Case Law[2025] ZAGPPHC 37South Africa
Masuku N.O and Others v Minister of Mineral Resources and Others (A263/2022) [2025] ZAGPPHC 37 (28 January 2025)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria)
28 January 2025
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## Masuku N.O and Others v Minister of Mineral Resources and Others (A263/2022) [2025] ZAGPPHC 37 (28 January 2025)
Masuku N.O and Others v Minister of Mineral Resources and Others (A263/2022) [2025] ZAGPPHC 37 (28 January 2025)
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sino date 28 January 2025
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG DIVISION,
PRETORIA
Case
No.
A263/2022
(1)
REPORTABLE:
NO
(2)
OF
INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: NO
(
3)
REVISED:
YES
In the matter between:
MATHIBE
HENRY MASUKU N.O
First Appellant
MADIMATLE
COMMUNITY
Second Appellant
KARA
HERITAGE INSTITUTE
Third Appellant
CALFSHELF
INVESTMENTS 171 (PTY) LTD
Fourth Appellant
CALFSHELF
INVESTMENTS 172 (PTY) LTD
Fifth Appellant
CALFSHELF
INVESTMENTS 173 (PTY) LTD
Sixth Appellant
and
MINISTER
OF MINERAL RESOURCE
First Respondent
DIRECTOR-GENERAL:
DEPARTMENT OF
MINERAL
RESOURCES
Second Respondent
REGIONAL MINING
DEVELOPMENT AND
ENVIRONMENTAL
COMMITTEE LIMPOPO REGION
Third Respondent
MOTJOLI
RESOURCES (PTY) LTD
Fourth Respondent
MOTJOLI
REAL ESTATE (PTY) LTD
Fifth Respondent
AQUILA
STEEL (SOUTH AFRICA) (PTY) LTD
Sixth Respondent
SOUTH
AFRICAN HERITAGE RESOURCES AGENCY
Seventh Respondent
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT,
ENVIRONMENTAL AND TOURISM,
LIMPOPO
PROVINCE
Eighth Respondent
MEC: DEPARTMENT OF
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT,
ENVIRONMENTAL AND TOURISM,
LIMPOPO
PROVINCE
Ninth Respondent
MOTJOLI
IRON ORE COMPANY (PTY) LTD
Tenth Respondent
NEUKIRCHER
J
(Kubushi J and Ally AJ concurring)
1]
The issue in this matter revolves around the grant of a mining right
by the second respondent (the Director General: Department
Mineral
Resources (“the DG”)) to the sixth respondent (Aquila) on
25 April 2018, and the subsequent consent by the
DG for the cession
of that right to the tenth respondent (Motjoli) on the following date
being 26 April 2018.
2]
Aggrieved by those decisions, the six appellants sought to inter alia
review and set them aside. The review application
was unsuccessful
a
quo
and was dismissed with costs. Leave to appeal to the Full
Court was granted by the court
a quo
on 26 September 2022.
3]
Unfortunately, the prosecution of the appeal did not go smoothly and,
at the date of the hearing, the first issue that
arose for argument
was whether or not the appeal had in fact lapsed. The decision on
this issue was required at the outset as it
informed the further
conduct of the appeal and the various applications that had already
been filed, which included an application
for re-instatement of the
appeal, an application in terms of Rule 28
[1]
and an application in terms of
Section 19(b)
of the
Superior Courts
Act 10 of 2013
.
4]
After hearing argument by all the parties on the issue of whether or
not the appeal had lapsed, the court made an order
on 20 August 2024
that the appeal had lapsed and that the reasons for this order would
follow with the judgment on the subsequent
issues argued.
5]
The order had the result that the appellants then moved their
application for condonation and re-instatement of the appeal
(the
re-instatement application), which was opposed by the respondents.
The respondents also opposed all the other applications,
as well as
the appeal itself.
The
brief factual matrix
6]
The uncontroversial facts of this case are that on 25 April 2018 the
DG granted a mining right
[2]
to
Aquila on the property known as the Remainder of the Farm Randstephne
455 KQ and the Remainder of the Farm Donkerpoort 448 KQ
(the
property) which is situated in the area of the Thabazimbi Local
Municipality in the Waterberg District, Limpopo Province.
7]
The property was originally owned by Aquila but was subsequently
purchased by Motjoli and, as stated, the mining right
was ceded to
Motjoli on 26 April 2018.
8]
The property over which the mining right was granted is home to the
Maletse Mountain and the Gatkop Cave. The Mountain
is also known as
Madimatle
[3]
, a name given to it
by the local community, which means “beautiful blood”.
According to appellants, the Mountain and
the Cave house the spirits
of the local communities’ ancestors whose lives were lost
during the Mfecane wars against the
Afrikaners. According to them,
the property is therefore a sacred historical, spiritual, cultural
and religious heritage site.
9]
According to the appellants, the Mountain and the Cave are both
geographically and spiritually linked and cannot be separated.
They
cannot stand or be seen separately from each other. Thus, the
contention is that the mining right granted in respect of the
Mountain will directly impact the Caves.
10]
Several of the appellants jointly submitted an application to the
African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) nominating
the
property to be graded and protected as a Grade 1 National Heritage
Site. The original grant of the application however saw this
being
set aside on appeal by SAHRA as Aquila had not been afforded an
opportunity to participate in the original decision-making
process
and the process had to commence
de novo
.
11]
SAHRA ultimately declined to make the determination sought. Instead,
it referred the issue to the Limpopo Heritage Resources
Authority
(LHRA) for consideration of the nomination of Madimatle as a Grade 2
Provincial Heritage Site. As at the time that the
review application
served before the court a quo, no decision had been taken by LHRA.
Ultimately, the decision was only communicated
by LHRA on 9 February
2024 and formed the subject matter of a
s19(b)
[4]
application before this court.
12] The appellants
contend that the review application, and consequently this appeal,
involves the balancing of constitutional
rights that the DG ought to
have considered prior to granting the mining right to Aquila and the
subsequent transfer of the right
to Motjoli. The appellants contend
that the outcome of the proceedings pivot on whether or not the DG
exercised his discretion
properly and lawfully when approving the
mining right and the subsequent cession thereof.
The Appeal
13]
As stated, the first issue that arose was whether or not the appeal
had lapsed. In
CIR
v Burger
[5]
the court stated:
“
Whenever
an appellant realizes that he has not complied with a Rule of Court
he should, without delay, apply for condonation.”
14]
But
condonation is an indulgence and is not simply available for the
asking. The party seeking condonation must make out a case
for the
court to exercise its discretion in its favour and must set out
detailed reasons for the delay. Amongst the factors a court
will
consider are the degree of non-compliance, the explanation therefore,
the importance of the case, a respondent’s interest
in the
finality of the judgment, the convenience of the Court of Appeal and
the avoidance of unnecessary delay in the administration
of
justice.
