Case Law[2025] ZAGPPHC 161South Africa
GP Smith Letting CC v Jacobs and Van Aswegen Property Developers CC and Another (71943/2016) [2025] ZAGPPHC 161 (10 February 2025)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria)
10 February 2025
Headnotes
Summary: Failure to ensure compliance with uniform rule 49(6)(a) - lapsing appeal - application for condonation - factors to be considered - cumulative effect of such factors - the delay not satisfactorily explained - lack of prospects of success in the appeal - condonation refused - re-instatement of the appeal refused.
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## GP Smith Letting CC v Jacobs and Van Aswegen Property Developers CC and Another (71943/2016) [2025] ZAGPPHC 161 (10 February 2025)
GP Smith Letting CC v Jacobs and Van Aswegen Property Developers CC and Another (71943/2016) [2025] ZAGPPHC 161 (10 February 2025)
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sino date 10 February 2025
REPUBLIC
OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA
Court
a
quo
case number: 71943/2016
Appeal
Case Number: 149/2023
(1) REPORTABLE
(2)
OF INTEREST TO THE JUDGES
(3)
REVISED.
DATE:
10 FEBRUARY 2025
SIGNATURE:
In
the matter between:
G
P SMITH LETTING CC
Appellant
And
JACOBS
AND VAN ASWEGEN
First Respondent
PROPERTY
DEVELOPERS CC
(Registration
No. 2007/107707/23)
HENK
GERHARDUS VAN ASWEGEN
Second Respondent
Coram
:
MODIBA J, STRIJDOM J, BOTSI-THULARE AJ
Summary
:
Failure to ensure compliance with uniform rule 49(6)(a) - lapsing
appeal - application for condonation - factors to be considered
-
cumulative effect of such factors - the delay not satisfactorily
explained - lack of prospects of success in the appeal - condonation
refused - re-instatement of the appeal refused.
JUDGMENT
BOTSI-THULARE
AJ (Modiba J, Strijdom J concurring)
Introduction
(1]
The appellant, GP Smith Letting CC (GP Smith Letting) instituted an
action against the respondents Jacobs and Van Aswegen Property
Developers CC (the property developers) and Henk Gerhardus Van
Aswegen (Mr Van Aswegen) for the setting-aside of a court order
which
made an arbitration award an order of court. It sought this relief on
the basis that the underlying arbitration award which
was the subject
of a settlement agreement between the parties was actuated by fraud
allegedly perpetrated by the respondents.
[2]
The court a
quo
per Senyatsi J (the court a
quo
)
dismissed the action in a judgment dated 13 August 2021. GP Smith
Letting applied for leave to appeal and it was granted by the
court a
quo
on 7 December 2021.
[3]
The basis of the appeal by GP Smith Letting is that the court a
quo
erred in its application and interpretation of the law of hearsay as
against the facts that were before it. The appeal is opposed
by the
respondent.
Factual
background
[4]
GP Smith Letting represented by Mr Smith and the property developers
represented by
Mr Van Aswegen concluded a Joint Venture Agreement on
16 November 2006 (JV Agreement) in terms of which they agreed to
embark on
a property development project on GP Smith Letting's farm
known as Bendor Meadows (the Property). Mr Van Aswegen was authorised
in terms of the JV Agreement to manage, represent, act on behalf of
and make any decisions pertaining to the property development
without
GF Letting's consent.
[5]
Mr Van Aswegen appointed consultants to,
inter alia
, procure
the availability of bulk services and township development rights.
One of the consultants which were appointed by the
Mr Van Aswegen was
Vikna Consulting Civil and Developmental Engineers, Polokwane (Vikna)
which was represented by Nick Spotswood
(Mr Spotswood).
[6]
On 10 March 2011, GP Smith Letting repudiated the JV agreement. In
2014, the respondents
instituted arbitration proceedings against GP
Smith Letting impugning the repudiation. They claimed the costs
incurred in relation
to the consultants in an amount of R1 502
933.36, and a management fee equal to 8% of the turnover for the
property development
project in an amount of R6 600 000.00. During
the arbitration proceedings, negotiations ensued between the parties.
They reached
a compromise and concluded a settlement agreement in the
amount of R1 211 724.76. On 20 April 2015, the Arbitrator made an
award
incorporating the settlement agreement.
