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Citation
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Judgment date
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| February 2025 |
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Referral to trial appropriate where affidavits disclose material disputes over alleged forgery and authenticity of powers of attorney.
Civil procedure – motion vs action – material disputes of fact – allegations of forgery/fraud – authenticity and notarisation of powers of attorney – when to refer to trial for oral evidence.
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28 February 2025 |
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Default judgment rescinded because an interested party was not served; recognition of foreign orders requires proper service under court rules.
Recognition of foreign judgments – registration of Namibian liquidation orders – requirement to serve all interested parties under r 59(2) – rescission of default judgment obtained in absence of interested party.
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28 February 2025 |
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Appeal dismissed: fraud conviction and sentence upheld; restitution corrected to US$6,000 and frozen funds released to the complainant.
Criminal law – Fraud — Misrepresentation inducing payment; Appeal — deference to trial court credibility findings and limits of appellate disturbance; Sentence — review for patent error; Restitution and release of frozen bank funds.
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27 February 2025 |
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27 February 2025 |
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27 February 2025 |
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Eviction hearing postponed pending related application; respondent ordered to pay applicant's wasted costs.
Civil procedure – postponement – discretionary relief requiring good cause – avoidance of multiplicity of proceedings – order for wasted costs.
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27 February 2025 |
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Default judgment set aside for defective service and because the applicant showed good cause, bona fides, and prospects of success.
Civil procedure – rescission of default judgment – service of process – defective return of service (wrong case number and disputed address) – good and sufficient cause: reasonable explanation for default, bona fides, and prospects of defence – preliminary points of contempt, misjoinder and procedural misquotation dismissed.
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27 February 2025 |
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Review application referred to action because material disputes of fact precluded resolution on affidavits.
Administrative law – review of publication by regulatory body – natural justice and right to be heard – defamation disguised as review – material disputes of fact – referral to action procedure where viva voce evidence required.
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26 February 2025 |
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Compliance with a default judgment (returning disputed property) barred later challenge and rendered the appeal moot; appeal dismissed with high costs.
Civil procedure – default judgment – acquiescence/peremption – compliance with judgment bars subsequent challenge; mootness/overtaken-by-events; rescission – wilful default and Order 30 requirements; costs – punitive award for mala fides.
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26 February 2025 |
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Applicant lacked real rights to cancel registered transfers; application dismissed and costs awarded on attorney‑client scale.
Deeds Registries Act s 8; cancellation of transfer; agreement of sale not constituting transfer of real rights; registration confers real rights; locus to seek cancellation; Takafuma v Takafuma; costs on attorney‑client scale; mala fides.
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26 February 2025 |
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Applicants failed to establish urgency; urgent application struck from the roll and costs awarded against them.
Urgent application — urgency requirement and inordinate delay — stay of execution — writ of execution and attachment — procedural points in limine (certificate of urgency, form of affidavit, defective draft relief).
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26 February 2025 |
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Trial court should query and not endorse a lesser charge when facts indicate a more serious road traffic offence.
Criminal law – Road Traffic Act – Distinction between negligent driving (s 52(2)) and reckless driving (s 53(2)) – Prosecutor as dominus litis – Trial court’s duty to query or insist on appropriate charges – Review and withholding of certificate where facts disclose more serious offence.
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26 February 2025 |
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A declaratory challenge to customs forfeiture is subject to s196(2) prescription and was dismissed as prescribed.
Customs & Excise Act s196(1)–(2) – prescription of civil proceedings – forfeiture as a cause of action – declaratory relief falls within "civil proceedings" – Ndlovu (Prescription Act) distinguished.
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26 February 2025 |
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25 February 2025 |
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24 February 2025 |
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Rescission refused: defendants failed to show good and sufficient cause, service and locus standi were proper, defences lacked bona fides.
Commercial Court rules — rescission of default judgment (r 14, r 15) — domicilium and service — bona fides of rescission applicant — prospects of success on the merits — cession and locus standi — suretyship/cession documents.
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20 February 2025 |
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Applicant failed to prove peaceful possession for mandament van spolie; application dismissed with costs.
Spoliation (mandament van spolie) – urgency – requirement of peaceful and undisturbed possession – onus on applicant – importance of consistent, corroborated evidence – Plascon-Evans rule – answering affidavit to meet destructive allegations.
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20 February 2025 |
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Interdict application struck off for failure to exhaust Environmental Management Act remedies before seeking court relief.
Environmental law – interdict – exhaustion of domestic remedies – Environmental Management Act (s10, s114, s136) – special grant for mining – Environmental Impact Assessment – premature application – strike off.