[6]
In some
circumstances, the absence of a reasonable explanation may be cured
by good merits on appeal.
[7]
15]
However, where the non-compliance is flagrant and cumulative, and
where there is no acceptable explanation for the breaches,
condonation may be refused whatever the merits are.
[8]
16]
In
SA
Express
the appellant’s attorney and correspondent had failed to
acquaint themselves with the provisions of
Rule 8
of the SCA rules
and allowed the appeal to lapse. He allowed almost eight months to
pass before producing a record in what the
SCA described as “an
acceptable form” - this after filing two incomplete records.
The attorney then blamed his correspondent
for the delays - an excuse
that the SCA rejected. The delay was compounded by a “wholly
defective application” for
reinstatement
[9]
.
17] The SCA then
stated
“
[44]
This is, in my view, the type of case in which condonation should be
refused irrespective of the prospects of success,
and irrespective of
the fact that the blame lies solely with the attorney: the breaches
of the rules have been flagrant and continual.”
18]
The SCA
however dealt briefly with the prospects
of success and found that
“…
had
it been necessary to consider SA Express’ prospects of success
as part of the condonation application, the answer would
have been
that its prospects of success are extremely poor and could not assist
in relation to condonation.”
[10]
19]
This now leads me to the issue of the lapse of the appeal, and the
argument that followed as a result of that order.
The
lapse of the appeal
20]
Leave to appeal having been granted on 26 September 2022, the
provisions of
Rule 49
and the Gauteng Practice Directions apply.
Given the compounded failures to comply with several provisions of
either, it is necessary
to set out the provisions that apply to this
appeal.
Rule
49
0cm; line-height: 150%">
21]
Rule 49(2)
makes provision for the notice of
appeal to be delivered twenty days after the date upon which leave to
appeal was granted, or “within
such longer period as may upon
good cause shown be permitted.” It is common cause that the
notice of appeal was filed timeously
on 25 October 2022.
22] Thereafter, and
within sixty days after delivery of the notice of appeal, the
appellant:
a)
had to apply to the registrar of this court for a date of hearing,
failing which the respondent may within
10 days of expiry of the 60
days make such application, and if no application is made by either
party the appeal shall be deemed
to have lapsed
[11]
;
b)
at
the same time as the date of hearing is requested the appellant
“
shall
”
file three copies of the record with the registrar and furnish the
respondents with two copies; and
c)
shall
provide the registrar “with a complete index and copies of all
papers, documents and exhibits in the case, except formal
and
immaterial documents: provided that such omissions shall be referred
to in the index”.
[12]
(my emphasis)
23]
In
the event that the record is not available when
the date of hearing is sought, the registrar may accept the
application for a date
of hearing without the record if:
a) the
application is accompanied by a written agreement between the parties
that copies of the record may be
handed in late; or
b)
failing
such agreement, the appellant delivers an application together with
an affidavit in which the reasons for his omission to
hand in copies
of the record in time are set out and in which is indicated that an
application for condonation of the omission
will be made at the
hearing of the appeal.
[13]
It is common cause that
the appellants failed to comply with either of the aforementioned.
24]
Rules 49(7)(c) and (d) then state:
“
(c) A
fter
delivery of the copies of the record, the registrar of the court…
shall assign a date for the hearing of the appeal
or for the
application for condonation and appeal…, and shall set the
appeal down for hearing on the said date and shall
give the parties
at least 20 days’ notice in writing of the dates so assigned.
(d) If the
party who applied for a date for the hearing of the appeal neglects
or fails to file or deliver the said
copies of the record within 40
days after the acceptance by the registrar of the application for a
date of hearing in terms of
subrule (7)(a) the other party may
approach the court for an order that the appeal has lapsed.”
25]
Two
further non-compliance issues arose in this appeal: the first was the
appellants’ failure to file the required powers
of attorney
timeously
[14]
; the second was
the failure to provide timeous security for costs in terms of rule
49(13).
26]
T
he
relevant portions of the Gauteng Practice Directive Relating to Civil
Appeals (the 2018 Appeals Directive)
[15]
state the following:
“
1.
Once an appeal has been timeously noted, the registrar shall not
accept any appeal matter as contemplated in Rule
49(2), 6(a) and 7(a)
or Rule 50(6)(a) and (7)(a)], unless the appellant or the attorney of
the appellant simultaneously submits
to the registrar:
1.1
A
complete record, indexed and paginated;
1.2
The
appellant’s heads of argument and
practice note.
The registrar shall
thereupon, allocate a case number and shall issue an acknowledgement
of receipt thereof.
2. The
appellant or the appellant’s attorney shall:
2.1 T
hereupon
serve on the respondent or the respondents attorney of record, the
record and the appellant’s heads of argument,
practice note and
a copy of the registrar's acknowledgement, and further state that the
respondent’s heads of argument and
practice note must be filed
with the registrar not later than 30 court days from the date of that
service; and
2.2
File
a copy of such service with the registrar within 5 days of such
service...”
27]
It goes without saying that practice directives of
any division do not amend or override the Uniform Rules. At best, all
they do
is provide the procedure by which compliance with the rules
is achieved and enforced. This assists in ensuring conformity within
a division so that all cases of a similar nature are dealt with in
the same way.
28]
One last Directive upon which appellants rely is
Directive 3 of 2022 issued by the Judge President of this division,
effective from
29 September 2022. Paragraph 13 of that directive
provides that:
“
13.1
During
Dies Non
,
from the Monday before Christmas Day until New Year's Day, no
applications for hearing date allocations in the ordinary course
will
be attended to. Date applications received during this period will be
attended to during the first week of the new year…”
29]
According to
the
respondents, the appellants filed the record in this appeal almost
eight months late. They also contend that the appellants’
powers of attorney were filed out of time. The last bow to their
arrow is that the appeal record
[16]
was not in compliance with Rule 49, that their input was only sought
at a very late stage and that the record contains much irrelevant
material.
30]
That this is so, is very clear from the joint practice note filed on
25 July 2024 a scant month from the date of hearing.
This whittled
down the papers (excluding the interlocutory applications) to
approximately 2500 pages. This, at the best of times,
is
unacceptable. But combined with the further application for
condonation and re-instatement, the Rule 28 application and the
s19(b)
[17]
application, it in
essence demonstrates that no proper thought or consideration was
given to the necessary and vital content of
the record which this
court had to read.
31]
In
Public
Protector of South Africa v Speaker, National Assembly and Others
[18]
the offending party was not allowed to recover any costs associated
with the delivery of the irrelevant and unnecessary documentation
filed as part of the record.