[7]
GP Smith Letting is alleged to have breached the award by failing to
make payment
as ordered. This led respondents to launch an
application for an order making the arbitration award an order of
court. GP Smith
Letting did not oppose the application. An order
making the arbitration award an order of court was granted on 8
December 2015.
During the period between the granting of the award
and order of court, GP Smith Letting made various payments to the
property
developers, including payment for an invoice of R250 000.00
from Vikna.
Proceeding
before court a quo
[8]
In the court a
quo
, GP Smith Letting sought an order for the
setting-aside of the 8 December 2015 order of court on the basis that
the settlement
agreement on which the award was based was induced by
fraud. It further alleges that the respondents had misrepresented to
it that
the bulk of the amount claimed included an invoice of
R1 200 000.00 from Vikna when the latter amount was not yet
due
and payable.
[9]
GP Smith Letting further contended that after the settlement. it came
across information
that the amount on the invoice prepared by Vikna
was not due and payable when the settlement agreement which led to
arbitration
award was concluded. GP Smith Letting further alleged
that when the compromise was reached, Vikna would have only been
entitled
to payment in the amount of R250 000.00 if the JV Agreement
had been implemented. The respondents defended the action on the
basis
that the designs which Vikna was contracted to do were done,
thus increasing the value of the property. This rendered the full
amount of Vikna’s invoice due and payable.
[10]
During the trial, Mr Smith testified on behalf of GP Smith Letting
regarding a letter written
by Mr Spotwood's attorney (Mr Koos Geyser)
to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the Hawks
representing that the invoice
was a proforma invoice and that the VAT
input in respect of the amount of R1 200 000.00 was not claimed. The
respondents' version
is that the letter was not written at their
request or on their behalf. GP Smith Letting did not call Mr Spotwood
to testify about
this letter and/or Vikna's invoice to corroborate GP
Smith Letting's version.
[11]
Against this background, the court a
quo
concluded that the
mere production of the letter to SARS and the Hawks; and Mr Smith's
Evidence is not conclusive of the facts
set out in the letter as Mr
Smith was not the author of the letter. Further, the court a
quo
held that the contents of the letter constitute inadmissible hearsay
evidence. The court a
quo
reasoned that it was not persuaded
as to why the authors of the letter was not called as a witness to
confirm that the sum of R1
200 000.00 invoiced by Vikna to the
property developers was indeed not due and payable. Further, the
court a
quo
found that GP Smith Letting failed to establish
the factual or legal basis for the hearsay evidence to be admitted in
the interest
of justice.
[12]
The court a
quo
concluded that the appellant's reliance on
hearsay evidence is impermissible, therefore, it failed to discharge
the onus to prove
the fraud. As a result, the court a
quo
held
that GP Smith Letting failed to make out a proper case for the relief
sought.
Appeal
proceedings
[13]
In the present proceedings, GP Smith Letting relies on the following
grounds of appeal:
a.
The court a
quo
erred in relying on the following principles
of law which were outlined as follows in paragraphs 16 and 17 of the
court a
quo
judgment:
"It is prerequisite
to obtaining restitution in integrum on the ground of fraud that the
document had not been available to
the party who seeks restitution
before an order was made. The position is the. same in a case where
fraud is committed in a manner
other than falsifying documents.
The court will grant
relief if the evidence that was fraudulently considered and came to
light after the conclusion of the trial
which would have entitled a
party to a different judgment head this evidence been procured,
provided that a party can show weighty
reasons by which he was
prevented from producing such evidence at trial. The party seeking
restitution must therefore show that
it was not through his own fault
that document was discovered before the order was made."
b.
The court a
quo
should have found that the appellant was in
possession of the document i.e. the invoice.
c.
The court a
quo
erred by stating in paragraph 20 of the
judgment that the mere production of the invoice and Mr Smith's
evidence on it was not
conclusive as the author of the letter was not
called upon to testify.
d.
The statement by the court a
quo
that there will be violation
of law of hearsay if the letter is accepted as conclusive evidence
(without the author testifying
on it) is wrong.
