prima facie and company fails to show bona fide dispute on reasonable grounds (Badenhorst rule); oral agreement to forgive debt must be clearly proved; prospective liabilities (debt becoming due on transfer) relevant to inability-to-pay inquiry; discretion to refuse winding-up narrowly applied.
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17 May 2023 |
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Court declares that a judicial grant of "care" under the Children’s Act includes "custody" and "legal custody" for medical‑scheme dependency purposes.
* Children’s Act – interpretation of "care" and "custody" – section 1(1), section 1(2) and section 18(2).
* Medical schemes – Rule requiring "legal custody" for dependent status – interaction with Children’s Act definitions.
* Guardianship and placement orders – effect of court order placing children "in care" for third-party administrative purposes.
* Urgent ex parte relief to prevent prejudice to a dependent child's medical and educational needs.
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17 May 2023 |