32]
In
S v
Schoeman
[19]
,
Goldstein J said:
“
[2] It seems
to me self-evident in the interests of the administration of justice
that in appeals involving voluminous material,
such as the present
one, the parties ought to assist the court by taking the following
steps:
…
(5) where the appellant
can afford to do so, providing a core bundle which consists of the
material documents of the case in a proper,
preferably chronological
sequence, and which documents may be omitted from the record, which
should indicate where each such document
can be found within the core
bundle; these are substantially the directions in Rule 8 (7) of the
Supreme Court of Appeal; one of
the reasons for the preparation of a
core bundle seems to be that it facilitates cross-referencing and the
finding of the relevant
exhibits and thus saves Judges’ time;
another may well be that it enables Judges who, certainly in this
very busy Division,
must often work at home, to convey their work
more conveniently; in the present case, a separate core bundle for
each of the counts
would have greatly assisted us
33]
Whilst the above was said
obiter
in the context of a
voluminous record in a criminal appeal, it applies equally to civil
appeals. Furthermore, the fact that the
Gauteng Division utilises an
electronic platform does not detract from the words of Goldstein J –
the CaseLines index consists
of 51 separate folders, many with
sub-folders and many of which were either duplications of the record
or were irrelevant. All
of this could have been paired down to a core
bundle of relevant documents. There is no reason whatsoever that the
parties could
not have put thought, time and effort into the
preparation of this appeal.
34]
Whilst this may only really have a bearing on the issue of costs at
the end of the day, it must serve as a warning to
practitioners in
future. Legal practitioners have an obligation towards the court that
supersedes their duty to their clients.
They must put their clients’
warring views aside and act in a way that has the effect of
ultimately streamlining the litigation
and preventing the court from
trolling through unnecessary and irrelevant material which is
time-consuming and a waste of judicial
resources. In this matter,
that clearly occurred to them a month before the hearing. This, the
appellants tried to use as a mitigating
factor in argument – it
is not especially considering the provisions of Rule 49(7)(a).
The
prosecution of the appeal
35]
The fact of the matter is that on 4 September 2023 the re-instatement
application seeks the following relief:
“
1.
That the appellants’ failure to comply with Rules 7(2),
49(7)(a) and 49(13)(a) of the Uniform Rules of Court
is condoned;
2. That
the appellants appeal is in terms of the Uniform Rules 49(6)(b) of
the Uniform Rules reinstated;
3. That
costs of this application be costs in the appeal.”
36]
As stated, leave to appeal was granted as far back as 28 September
2022 and the notice of appeal was delivered on 25 October
2022. On 7
February 2023 the appellants then delivered what they state is a
“electronic format” of the record with
a notice of
application for an appeal date in terms of Rule 49(6). This
notice was however defective, and a new notice was
delivered on 17
February 2023.
37]
The appeals court registrar allocated the date of 22 May 2024 as a
date of hearing, but following a request to the Deputy
Judge
President of this Division for an expedited date of hearing
[20]
,
that date was brought forward to 18 October 2023.
38]
At a case management meeting held with the DJP during June 2023, the
issue of the filing of the appeal record and the
heads of argument
was raised and the appellants conceded that the appeal record had not
been submitted – only an electronic
copy had been uploaded to
CaseLines.
39]
On 14 June 2023, appellants’ attorneys
[21]
confirmed that “an electronic bundle has been uploaded to
CaseLines, however the printed and bound appeal record as envisaged
in the Uniform Rules of Court has not been filed as yet.”
40]
On 20 June 2023 Webber Wentzel
[22]
contended in correspondence that the appeal had lapsed and that it
was therefore unnecessary for the DJP to either give directions
for
the further conduct of the appeal or to arrange for a date of
hearing.
41]
Motjoli’s view was that the appeal had lapsed as:
a) the
appellants had not filed the required powers of attorney in terms of
rule 7(2)
[23]
;
b) the
appellants’ rule 49(6) notice was not filed within the
sixty-day period following the delivery of the
notice of appeal –
this period expired on 23 January 2023 and the Rule 46(9) notice was
filed (at best for appellants) on
7 February 2023;
c) the
rule 49(6) notice was not accompanied by the record as is required by
rule 49(7) and no hard copies of
the record were filed with the
registrar or served on the respondents. Motjoli contended that rule
49 requires a printed and bound
record (as was conceded by the
appellants at the meeting in June 2024) and that the electronic
record fell foul of the provisions
of the rule;
d) the
appellants had failed to file their heads of argument and practice
note simultaneously with the rule 49(6)
notice as is required by the
2018 Appeals Directive.
42]
Given this, Motjoli contended that a hearing date should not have
been allocated, that no date allocation notice should
have been
issued by the registrar and that the date of 18 October 2023 should
be released as the appeal had lapsed.
43]
In response, and on 28 June 2023, Werksmans stated that:
a)
in
re rule 7(2)
: they conceded that they had “overlooked”
this rule, but contended that as it does not form part of rule 49,
their
failure to file powers of attorney do not result in the lapse
of the appeal;
b) a
date was allocated by the registrar to which the respondents had
failed to object;
c) they
would file the powers of attorney “on such date as [the DJP]
directs, alternatively before the appeal
is set down for hearing.”
d)
as
to the rule 49(6) notice:
they contended that the rule only contemplates a lapse of the appeal
after the further period of 10 days provided for in the rule
[24]
and that this period had only lapsed on 6 March 2023 and by which
time they had already delivered the rule 49(6) notice;
e) in
any event, the provisions of Directive 3 of 2022
[25]
meant that the
dies
non
period ran from 19 December 2022 until 1 January 2023 and interrupted
the running of the 60 days. As a result of Rule 49(6) notice
was
filed timeously as the
dies
only lapsed on 16 February 2023;
f)
as to the record
: the registrar had informed the appellants
that an electronic copy of the appeal record sufficed in compliance
with rule 49(6)
and that the failure to file a hard copy occurred as
a result of this information;
g)
however:
“
8.5
In any event, we have now instructed a professional service providers
to commence with the preparation of
the fully cross-reference,
hyperlinked, printed and bound appeal record, which accords with the
Rules. We anticipate that the index
should be finalised by no later
than 7 July 2023 and that the hard copies should be finalised by no
later than 11 August 2023,
although we will endeavour to ensure that
the process will be finalised prior to these dates…”
i)
as to
the appellants’ heads of argument
:
given the provisions of rule 49(15)
[26]
,
the intention was to deliver them in terms of the provisions of this
rule.
44]
The appellants’ view is that the respondents failed to raise
any concerns or objections at the time that a date
was allocated for
the appeal and that the non-compliances do not prejudice the
respondents. They nonetheless intend to approach
the court for
reinstatement of the appeal “in the event that the Court finds
that the appeal has lapsed.”
45]
On 3 August 2023, Werksmans had yet to file a hard copy of the appeal
record.