Condonation
application
[14]
GP Smith Letting seeks condonation for prosecuting the appeal out of
time. It delivered the notice
of appeal on 23 December 2021. It only
applied for a hearing date on 12 May 2023, approximately 13 months
later. This is outside
of the 60 days period prescribed in terms of
uniform rule 49 (6)(a). In terms of uniform rule 49(9), the appeal is
deemed to have
lapsed. It is for that reason that GP Smith Letting
seeks condonation for non-compliance with uniform rule 49(6)(a).
[15]
GP Smith Letting further requests this court that, to the: extent it
failed to comply with uniform
rule 49(13)(a) read with uniform rule
of 49(7)(a), such noncompliance be condoned. The condonation
application is opposed
by the respondents.
[16]
Uniform rule 49(6)(a) provides as follows:
"Within 60 days
after delivery of a notice of appeal, an appellant shall make written
application to the registrar of the division
where the appeal is to
be heard for a date for the hearing of such appeal and shall at the
same time furnish him with his full
residential address and the name
and address of every other party to the appeal and if the appellant
fails to do so a respondent
may within 10 days after the expiry of
the said period of 60 days, as in the case of the appellant, apply
for the set down of the
appeal or cross-appeal which he may have
noted. If no such application is made by either party the appeal and
cross-appeal shall
be deemed to have lapsed: Provided that a
respondent shall have the right to apply for an order for his wasted
costs."
[17]
Uniform rule 49(6)(b) provides for the remedy GP Smith Letting seeks.
It provides as follows:
"The court to which
the appeal is made may, on application of the appellant or
cross-appellant, and upon good cause shown,
reinstate an appeal or
cross-appeal which has lapsed."
[18]
Therefore, to succeed in this application, GP Smith Letting is
required to show good cause for
non-compliance with uniform rule
49(6)(a).
[19]
GP Smith Letting's explanation for failing to prosecute the appeal on
time is that although it
filed the appeal record timeously, it did
not furnish security as required in terms of uniform rule 49(13)(a)
because its attorney
laboured under the incorrect belief it was not
required to furnish security.
[20]
On 4 April 2022, GP Smith Letting's attorney posted an inquiry on
CaseLines about the allocation
of a date for the hearing of the
appeal. He followed up with further inquiries on 17 of May 2022, 7
June 202 2 and 18 July 2022.
He then made enquiries with colleagues
regarding the usual time frames within which appeals are normally
heard and was informed
to be patient as there is a substantial
backlog of cases.
[21]
GP Smith Letting's attorney concedes that the problem concerning the
application for a date was
due to confusion on his part concerning
the normal practice directives and those relating to CaseLines and
Covid 19. He alleges
that he is not familiar with the applicable
practice directives as well as CaseLines because he practices in
Polokwane where the
relevant practice directives are not applicable
and CaseLines in not used. As a result, he became sidetracked and in
the process,
overlooked the requirement in uniform rule 49(6)(a) as
well as the applicable practice directives.
[22]
The respondents argue that GP Smith Letting's concedes that it has
failed to comply with rule
49(6)(a), rule 49(13)(a) as well as failed
to properly or fully comply with paragraphs 19, 49 and 52 of Practice
Directive 2 of
2022. Further, its attorney failed to make any
enquiries regarding the status of the appeal during the entire period
until 12 May
2023. Therefore, the respondents’ contends, GP
Smith Letting has failed to show good cause.
The
applicable law
[23]
It is trite that where a party fails to comply with a prescribed time
limitation, whether statutory
or in terms of the rules of court the
High Court may grant condonation in the interests of justice.
[1]
[24]
In
Dengetenge
Holdings (Pty) Ltd v Southern Sphere Mining and Development Company
Ltd & Others
[2]
the Supreme Court of Appeal held that:
''Factors which usually
weigh with this court in considering an application for condonation
include the degree of non-compliance,
the explanation therefor, the
importance of the case, a respondent's interest in the finality of
the judgment of the court below,
the convenience of this court am the
avoidance of unnecessary delay in the administration of justice…"
[25]
The courts have consistently refrained from attempting to frame any
comprehensive definition
of what constitutes good case for purpose of
granting of condonation for procedural shortcomings in appeals.
Condonation is granted
at the discretion of the court, judicially
exercised having regard to all the circumstances of the case.
