|
Citation
|
Judgment date
|
| November 2019 |
|
|
Culpable homicide conviction upheld: single credible witness and post‑mortem corroboration sustained the verdict; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – culpable homicide – conviction on single witness evidence – accomplice/suspect witness caution – corroboration by post‑mortem – appellate restraint on factual findings.
|
20 November 2019 |
|
Labour Court lacked jurisdiction over a constructive dismissal claim where the employee remained employed; resulting orders and arbitral disclosure set aside.
Labour law — Jurisdiction of Labour Court — Unfair dismissal/constructive dismissal claims to be processed via labour officers under s 93 — Constructive dismissal requires employee to terminate employment — Review of arbitral orders — Gross irregularity and disclosure orders
|
2 November 2019 |
| October 2019 |
|
|
Trial court’s failure to assess key witness credibility rendered fraud conviction unsafe; appeal allowed and accused acquitted.
Criminal law — Fraud — Whether State proved misrepresentation of authority to sell mining concession — Credibility of witnesses — Trial court’s duty to assess and record credibility findings — Appellate reassessment where trial court fails to make credibility findings.
|
24 October 2019 |
|
Spoliation order affirmed on merits; punitive costs set aside for lack of justification, ordinary costs substituted.
Spoliation relief – peaceful and undisturbed possession – unlawful dispossession – consent court order effect; Civil procedure – urgency and exercise of judicial discretion; Evidence – material disputes of fact and improbability of respondent’s version; Costs – legal practitioner and client (punitive) scale requires express justification and reasons.
|
22 October 2019 |
|
A labour officer lacks jurisdiction to rehear completed disciplinary determinations under a registered employment code; appeals must follow statutory route.
Labour law — jurisdiction of labour officers under s 93 — limits to conciliation/first-instance disputes — registered employment codes (S.I.15/2006 s 8(6)) — ss 101(5)(6) Labour Act — appellate vs conciliatory functions — nullity of proceedings.
|
3 October 2019 |
| September 2019 |
|
|
|
19 September 2019 |
| August 2019 |
|
|
High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the applicant’s bail appeal; s32(3b) certificate reinstated and appeal dismissed.
Criminal procedure — Bail — Prosecutor-General's certificate under s 32(3b) — Ousting of jurisdiction to grant bail during certificate lifespan — Proper appeal route (challenge to magistrate's validation) — s 121 appeals — Supreme Court review powers under s 25(2).
|
6 August 2019 |
|
High Court lacked jurisdiction to set aside a Prosecutor-General’s s 32(3b) certificate; Supreme Court reinstated the certificate and dismissed the appeal.
Criminal procedure – Prosecutor-General certificate under s 32(3b) – effect on bail jurisdiction – proper avenue of appeal – limits of High Court jurisdiction – review under s 25(2) of Supreme Court Act – constitutionality of s 32(3b)/(3c) vis-à-vis s 50(1) Constitution.
|
1 August 2019 |
| July 2019 |
|
|
Appeal allowed: respondents had an option, not a right of first refusal; provisional order discharged and post-interdict transfer set aside.
Civil appeal – Provisional order – Distinction between a right of first refusal and an option to purchase – Failure to exercise option within stipulated period – Setting aside transfer effected after interdiction
|
22 July 2019 |
| June 2019 |
|
|
High Court rightly refused to enforce a magistrates' order where the applicant had not exhausted available magistrates' court remedies.
Civil procedure — Enforcement of inferior court orders — High Court supervisory jurisdiction — Requirement to exhaust domestic remedies — Magistrates' Court Act s 23 — Contempt of court and writs as enforcement mechanisms.
|
18 June 2019 |
|
A creditor may attach and sell a judgment debtor’s undivided share in a jointly owned matrimonial home.
Property law — Co-ownership and real rights — Registration as prima facie proof of ownership; Execution — Attachment and sale of judgment debtor’s undivided share in jointly owned matrimonial home; Judicial law-making — limits of developing common law versus need for legislative reform; Constitutional equality claims in matrimonial property disputes
|
17 June 2019 |
| March 2019 |
|
|
Appellant failed to prove respondent’s alleged fraud; photocopy-based handwriting evidence and bank non-cooperation rendered proof insufficient.
Employment law – disciplinary dismissal for alleged dishonesty – sufficiency of circumstantial evidence; expert handwriting opinion – reliability when based on photocopies; evidential consequences of bank non-cooperation; standard of proof on balance of probabilities
|
15 March 2019 |
|
A liquidator’s s 276(2) power to recover company property authorises eviction even where the sale of that property is disputed.
Companies Act s 276(2) – Liquidator’s duty to recover and reduce into possession company assets – Eviction of unlawful occupier; Companies Act s 221(2)(h) – requirement of court leave for sale of company land – invalidity of sale not a defence to eviction; Procedural law – failure to prosecute interlocutory relief – appeal cannot import dismissed collateral challenge; Costs – punitive costs for frivolous or vexatious resistance.
|
12 March 2019 |
|
A signed surety agreement is binding; a surety must prove mistake or obtain rectification to escape liability.