The letter to the DJP confirms this. In
that, they state:
“
5.3
The complete, printed and bounded appeal record is in the process of
being prepared by a professional third
party. To this end, the draft
index to the appeal record was circulated to WW and the State
Attorney on Monday 10 July 2023;”
46]
Thus, as at 3 August 2023 the appeal record that
was due to be filed in early February 2023, was now some six months
late.
47] As is also
clear from the directive of the DJP dated 29 August 2023, by that
date:
a)
appellants had yet to furnish the respondents with security for the
appeal costs in terms of rule 49(13), which
they were obliged to do
before lodging copies of the record of appeal with the registrar - on
appellants version, they had lodged
the electronic record on 7
February 2023. Thus, as at 29 August 2023, they were almost seven
months late. The DJP then directed
that security for the appeal costs
be furnished by no later than 4 September 2023;
b) they
had yet to file a printed and bound appeal record which they were
directed to do by no later than 4 September
2023;
c) they
had yet to file an application for reinstatement of the appeal, which
they were directed to do by no later
than 4 September 2023.
48]
Directions for the filing of the sequential
affidavits and heads of argument were then given, and the appeal was
set down for hearing
for one day on 21 February 2024. As it turned
out, the appeal had to be postponed as one day was insufficient to
finalize the argument.
This appeal proceeded on 20 August 2024 and
was argued over three days.
49] The appellants
powers of attorney were eventually filed on 1 September 2023.
50] The appellants
contend that the appeal did not lapse as:
a) the
failure to file a power of attorney does not result in the lapse of
an appeal;
b)
due
to the provisions of
dies non
in Directive 3 of 2022, the application for a date of hearing was
filed timeously;
c)
an
electronic record was filed at the instruction of the appeals
registrar which constitutes compliance with rule 49(6);
d)
the
failure to file heads of argument in compliance with the 2018 Appeals
Directive did not lead to the appeal lapsing and the appellants
still
intended to comply with rule 49(15);
e) i
n
any event, the DJP issued directives vis-à-vis all outstanding
issues and allocated the date of hearing which the appellants
imply
gives them immunity/ condonation
per se
.
Lapse
of the appeal
51]
But, in my view, the appellants’ argument is
incorrect.
The powers of attorney
52]
In
Aymac
CC and Another v Widegrow
[27]
(Aymac)
the full court stated that the effect of rule 7(3)(a) and rule
49(6)(a) is that,
“
Simultaneously
with making written application to the registrar for a date of
hearing of the appeal, the appellant's attorney (if
he is represented
by one) shall file the power of attorney. Unless the power of
attorney is filed together with the application
for a date of
hearing, the appellant cannot be considered properly to have made
written application in terms of rule 49(6)(a).”
53]
As a result, in the absence of a proper
application for a date of hearing the appeal is not properly set down
and should be struck
off the roll.
54] In
Aymac
it appears that the registrar had set the appeal down despite the
appellants’ failure to file the required powers of attorney
which were eventually filed, albeit late. The appellants’
argument was that no application for condonation was required as
the
registrar had set the appeal down and if he was wrong to do so, the
fault lay with the registrar and not with the appellants.
This
argument was rejected by the full court which held that the appeal
had been irregularly set down and that, although a power
of attorney
is required to set down the appeal, it is not required to set down a
reinstatement application. The court stated that
it is usual and
desirable for the reinstatement application and appeal to be heard
together.
55]
The appellants
in
casu
attempt
to distinguish the facts in
Aymac
from this appeal and argue that by virtue of the registrar and the
DJP allocating a date of hearing, somehow condonation for their
lack
of compliance is either express or implied. However, it is the
principle stated in
Aymac
that is to be applied irrespective of whether the facts are on all
fours. In any event, the fact is that it is the registrar who
initially allocated a date of hearing to this appeal despite
non-compliance with the provisions of rule 7 and rule 49. In my view
neither the registrar nor the directives of the DJP bind this court.
It is the Uniform Rules to which this court must cast its
eye and
which must be applied.
[28]
In
any event, I cannot find anything in the Directive of the DJP that
constitutes a binding decision on whether or not condonation
has been
granted by him for any non-compliance with the rules. This is evident
from the fact that the DJP directed that the re-instatement
application must be filed by 4 September 2023 – had he granted
condonation, no such application would have been required.
56] To compound the
issues, the original first appellant subsequently passed away and has
been substituted in the present
proceedings. But, on 1 September 2023
when the other powers of attorney were filed (over seven months
late), no powers of attorney
in respect of that substitution had yet
been filed.
57
]
In my view, and on the issue of the late filing of the powers of
attorney, the appellants’ argument must fail: although
I agree
that the failure to file the powers of attorney timeously does not
per se
lead
to the lapse of the appeal, the consequence is that the date of
hearing was irregularly obtained. I also find that the fact
that the
appeal was set down for hearing does not mean that condonation for
non-compliance with rule 7 and rule 49 has been granted
or is implied
– as said, only this court has the power to grant that
condonation.
58] The appellants
take the view that:
“
7.3
What is incontrovertible is that notwithstanding the
Appellants’ oversight non-adherence to the Uniform Rules
as
referred to in the founding affidavit, the appeal was set down by the
Registrar of Appeals and this shows that it clearly never
lapsed.
7.4 …The
upshot of non-compliance with Rule 7(2), Rule 49(7)(a) and 49(13)(a)
as well as the Appeal Directive, is not
that the appeal lapses –
it is that the appeal is not set down. Ironically, it was set down
and this is what beguiled the
Appellants
into false-sense
compliance
. The only issue that was seemingly outstanding was the
filing of the heads of argument, which the Appellants were going to
file
in terms of Rule 49(15) of the Uniform Rules.
7.5 A stone cold
fact is that a CaseLines record was accepted by the appeal court
Registrar and Motjoli. This was the case
until lately. This fact puts
paid to any contention that the emails illustrated the lapsing of the
appeal. By stating these facts,
the Appellants do not intend to
apportion blame to the Registrar of Appeals - the Appellants accept
that there was an oversight
on their side but need to explain their
interaction with the Registrar.”
The
rule 49(6)(a) notice
59]
This notice was filed on 7 February 2023. It was
late and failed to comply with the rule as it did not specify the
appellants’
residential addresses. A new notice was then filed
on 17 February 2023 almost 4 weeks late. But it was defective for the
same reason.
On this issue the appellants’ state:
“
8.1
The Appellants’ residential addresses have been known to
Motjoli since the institution of the main application
on 11 April
2019. Motjoli’s insistence on finding minor and inconsequential
non-compliance with the manner in which the Appellants
have litigated
this appeal illustrates their attempt to succeed on disposing of this
appeal on technical grounds.”
60]
B
ut the appellants’ obdurate stance does
them no favour. The point is not whether or not the respondents have
had knowledge
of the appellants’ residential addresses since
inception. The point is that it is required in terms of the rule
which is
couched in peremptory terms in the use of the word “shall”.