[3]
[26]
It is common cause that the appeal is deemed to have lapsed for
reasons advanced on behalf of
GP Smith Letting. As a result, the
respondents served on GP Smith Letting an application for payment of
their wasted costs of the
lapsed appeal in terms of Rule 46(6)(a) on
13 April 2023. I was at this point that GP Smith Letting's attorney
started reaching
out to the respondents. This was after a long period
of inaction. He has offered no explanation why he only reached out to
the
respondents' attorney after the application for wasted costs was
served when he could have done so earlier, particularly after the
respondents' heads of arguments in the appeal were delivered in
October 2022.
[27]
GP Smith Letting's attorney has demonstrated lack of diligence in
prosecuting the appeal. Counsel
for the respondents delivered his
heads of argument in the appeal on 7 October 2022. GP Smith Letting
attorney incorrectly states
that the heads of argument were sent to
his correspondent attorney for delivery on 27 October 2022. However,
no e-mail to such
effect is attached to the affidavit filed in
support of the application for condonation. To make matters worse, he
was unaware
that heads of argument were served on his correspondent
attorney until February 2023 when he found an email from the
correspondent
dated 9 November 2022 in his computer's deleted bin. He
then used an "unused" email address of the correspondent
attorney
to enquire whether non-compliance indeed occurred. There is
no evidence to suggest that he followed up on the email he had sent
to his correspondent attorney. These delays were clearly occasioned
by lack of diligence on his part.
[28]
During March 2023 a further conversation took place between the
attorney for GP Smith Letting
and counsel for the respondents. During
this conversation, counsel for the respondent hinted that
non-allocation of a date for
the hearing may be due to GP Smith
Letting's attorney failure to properly prosecute the appeal. The
attorney for GP Smith Letting
only realised that the "unused"
email did not reach the correspondent attorney when the respondents'
application for
costs was served on him on 13 April 2023. Only after
counsel for GP Smith Letting came on board was an application for a
hearing
date made on 12 May 2023. This occurred a month after
respondents' application for costs was served.
[29]
GP Smith Letting, as an applicant for condonation, seeks an
indulgence from this court and must
provide a candid and full
explanation of the entire period of the delay and the reason/s for
it. Its attorney has not been candid
with this court. He has also not
provided a full explanation for the delay. Further, his explanation
is not reasonable.
[30]
In
Unitrans
Fuel and Chemical (Pty) Ltd v Dove-Co Carriers CC
[4]
it was stated that High Courts should in future require that the
entire period of the delay be thoroughly explained, regardless
of the
length of the delay. In this regard, the court observed:
"Firstly; it is
often and undesirably so, in our Courts that the length of the delay
in condonation applications, determines
how detailed the explanation
is.
To illustrate: if a delay
of a few days has to be explained, then the failure to deal with a
day or two may well prove fatal to
the application. Likewise, if a
delay of some 3 weeks has to be explained, then a failure to deal
with 3-4 days, may lead to the
failure of the application.
In the case of much
longer delays, such as the case in casu, (of some 3 years),
applicants somehow, (but too often), regard the
failure to explain
3-4 days as negligible. In fact, much longer, unexplained periods
seem to pale into insignificance, simply due
to the length of the
total delay, seemingly under the impression that a few days or even
weeks, here and there. will not "
break the camel's back
'’.
This is unacceptable. The
test does not change due to the length of the delay and the duty to
fully explain the entire period of
the delay, remains the same, quite
irrespective of the period of the delay."
[5]
[31]
An inordinate delay induces a reasonable belief that the order had
become unassailable and the
successful party is entitled to assume
that the losing party has accepted the finality of the order and does
not intend to pursue
the matter further.
[6]
Thus, to grant condonation after an inordinate delay and in the
absence of a reasonable explanation, would undermine the principle
of
finality in litigation, unless it is shown that it is in the
interests of justice.
[7]
[32]
In my view, there are two separate periods of inaction which were not
sufficiently explained
by GP Smith Letting. The first period is from
14 April 2022 until 18 July 2022 during which the admitted wrong
procedure was allowed
to apply for a date of hearing (3 months and 14
days of inaction). The second period is from 18 July 2022 until
sometime in September
2022. This translates into a further period of
approximately 2 months of inaction.
[33]
In other words, there was inaction on the part of the attorney for GP
Smith Letting until he
received the respondents' heads of argument on
7 October 2022. He mentioned that the heads of argument had to be
delivered on 27
October 2022. He failed to explain why the date on
which he received the respondents' heads is stated to be 20 days
after they
were served on his correspondent attorneys.