Suretyship — formal requirements and identity of parties; rectification and extrinsic evidence; onus on surety to prove mistake; credibility of single witness; novation not effected by judgment against principal debtor; absolution from instance standard
|
4 March 2019 |
|
Absence from disciplinary hearing waives procedural objections; publishing misleading allegations falls within non‑exhaustive list of prejudicial misconduct.
Labour law – disciplinary proceedings – waiver of objection by absence from hearing; evidential admission via counsel’s statements; interpretation of workplace Code of Conduct – 'any other act of prejudice… such as' not exhaustive; publishing misleading allegations as dismissible misconduct
|
4 March 2019 |
| February 2019 |
|
|
Long-standing administrative tariff classifications estop the revenue authority from retrospectively reclassifying imports; classification duty rests with the Commissioner.
Customs law — Classification of imports — s 87 Customs and Excise Act — duty to classify vested in Commissioner not taxpayer — administrative classification letters and long-standing practice can give rise to estoppel against retrospective reclassification — findings must be supported by pleadings and evidence
|
28 February 2019 |
|
Stay of execution granted pending condonation application; urgency, arguable prospects and balance of convenience favoured the applicant.
Civil procedure – Stay of execution pending condonation and extension of time to note appeal – Ancillary jurisdiction of Supreme Court – Urgency – Prospects of success: competence of company director to depose, registration of arbitral award, adequacy of reasons, contradictory costs – Balance of convenience – Security provided.
|
28 February 2019 |
|
Whether a Retrenchment Board’s failure to decide within 14 days deems an exemption granted under s 12C(3).
Labour law — Retrenchment — s 12C(3) Labour Act — interpretation of “respond” and “response” — whether deemed grant by operation of law — employer’s evidential burden to prove financial incapacity — Board’s power to demand proof and propose instalment schemes
|
26 February 2019 |
|
Refusal to postpone to enable chosen counsel's appearance was unfair; default judgment set aside and matter remitted.
Civil procedure — Postponement — Right to be represented by legal practitioner of choice — Refusal to postpone and entry of default judgment — Fatal procedural irregularity — Set-aside and remittal where no irremediable prejudice
|
22 February 2019 |
|
Employee who signed unverified letter binding employer to third-party obligations breached implied duties, justifying dismissal.
Employment law — Misconduct inconsistent with express or implied terms of employment — Duty of employee to safeguard employer’s interests and verify undertakings — Signing unverified letter of undertaking — Employer’s discretion to dismiss where misconduct goes to root of contract — Appellate review of arbitrator’s penalty substitution
|
22 February 2019 |
|
Invitation to interview alone does not amount to a legitimate expectation of re‑employment under s12B(3)(b) where contracts exclude renewal.
Labour law – Fixed‑term contracts – s 12B(3)(b) Labour Act – legitimate expectation of re‑engagement – invitation to interview not sufficient – burden on employee to prove expectation and replacement – contract terms excluding renewal determinative
|
22 February 2019 |
|
Appellant failed to prove a valid sale; cessionary purchaser had standing to evict, but arrear rentals were not proved.
Property — alleged private sale of municipal stand — authenticity and proof of written sale agreement; Locus standi — cessionary/registered purchaser (lease-to-buy) entitled to vindicate possession and to evict wrongful occupiers; Validity — purported sale by purchaser without owner’s consent void; Quantum — arrear rentals and holding-over damages must be proved.
|
22 February 2019 |
|
SIA for 2009 computer software disallowed where not pleaded and Fourth Schedule only expressly included software from 2015.
Tax law – Income Tax Act s 15(2) and Fourth Schedule – special initial allowance – whether computer software qualified for SIA for 2009 – statutory amendment (Act 11 of 2014) adding computer software – limits on appellate relief and requirement that claims be pleaded/elected – approbation and reprobation.
|
22 February 2019 |
|
A vehicle converted into an ambulance before import is classified by its present design under tariff heading 87.03.
Customs classification — Motor vehicles — Whether classification determined by original manufacture or by design at time of import — Harmonised System explanatory notes and s 87 — Conversion of vans into specialised transport (ambulances) — Contra fiscum interpretation favouring importer.
|
22 February 2019 |
|
A signed facility agreement was a loan, not a joint venture; unpleaded defences raised at closing cannot succeed.
Contract law — characterisation of written facility agreements: loan v joint venture; pleadings — parties bound by pleaded issues; caveat subscriptor; appellate deference to trial factual findings
|
18 February 2019 |
| January 2019 |
|
|
Appeal dismissed because no review proceedings were properly pending and the appeal was premised on erroneous facts.
Administrative law — Review proceedings — Timeliness and condonation of review applications — Stay of detention pending review — Appeal predicated on erroneous factual basis — Procedural sufficiency of record.
|
25 January 2019 |