A reason for this could well be that a person's residential
address
could change because of the lapse of time between the date of the
original proceedings and the date of the appeal.
In
casu
this was a lapse of some four
years. Also
in casu
the first appellant has passed away and thus the details of her
successor were required. I am also of the view that the respondents
have not raised this issue as a mere technical point – there is
merit in their argument. Thus, in my view, the appellants’
argument on this issue falls to be rejected.
The record
61]
The electronic format of the record was filed on 7 February 2023. It
runs to some 5700 pages.
It is common cause that
five hard copies of the record were not filed – the now 8100
page record was only filed on 8 September
2023, which is four days
later than that directed by the DJP. The respondents complain that
even this record was not compliant
as it contained duplications and
irrelevant documents.
62] In the replying
affidavit in the reinstatement application, the appellants have taken
a very unfortunate stance. Instead
of accepting the failure to comply
with rule 49(6)(a) – as they had in the meeting with the DJP -
they have dug in their
heels. In my view the electronic record
was clearly insufficient. Firstly, the rules of court do not provide
for an electronic
copy of the record; secondly, the electronic record
was simply accompanied by a 50 page index and comprised a continuous
stream
of documents that, as stated, ran to some 5700 pages. It
completely failed to comply with the 2018 Appeals Directive which
requires
that
“…
in
all civil appeals the record shall be securely bound in volumes of no
more than 120 pages each, save to avoid splitting a document,
in
which case the volume may be longer but only to that extent.”
63] The reason for
all of this is obvious: the rules are there for the court. Especially
in a matter as voluminous and complex
such as this, it streamlines
the process and cuts out the unnecessary clutter of irrelevant
material and aids the court in the
timeous preparation, hearing and
finalisation of the matter. The appellants have simply ignored the
most basic rules of court and
those are the ones that regulate
procedure that apply to all High Courts throughout the country.
Whilst, as stated supra, practice
directives regulate the conduct of
a matter in a specific division, the rules of court regulate the
conduct of litigation throughout
the country.
64] The fact is
that the electronic record was non-compliant with the Uniform Rules.
Had it been, it begs the question as
to why appellants then thought
it at all necessary to appoint a professional service provider to
prepare an appeal record which
accords with the rules and practice
directive. Had the appellants’ record in fact been compliant,
it could have served a
hard copy immediately upon receipt of the
respondents’ complaint in this regard.
65] Furthermore, in
my view, the
dies non
period upon which the appellants rely to
found the argument that their rule 49(6) notice was not late does not
apply to the delivery
of that notice. It applies only to the
allocation by the registrar of dates of hearing. This is very clear
from the wording of
the directive which specifically states that no
allocations for dates “will be attended to” in this
period. Any such
applications received during the
dies non
period “will be attended to during the first week of the new
year”. Thus, not only was the appellants rule 49(6) notice
not
filed within the 60 days required, but it was filed past the further
10 day period set out in rule 49(6)(a). Therefore the
appeal had
lapsed by 7 February 2023.
66]
It is for this reason that this court made the order that the appeal
had lapsed, on 20 August 2024.
Security
for costs
67]
The appellants then compounded their woes by
failing to set timeous security for the appeal costs. In my view,
however, this does
not cause the lapse of the appeal, but may well
delay its adjudication until security is properly set.
The re-instatement
application
68]
An application for re-instatement of an appeal may be granted on good
cause shown. In
United
Plant Hire (Pty) Ltd v Hills and Others
[29]
it was stated:
“
It
is all settled that, in considering applications for condonation, the
Court has a discretion, to be exercised judicially upon
a
consideration of all the facts; and that in essence it is a question
of fairness to both sides. In this inquiry, relevant considerations
may include the degree of non-compliance with the rules, the
explanation therefore, the prospects of success on appeal, the
importance
of the case, the respondent’s interest in the
finality of his judgment, the convenience of the Court, and the
avoidance of
unnecessary delay in the administration of justice. The
list is not exhaustive.
These factors are not
individually decisive but are interrelated and must be weighed one
against the other; thus a slight delay,
and a good explanation may be
held to compensate for prospects of success which are not strong.”
69]
I
n both
Aymac
and
SA Express
the courts considered the effect that a gross breach of the rules had
on the outcome of the re-instatement application. Whilst
in
Aymac
the full court refused the application for re-instatement despite
good prospects of success on appeal, in
SA
Express
the SCA briefly considered the
prospects of success, which were poor, and then refused the
application for re-instatement.
70]
In casu
,
the appellants’ attorneys committed one error after the other.
The remark made by the court in
Aymac
is very appropriate:
“there is little that Mr Klinkenberg did right. There is
nothing more that I can think of that he could
have done wrong.”
And so it is in this appeal: the rule 49(6)(a) notice was late; no
powers of attorney were filed timeously:
the original record was not
filed in the correct form; the corrected record was filed
extraordinarily late; security for costs
was not set timeously and
practice directives of this court were ignored or, at best,
overlooked. The prosecution of this appeal
was, quite simply,
inadequate.
71] To compound
this, instead of the appellants’ attorneys accepting its hand
in all these flagrant breaches of the
rules and directives, one
excuse after the other was raised, culpability laid at the door of
the registrar, the compilers of the
record and the respondents (for
their objections and alleged lack of co-operation). And then, instead
of the re-instatement application
being launched as soon as the
appellants were made aware of the respondents’ view that the
appeal had lapsed, it took the
DJP's directive to provide the impetus
for the application. This conduct falls far short of that expected
from a party or their
representatives.
72]
In
Blumenthal
and Another v Thomson NO and Another
[30]
the SCA stated:
“
This
Court has often said that in cases of flagrant breaches of the Rules,
especially where there is no acceptable explanation therefore,
the
indulgence of condonation may be refused whatever the merits of the
appeal are; this applies even where the blame lies solely
with the
attorney...As I have said, the facts
in
casu
show that the Rules were flagrantly breached; nor is there any
acceptable explanation for such breaches. In these circumstances
it
is unnecessary to make an assessment of the prospects of success
since the cumulative effect of the factors already mentioned,
including the first respondent’s interest in the finality of
the court
a
quo’s
judgment, is such as to render the application for condonation
unworthy of consideration...”
[31]
73]
Although this is the view I take in this matter, as was done in
Air
Express
, I pause to consider an aspect that, in my view, puts to
bed the consideration of the prospects of success.
Prospects
of success
74]
O
ne of the grounds raised in the respondents’
argument in the main review application is that the appellants have
failed to
exhaust their internal remedies. This argument was raised
in the answering affidavits filed as far back as 2021. They argue
that
this is fatal to the review application and thus to any
prospects of success on appeal, which they argue are in any event,
nil.
75] The court
a
quo
found that there was a duty on the appellants to exhaust
internal remedies before launching the review application, that this
duty
is peremptory and that the failure to comply renders any
judicial process premature.