[34]
The March 2023 conversation between the attorney for GP Smith Letting
and counsel for the respondents
does not mitigate GP Smith Letting's
failure to provide a full and reasonable explanation for its delay in
prosecuting the appeal.
[35]
It is trite that lack of diligence on the part of an attorney causes
harm to their client. Generally,
courts are loath to penalise a
blameless litigant due to lack of diligence on the part of its
attorney.
[8]
However, the
Appellate Division in
Saloojee
and Another NNO v Minister of Community Development
observed that:
'There is a limit beyond
which a litigant cannot escape the result of his attorney's lack of
diligence or the insufficiency of the
explanation tendered. To hold
otherwise might have a disastrous effect upon the observance of the
Rules of this Court. Considerations
ad misericordiam should not be
allowed to become an invitation to laxity.... The attorney, after
all, is the representative whom
the litigant has chosen for himself,
and there is little reason why, in regard to condonation of a failure
to comply with a Rule
of Court, the litigant should be absolved from
the normal consequences of such a relationship, no matter what the
circumstances
of the failure are.’’
[9]
[36]
This statement has consistently been applied, not only in the case of
appeals to the Supreme
Court of Appeal, but also in the case of
appeals to a full court from a single judge and of appeals to the
full bench of the High
Court from the magistrate's court.
[10]
In my view, circumstances are proper for this principle to be applied
in this case.
[37]
Seemingly it was only after the respondents' application for costs
was served on the attorney
for GP Smith Letting that he did what he
should have done from the outset to properly prosecute the appeal. He
failed to ensure
compliance with uniform rule 46(6)(a). His
explanation is unfortunately not satisfactory.
Prospects
of success
[38]
I have therefore reached the conclusion that the delay is not
satisfactorily explained. Despite,
this is not the only factor to be
considered in order to determine whether or not condonation
application should be granted. The
prospects of success on appeal
should also be considered. It is trite that good prospects of success
compensate for a poor explanation
for the delay in filing and
prosecuting the appeal.
[11]
[39]
In this matter, GP Smith Letting contends that the issue of "hearsay
evidence'' in relation
to the contents of the letter and the
affidavit deposed to by Mr Spotswood lies at the heart of the
intended appeal. In my view,
the court a
quo
correctly held
that the letter authored by Mr Spotswood amounts to inadmissible
hearsay. It was not tendered simply to prove that
a statement of fact
was made. It was tendered in an attempt to prove that its contents
are true. The court a
quo
could only admit it in terms of the
Law of Evidence Amendment Act No. 45 of 1988 (Law of Evidence
Amendment Act).
[40]
Section 3(1)(a)
-(c) of the
Law of Evidence Amendment Act provides
that hearsay evidence shall not be admitted in civil proceedings,
unless the parties agree to the admission of such evidence; or
the
person upon whose credibility the probative value of such evidence
depends himself testifies or the court is of the opinion
that such
evidence should be admitted in the interests of justice.
[41]
In
Giesecke and Devrient South Africa (Pty) Limited v Tsogo Sun
Holdings (Pty) Limited and Another
(
Giesecke
)it was stated
that:
"The general rule is
that evidence presented in the course of proceedings must be the best
available evidence. In trial proceedings,
this rule generally entails
that the person upon whose credibility the probative value of the
evidence depends, not only gives
the evidence but is also available
for cross-examination."
[12]
[42]
It should be noted that the court in
Giesecke
was alive to the
fact that there are exceptions to the general rule that the person
upon whose credibility the probative value
of the evidence depends,
not only gives the evidence but is also available for
cross-examination. In this regard, the court in
Giesecke
that:
".... The principles
underlying these exceptions are usually twofold:
That there must be a good
reason why the witness cannot give evidence in person, such as death,
impracticality or that the witness
is untraceable.
The evidence is
nonetheless reliable (that is the fact that the evidence cannot be
tested by cross-examination does not substantially
undermine its
probative value)."