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20 February 2025 |
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The respondent cannot withhold a tax clearance certificate from the applicant during corporate rescue to enforce pre-rescue tax debts.
Insolvency law – corporate rescue moratorium (s126 Insolvency Act) – effect on enforcement of pre-rescue tax debts; Tax Clearance Certificates (s34C Revenue Authority Act) – conflict with insolvency regime; lex posterior derogat priori; binding effect of adopted corporate rescue plan (s144(4)); declaratory relief requirements; fiscal statute interpretation.
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20 February 2025 |
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The applicant entitled to a mandatory interdict compelling execution of a Supreme Court‑confirmed eviction; lower court lacked jurisdiction.
Eviction law; finality of Supreme Court orders; jurisdiction of inferior courts; duty of messenger of court; mandatory interdict requirements; lis pendens; standing and abuse of process.
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20 February 2025 |
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19 February 2025 |
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19 February 2025 |
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Where material factual disputes exist about alleged defamation by a regulator, the matter must proceed by action, not motion.
Administrative law/defamation — publication labeling developer as unregistered 'bogus' estate agent — material disputes of fact — motion inappropriate where viva voce evidence required — matter to proceed by action.
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19 February 2025 |
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19 February 2025 |
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19 February 2025 |
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Rescission of a default judgment restores status quo ante and revives title, entitling the transferee to eviction and holding-over damages.
Property law – title transfer and revival – effect of rescission of default judgment restoring status quo ante – Registrar’s endorsement under s 8 Deeds Registries Act – entitlement to eviction and holding-over damages – effect of default and striking out of defence – costs on legal practitioner and client scale.
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19 February 2025 |
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19 February 2025 |
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Withdrawal of the underlying proceedings rendered the caveat application moot; the court removed the application from the roll, no costs.
Civil procedure – interim relief – registration of caveat – interlocutory relief ancillary to pending proceedings – withdrawal of underlying proceedings renders caveat application moot – removal from roll.
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18 February 2025 |
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Declarator that a signed offer constituted a valid contract; employer vicariously liable and specific performance granted.
Declaratory relief – validity of offer letter as contract – contract formation elements – specific performance – vicarious liability of employer for employee acts – unjust enrichment – payment constituted full consideration.
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18 February 2025 |
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Registered-owner eviction granted; respondent’s alleged contribution claims required a counterclaim and late evidence excluded.
Eviction – registered owner’s right to possession – customary marriage – termination – admissibility of late evidence in answering affidavit – improvement lien/unjust enrichment claims require counterclaim – notice of opposition is a shield not a sword.
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18 February 2025 |
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A stay ordered pending payment of taxed costs or resolution of a rescission application to protect access to justice.
Civil procedure — application to bar litigant for non-payment of taxed costs — discretion to stay proceedings — rescission of judgment pending — abuse of process and access to justice considerations — oral application to uplift bar permissible.
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18 February 2025 |
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Court upheld jurisdiction under the contract’s forum clause and dismissed respondent’s stay for security for costs for procedural non‑compliance.
Jurisdiction – forum selection clause – seller’s option to sue locally; Security for costs – Rule 75 High Court Rules 2021; Companies and Other Business Entities Act s63 – court’s discretion to order security from foreign plaintiffs; Procedural compliance and evidential burden required to obtain security for costs.
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18 February 2025 |
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18 February 2025 |
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Possession and delivery evidence established ownership; attachment was irregular and tractor declared not executable.
Interpleader — proof of ownership of goods under attachment — delivery note and possession as evidence — presumption of ownership shifts onus to judgment creditors — allegations of collusion unproven — attachment irregular; property declared not executable.
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18 February 2025 |
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18 February 2025 |
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Provisional sentence refused because the acknowledgement of debt was not a purely liquid document; agent removed as improper party.
Provisional sentence – acknowledgement of debt – liquidity – set-off and account reconciliation – bona fide dispute requiring trial – unilateral cessation of supply and fictional fulfilment – piercing corporate veil – misjoinder of agent.
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17 February 2025 |
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Respondent ordered to pay US$1,500 monthly maintenance pendente lite and US$10,000 toward the applicant’s legal costs.
Family law – maintenance pendente lite – court restores status quo ante; Contribution towards legal costs – parties’ means and nature/likely duration of litigation; High Court Rule 67(1).
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17 February 2025 |
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17 February 2025 |
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Review under the Administrative Justice Act proceeded despite rule non-compliance; communal land allocation was set aside and restored to applicants.