76]
On 10 May 2024, months after the appeal was noted and a mere three
months before this appeal was heard, the appellants
filed a Notice of
their Intention to Amend the Notice of Motion
[32]
(the
rule 28 application). The main effect of this is to be found in
prayer 1 which states:
“
1.
That in the event that the above Honourable Court is inclined to find
that the Appellants were under a duty to exhaust
internal remedies as
prescribed in section 96 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources
Development Act No, 28 of 2002 (“the
MPRDA”) prior to
instituting its review application…that the Appellants are
exempted from this duty in terms of section
96(4) of the MPRDA read
with sections 7(1) and 7(2) of the Promotion of Administration of
Justice Act No. 3 of 2000…(PAJA).”
77]
Section 96 of the MPRDA provides as follows:
“
(1)
Any person whose rights or legitimate expectations have been
materially and adversely affected or who is aggrieved by
any
administrative decision in terms of this Act may appeal within 30
days becoming aware of such administrative decision in the
prescribed
manner to—
(a)
the Director-General, if it is an administrative
decision by a Regional Manager or any officer to whom the
power has
been delegated or a duty has been assigned by or under this Act;
(b)
the Minister, if it is an administrative decision
that was taken by the Director-General or the designated
agency.
(2)(a)
An appeal in terms of subsection (1) does not suspend the
administrative decision, unless it is suspended
by the
Director-General or the Minister, as the case may be.
(b)
Any subsequent application in terms of this Act
must be suspended pending the finalisation of the appeal
referred to
in paragraph (a).
(3) No person
may apply to the court for the review of an administrative decision
contemplated in subsection (1) until
that person has exhausted his or
her remedies in terms of that subsection.
(4)
Sections 6,7(1) and 8 of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act,
2000 (Act 3 of 2000), apply to any court
proceedings contemplated in
this section. “
78]
The appellants’ view has throughout been that it was the
Minister who made the impugned decision and that therefore
s96 of the
MPRDA does not apply to them because it does not provide for an
appeal against the decisions of a Minister. This argument
was
finally, and correctly, abandoned at the hearing
a quo
,
although it was raised before us in an attempt to justify why this
exemption had not been sought sooner. In this appeal, and in
the rule
28 application, they also contend that the proposed amendment does
not raise new facts and that, at best, all the issues
now raised were
actually raised when the main review application was heard and that
they “are not factually controversial”.
They contend that
there is thus no prejudice to the respondents.
79]
But, quite frankly, this argument is misleading and amounts to little
more than obfuscation.
The appellants argue that
they only became aware of the fact that the DG had granted the mining
right and its cession when
the review record was filed. They
state that when the review application was launched on 11 April 2019
they were unaware of this.
They placed the blame for their ignorance
squarely at the feet of the respondents: they argue that, had the
respondents simply
provided copies of the mining right and consent at
the time that it was requested in March 2019, the issue would have
been resolved
back then already.
80] But this excuse
simply cannot pass muster. On their own version, they were provided
with a copy of the mining right as
part of the review record on 21
June 2019. They concede that this document indicates that it had been
granted by the DG on authority
delegated to him by the Minister.
However they argued that
“
...
the Mining Right also indicated that the Minister had granted
the mining right. It was accordingly unclear to the Appellants
whether it was in fact the DG or the Minister who had granted the
Mining Right.”
81]
They then concede that:
“
I
t
only became clear to the Appellants that the Minister had delegated
his authority to the DG following the delivery of the First
and
Second Respondents Answering Affidavit on 9 February 2021, which
contained the delegation as annexure AA1.”
And they state that it is
for these reasons that they did not include the relief now sought.
82]
The argument is, in my view, astounding,
especially bearing in mind that the appellants have sought to amend
their notice of motion
several times before the application was
argued before the court
a quo
.
Why they did not seek this relief two years ago remains a mystery.
83]
In
fact, it is clear that despite the concession made in the rule 28
application the appellants dug in their heels in November 2021
[33]
and argued that because the respondents had failed to provide
critical information to them at the time requested, they were unable
to exhaust the internal remedies within the 30 day period provided
for in s96(1) of the MPRDA. But in my view this argument must
be
rejected:
a) a
mining right is a real right which used to be registered in the Deeds
Office. It is now registered in the
Registration Office for Mineral
and Petroleum Titles which is open for public scrutiny;
b)
the
appellants have placed no information before this court, or the court
a quo
,
that they attempted to obtain copies of the mining right or its
cession from either of these two offices;
c)
there is no application in terms of the provisions of the
Promotion
of Access to Information Act, 2000
;
d)
they were made aware at a SAHRA meeting held on 27 February 2019
already that the mining rights had been
granted – this was some
two months prior to the launch of the review application;
e)
they failed to launch the internal appeal, request condonation and
request a stay of the review application,
despite being made aware of
the true state of affairs;
f)
Section 7
of PAJA and
s96
of the MPRDA do not require an actual copy
of the mining license - they require knowledge of the decision for
purposes of the internal
appeal process.
84] In
Dengetenge
Holdings (Pty) Ltd v Southern Sphere Mining and Development Co
Ltd
[34]
(
Dengetenge
)
the
majority held that the promulgation of PAJA has made it compulsory
for an aggrieved party to exhaust internal remedies before
approaching a court for review unless it is exempted from this duty
by a competent court.
[35]
The
Constitutional Court stated
“
[116] The
exemption is granted by a court, on application by the aggrieved
party. For an application for an exemption to succeed,
the
applicant must establish “exceptional circumstances”.
[36]
Once such circumstances are established, it is within the discretion
of the court to grant an exemption. Absent an
exemption, the
applicant is obliged to exhaust internal remedies before instituting
an application for review. A review application
that is
launched before exhausting internal remedies is taken to be premature
and the court to which it is brought is precluded
from reviewing the
challenged administrative action until the domestic remedies are
exhausted or unless an exemption is granted.
Differently put,
the duty to exhaust internal remedies defers the exercise of the
court’s review jurisdiction for as long
as the duty is not
discharged.”
85]
Dengetenge
also
restates the position in
Nichol
and Another v Registrar of Pension Funds and Others
[37]
(Nichol)
;
“
It
is now compulsory for the aggrieved party in all cases to exhaust the
relevant internal remedies unless exempted from doing so
by way of a
successful application under
s7(2)(c).
Moreover, the person seeking
exemption must satisfy the court on two matters: first, that there
are exceptional circumstances,
and second, that it is in the interest
of justice that the exemption be given.”
86]
It held further:
[119] In
clear and peremptory terms,
section 7(2)
prohibits courts from
reviewing “an administrative action in terms of this Act unless
any internal remedy provided for in
any other law has first been
exhausted”. Where, as in this case, there is a provision
for internal remedies, the section
imposes an obligation on the court
to satisfy itself that such remedies have been exhausted. If
the court is not satisfied,
it must decline to adjudicate the matter
until the applicant has either exhausted internal remedies or is
granted an exemption.
Since PAJA applies to every
administrative action, this means that there can be no review of an
administrative action by any court
where internal remedies have not
been exhausted, unless an exemption has been granted in terms of
section 7(2)(c). This is
apparent from the terms of section
7(2)(a) which begins with the words “[s]ubject to paragraph
(c)”…
[125] All of
these decisions were taken in terms of the MPRDA by the Regional
Manager and the Deputy Director-General.
Therefore, in
accordance with section 96(1), they were subject to an internal
appeal. Section 96(1) provides:
“
Any person whose
rights or legitimate expectations have been materially and adversely
affected or who is aggrieved by any administrative
decision in terms
of this Act may appeal in the prescribed manner to—
(a) the
Director-General, if it is an administrative decision by a Regional
Manager or an officer; or
(b) the
Minister, if it is an administrative decision by the Director-General
or the designated agency.”
[126] Even if
section 96(3) did not exist, the duty to exhaust domestic remedies
would have been triggered by the mere
provision of the internal
appeal. It will be recalled that section 7 of PAJA precludes a
court from reviewing an administrative
action until internal remedies
provided for in other laws are exhausted. There can be no doubt
that section 96(1) constitutes
such other law.”
87]
The
appellants argue that the court
a
quo
erred by not adopting a flexible approach to the requirement that
internal remedies must first be exhausted. In
Koyabe
and Others v Minister for Home Affairs and Others (Lawyers for Human
Rights as amicus curiae)
[38]
(Koyabe)
the Constitutional Court stated:
“
[37]
Internal administrative remedies may require specialised knowledge
which may be of a technical and/or practical
nature. The same
holds true for fact-intensive cases where administrators have easier
access to the relevant facts and information.
Judicial review
can only benefit from a full record of an internal adjudication,
particularly in the light of the fact that reviewing
courts do not
ordinarily engage in fact-finding and hence require a fully developed
factual record.
[38]
The duty to exhaust internal remedies is therefore a valuable and
necessary requirement in our law.
However, that requirement
should not be rigidly imposed. Nor should it be used by
administrators to frustrate the efforts
of an aggrieved person or to
shield the administrative process from judicial scrutiny. PAJA
recognises this need for flexibility,
acknowledging in section
7(2)(c) that exceptional circumstances may require that a court
condone non-exhaustion of the internal
process and proceed with
judicial review nonetheless. Under section 7(2) of PAJA, the
requirement that an individual exhaust
internal remedies is therefore
not absolute.
[39]
What constitutes exceptional circumstances depends on the facts and
circumstances of the case and the nature
of the administrative action
at issue. Thus, where an internal remedy would not be effective
and or where its pursuit would
be futile, a court may permit a
litigant to approach the court directly. So too where an
internal appellate tribunal has
developed a rigid policy which
renders exhaustion futile.”
88] The appellants
have argued that the fact that the Minister is opposing the review
and this appeal is demonstrative of
the fact that the internal appeal
remedy would be a futile process and its dismissal a foregone
conclusion. But this argument cannot
be upheld – to do so would
mean that in every such application, the mere allegation would mean
that a court would be obliged
to provide the exemption sought. That
could very well result in an applicant simply ignoring the provisions
of either s96(4) of
the MPRDA or s7 of PAJA and trying their
proverbial luck. Furthermore, no internal appeal was noted and
therefore the Minister
had no opportunity to apply his mind to those
facts at the time. The fact that the Minister has raised this issue
is not proof
of his bias.
89] In any event,
the argument in respect of bias seems somewhat contradictory in light
of the fact that the appellants do
not seek substitution of the
decision if the appeal is successful – they seek a remittal to
the very decision-maker they
accuse of bias. They cannot have it both
ways.
90]
The appellants also argue that the fact that the time period for the
internal review has lapsed also constitutes exceptional
circumstances. But
Koyabe
[39]
firmly
puts paid to this argument:
“
[47]
Although the duty to exhaust defers access to courts, it must be
emphasised that the mere lapsing of the time-period
for exercising an
internal remedy on its own would not satisfy the duty to exhaust nor
would it constitute exceptional circumstances.
[40]
Someone seeking to avoid administrative redress would, if it were
otherwise, simply wait out the specified time-period and
proceed to
initiate judicial review. That interpretation would undermine
the rationale and purpose of the duty. Thus,
an aggrieved party
must take reasonable steps to exhaust available internal remedies
with a view to obtaining administrative redress.
The applicants
relied in this regard on the decision in
Kiva
v Minister of Correctional Services
.
[41]
To the extent that this decision indicates otherwise, it cannot be
endorsed.”
91]
The point is that, whichever way one views it, the appellants have
been extraordinarily remiss in pursuing the remedies
that they allege
are so crucial to preserve their rights, as well as those of the
local community:
a) on
their own version, they have known since February 2019 of the grant
of the license;
b)
instead of complying with s96(c) of the MPRDA, they launched review
proceedings in April 2019;
c) they
knew when the record was filed who the decision-maker was: they still
failed to comply with s96 of the
MPRDA and also failed to apply for
exemption in terms of s7(2)(c) of PAJA;
d) they
continued on this path even after the answering affidavits were filed
and a copy of the Minister’s
delegation was provided;
e)
despite amending their Notice of Motion previously, they failed to
include a prayer for exemption in terms
of s7(2)(c) of PAJA, although
this point had been raised in the answering affidavits;
f)
they failed to act timeously after noting this appeal and only filed
the rule 28 application some 20
months later.
92]
Over and above this, the appellants have failed to demonstrate any
exceptional circumstances that warrant the non-compliance
with s96 of
the MPRDA. The conclusion of the court
a quo
on this issue was
that “the duty to exhaust internal remedies before launching a
review application is not a mere formality
which may be ignored by
litigants. It is peremptory and failure to comply may render any
judicial process premature with disastrous
consequences for the
affected parties”. I agree with this conclusion.
95]
What is worse is that the appellants have failed to explain why they
failed to launch the Rule 28 application prior to
June 2024.
96]
In
Nichol
the appellant had applied to the High Court for an
exemption to exhaust his inter appeal in terms of s7(2)(c) of PAJA in
circumstances
where he had already instituted review proceedings and
where he had deliberately decided not to pursue the internal appeal
procedure.
He alleged that there were exceptional circumstances that
rendered the exemption in the interests of justice and contended that
the grounds of review constituted exceptional circumstances. He
argued that by the time he brought the application for exemption
he
had been out of time to pursue the internal appeal process.
97]
The response of the SCA was the following:
“
[17]
The exceptional circumstances upon which reliance
is placed in support of an application for exemption in terms of s
7(2)
(c)
should
primarily be facts and circumstances existing before or at the time
of the institution of the review proceedings. This
does not
mean that the court may not, in principle, take into consideration
events occurring after the launch of such proceedings.