Administrative law – Judicial review under Administrative Justice Act – Review not barred by non-compliance with High Court Rules r 62(4) – Interested private party cannot defend administrative decision – Late filing of heads of argument and absence of administrative opposition.
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17 February 2025 |
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High Court will not review a magistrate's refusal to discharge at State close absent exceptional circumstances causing grave injustice.
Criminal procedure — Review of unterminated magistrates' court proceedings — Discharge application at close of State case — High Court intervention sparing and only in rare cases of grave injustice or permanent prejudice; remedy ordinarily by appeal.
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14 February 2025 |
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Admissions establishing sudden emergency defeated insurer's liability; police conduct survived absolution except illegal income claim.
Civil procedure — Absolution from instance — prima facie case test; Motor delict — sudden emergency vs res ipsa loquitur; Causation — factual (causa sine qua non) and legal proximity; Vicarious liability of State for police actions; Illegality/public policy limiting recovery for income from unlawful vending.
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14 February 2025 |
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Registered collateral notices under s 8 are statutory liquid documents; provisional sentence appropriate when the liquid document is undisputed and defendant admits liability.
Provisional sentence — statutory liquid document — registered notice of security interest under Movable Property Security Act s 8; High Court Rules r 14 — notice of opposition and opposed roll; summary remedy where liquid document undisputed.
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14 February 2025 |
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A registered notice under the Movable Property Security Act is a statutory liquid document enforceable by provisional sentence; undisputed admissions permit summary judgment.
Movable Property Security Act – s 8 – registered notice as statutory liquid document enforceable by provisional sentence; Civil procedure – provisional sentence – r 14(7) notice of opposition converts to opposed application; provisional sentence as summary remedy – court may grant provisional judgment where liquid document is undisputed or defendant admits claim; options of defendant on set down date (admit, confirm signature, dispute).
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14 February 2025 |
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Constitutional claim dismissed as unripe; audit procedures and remedies lie in PFMA and Audit Office Act, not direct reliance on s309.
Constitutional avoidance and subsidiarity — Auditor-General’s functions — Section 309 Constitution vs PFMA and Audit Office Act — statutory remedies for audit timelines and publication — ripeness of constitutional claim.
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14 February 2025 |
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Postponement denied; absent plaintiff failed to prove incapacity, claim dismissed and attorney-and-client costs awarded.
Civil procedure – postponement – applicant must show full and satisfactory explanation; Evidence – he who alleges must prove; Rule 56(3) – judgment in default/absolution from instance; Rule 56C – procedure for virtual hearings not invoked; Contract law – specific performance unavailable where plaintiff has not performed and contract was cancelled; Costs – exceptional conduct warrants attorney-and-client costs.
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14 February 2025 |
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Court grants confiscation of the convicted person's property equivalent in value where tainted proceeds cannot be located.
Money Laundering Act s 78(2) – substitute/value-based confiscation – confiscation of untainted assets equivalent in value – s 50(2) six-month limitation inapplicable – requirement that substitute property belongs to the defendant.
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14 February 2025 |
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A s 14 declaratory claim over a US$2,000 shortfall lacked commercial significance and was struck off the Commercial Court roll.
Commercial Court jurisdiction; definition of "commercial dispute" (r 3(1)); monetary and substantive commercial significance; declaratory relief under s 14 vs. enforcement/procedural relief under court rules; divisional allocation under s 46A; requirement to demonstrate commercial significance for access to Commercial Division.
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14 February 2025 |
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An arbitration clause covering "any dispute" ousts court jurisdiction, even where an interim interdict is sought to preserve property.
Arbitration clause – contractual ouster of court jurisdiction – "any dispute" covers interim preservation relief – founding affidavit must disclose arbitration – enforcement of arbitration agreement.
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14 February 2025 |
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Sentence exceeding statutory maximum set aside; charge amended and lawful fine or short imprisonment imposed.
Criminal law – Sentencing – Sentence exceeding statutory maximum – Review – Amendment of charge where wrong section cited – Offence of allowing unmuzzled ferocious dog (section 46 and Third Schedule para 2(r)).
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14 February 2025 |
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Applicant granted US$6,000 contribution to legal costs in matrimonial suit under Rule 67 for lack of means and arguable claim.
Family law – Rule 67 contribution to legal costs – Matrimonial proceedings – Requirements: subsisting marriage; matrimonial suit; prospects of success; applicant's inability to fund litigation; spouse's ability to contribute – Financial disclosure – Value of indirect contributions to matrimonial property.
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13 February 2025 |