Apart
from the judgment of the Cape High Court handed down on 17 October
2003 – the relevance of which I will discuss below
–
the alleged ‘exceptional circumstances’ ultimately relied
upon by Nichol all existed prior to the commencement
of the main
application.”
98]
This is precisely the situation in this appeal: the appellants all
argue that the Mountain and Cave hold significant cultural
and
religious meaning for them and that mining of the Mountain would
impact on the Caves and their cultural practices. But this
argument
has been the argument from the outset and there is nothing new to add
to it that would justify a departure from the provisions
of s96 of
the MPRDA in the specific circumstances before us.
99]
The appellants now attempt to argue that it is in the interests of
justice to exempt them from their obligations under
s96 of the MDRPA.
But in considering this, in my view, the court must also consider the
prejudice to the respondents were an exemption
to be granted in these
circumstances which would be that they have no finality to the
proceedings and they are unable to exercise
their right to mine
granted to them 5 years ago.
100]
In my view, given all the circumstances set out supra, the Rule 28
application falls to be dismissed.
101]
Given then that the appellants have failed to exhaust their internal
remedies, the court
a quo
correctly dismissed the application.
102]
As to the appeal: the appellants have clearly failed to prosecute the
appeal. Their non-compliance is so flagrant that
it warrants an
outright dismissal of the appeal.
103]
For the reasons stated above, the application for re-instatement of
the appeal likewise falls to be dismissed.
104]
As to costs: the matter is complex and important to all the parties.
The appellants and the DG and Minister all employed
two sets of
counsel. The appeal took three days to argue in full and there were
several interlocutory applications that were argued,
over and above
the merits of the appeal itself. Costs to be taxed on Scale C are
therefore justified, as is the employment of a
senior counsel and a
junior.
Order
105]
The order that is made is the following:
1. The appeal is
dismissed with costs.
2. The costs
shall include those consequent upon the employment of two counsel of
which one is a Senior Counsel, which costs
are to be taxed in
accordance with Scale C.
B NEUKIRCHER
JUDGE OF THE HIGH
COURT
GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA
I agree and it is so
ordered.
EM KUBUSHI
JUDGE OF THE HIGH
COURT
GAUTENG DIVISION
PRETORIA
I agree
G ALLY
ACTING JUDGE OF THE
HIGH COURT
GAUTENG DIVISION
PRETORIA
This judgment was
prepared and authored by the judges whose names are reflected and is
handed down electronically by circulation
to the parties/their legal
representatives by email and by uploading it to the electronic file
of this matter on CaseLines.
The date for hand-down is deemed
to be ___ January 2025.
Parties’
representatives
For
the appellant: Adv A Subel SC,
with him Adv M Majozi
Instructed
by : Werksmans
Attorneys
For
the first and second
respondents:
Adv K Pillay SC, with her Adv L Gumbi
Instructed
by: State
Attorney
For
the fourth, sixth and
Tenth
respondents: Adv D Smit
Instructed
by: Webber
Wentzel
Matter
heard on: 20 to 22 August
2024
Judgment
date: ___ January 2025
[1]
Which
was no more than an application to exempt the appellants from the
obligation to pursue the internal remedy provisions of
s96 of the
MPRDA
[2]
The mining right was notarially executed on 26 August 2018
[3]
In Setswana
[4]
Superior
courts act 10 of 2013:
“
19.
The Supreme Court of appeal or a division exercising appeal
jurisdiction may, in addition to any power as may specifically
be
provided for in any other law –
…
(b) receive further
evidence...”
[5]
1956 (4) SA 446
(A) at 457
[6]
SA Express Ltd v Bagport (Pty) Ltd
2020 (5) SA 404
(SCA) para
12-14 (SA Express)
[7]
Uitenhage Transitional Local Council v South African Revenue
Service 2004 (1) SA 292 (SCA)
[8]
Blumenthal and Another v Thomson NO and Another
[1993] ZASCA 190
;
1994 (2) SA
118
(A) at 121I – 122B
[9]
SA
Express par 34 - 43
[10]
Par
55
[11]
Rule
49(6)
[12]
Rule 49(7)(a)
[13]
Rule 47(7)(a)(i) and (ii)
[14]
Rule 7(2)
[15]
Dated
17 April 2018
[16]
Which runs to some 8100 pages
[17]
Superior Courts Act, 2013
to adduce further evidence on appeal
[18]
2023
(4) SA 205
(WCC) para 92
[19]
2009
(2) SACR 459
(W) para 2
[20]
Which was opposed by the respondents
[21]
Werksmans
[22]
Who act for the fourth, fifth and tenth respondents (Motjoli)
[23]
Rule
7(2):
“
The
registrar shall not set down any appeal at the instance of an
attorney unless such attorney has filed with the registrar a
power
of attorney authorizing him to appeal and such power of attorney
shall be filed together with the application for a date
of hearing.”
[24]
Paragraph 22 supra
[25]
Paragraph 28 supra
[26]
[26]
“
Not
later than 15 days before the appeal is heard the appellant shall
deliver a concise and succinct statement of the main points
(without
elaboration) which he intends to argue on appeal, as well as a list
of the authorities to be tendered in support of
each point, and not
later than 10 days before the appeal is heard the respondent shall
deliver a similar statement…”
[27]
2009 (6) SA 433
(W) para 6
[28]
Fedco
Cape (Pty) Ltd v Meyer
1988 (4) SA 207
(E) at 209 C/D – E: “In my judgment the
[registrar]
,
in acting as he did, arrogated unto himself powers which reside in
the Court. The facts are that a notice was filed and copies
of the
record were filed. Whether such notice or copies comply with the
Rules it's a matter for the Court to decide, not the
Registrar. Even
if such notice or copies do not comply with the Rules, the Court has
the power in appropriate circumstances to
condone any non-compliance
and it is not for the Registrar to purport any pre-emption of the
Court’s powers by simply returning
documents whence they come
nor does that bind the Court by purportedly accepting documents “in
compliance” with the
Rules.”
[29]
1976
(1) SA 717
(A) at 720E - G
[30]
[1993] ZASCA 190
;
1994
(2) SA 118
(A) at 121I - J
[31]
Case references omitted
[32]
In terms of
Rule 28
[33]
When the review application was argued
[34]
2014
(5) SA 138 (CC)
[35]
Dengetenge
para
115
[36]
In
section 7(2)(c).
[37]
2008
(1) SA 383
(SCA) para 15
[38]
2010 (4) SA 327
(CC) para 37 - 39
[39]
At para 47
[40]
See
Nichol
above n 28 at para 32.
[41]
[2007]
1 BLLR 86
(E).
sino noindex
make_database footer start
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