[43]
Equally of relevance, are the provisions of the Civil Proceedings
Evidence Act 25 of 1965 (Evidence
Act). Section 34(1)(b) of the
Evidence Act provides that where direct oral evidence of a fact would
be admissible, any statement
made by a person in a document and
tending to establish that fact shall, on production of the original
document, be admissible
as evidence of that fact provided certain
conditions are met, such as personal knowledge by the person who made
the statement,
statement made in the performance of a duty to record
information, and impossibility for the person to attend as a witness
for
valid reasons.
[44]
Mr Spotswood is a person upon whose credibility the probative value
of his affidavit depends.
The appellant had ample time to serve a
subpoena on Mr Spotswood considering that the court proceedings
commenced on 25 November
2019 and concluded on 1 October 2020. In my
view, the affidavit of Mr Spotswood therefore falls foul of the
provisions of section
34(1)(b). No evidence was tendered before the
court a quo to show th1t it was not reasonably practicable to secure
the Mr Spotswood's
attendance at court and that all reasonable
efforts had been made without success. In my view this amounts to
fatal non-compliance
with section 34(1)(b).
[45]
Section 34(2) of the Evidence Act gives the court a discretion to
admit a document if, having
regard to all the circumstances of the
case, the court is satisfied that undue delay or expense would
otherwise be caused notwithstanding
that the person who made the
statement is available but is not called as a witness. In my view no
facts were placed before the
court a quo in order to determine
whether there would be an undue delay or expense if the affidavit is
not admitted.
[46]
I am of the view that the court a
quo
was correct to conclude
that the mere production of the invoice and Mr Smith's evidence on it
was not conclusive as the author
of the letter was not called upon to
testify. Therefore, there are no reasonable prospects of success on
appeal.
[47]
Further, given that the settlement agreement pursuant to which the
arbitration award was made
was for a globular amount in full and
final settlement of all claims arising from the JV agreement, there
are no reasonable prospects
that GP Smith Letting would succeed in
persuading this court that it was fraudulently induced to agree to
this amount by the respondents'
misrepresentation that an amount of
R1 200 000.00 was due and payable to Vikna.
[48]
In conclusion, it is my considered view that the cumulative effect of
lack of diligent on the
part of GP Smith Letting's attorney in
prosecuting the appellant's attorney, the inadequacy of the
explanation for the delay and
lack of prospects of success in the
appeal mean that granting condonation would not serve the interests
of justice. For these reasons,
GP Smith's application for condonation
stands to fail. Its request for the re-instatement of the appeal
cannot succeed.
Costs
[49]
The appellant submits that this court should, by mean of a cost order
on attorney and client
scale, ensure more effectually than it can by
means be out of pocket in respect of the expenses caused to it by the
litigation.
On the other hand, the respondents argue that the
appellant be ordered to pay the costs of the application on a
punitive scale.
[50]
The general rule in matters of costs is that the successful party
should be given his costs,
and this rule should not be departed from
except where there be good grounds for doing so, such as misconduct
on the part of the
successful party or other exceptional
circumstances.
[51]
Regarding the punitive cost order sought by the respondents, it
should be stated that generally
courts do not order a litigant to pay
the costs of another litigant on the basis of attorney and client
unless some special grounds
are present, such as, for example, that
he has been guilty of dishonest) or fraud or that his motives have
been vexatious, reckless
and malicious, or frivolous, or that he has
acted unreasonably in his conduct of the litigation or that his
conduct is in some
way reprehensible.
[13]
[52]
It has frequently been emphasised that in awarding costs, the court
has a discretion to be exercised
judicially upon a consideration of
the facts in each case, and that in essence the decision is a matter
of fairness to both sides.
[14]
In giving the court a discretion, the law contemplate that it should
take into consideration the circumstances of each case, carefully
weighing the issues in the case, the conduct of the parties and any
other circumstance which may have a bearing on the issue of
costs and
then make such order as to costs as would be fair and just between
the parties.
[53]
ln this matter, GP Smith Letting's attorney failed to prosecute the
appeal on time. The explanation
for the delay was also not adequate
which meant that the appeal lapsed. It is also common cause that the
respondents had already
incurred legal costs in opposing the
condonation application as well as the lapsed appeal.
[54]
Against this background, in the exercise of my discretion and mindful
that a punitive costs order
is not awarded easily or readily, I am of
the view that a punitive costs order is justified and warranted in
this matter. A costs
order on a party and party scale will be
insufficient to cover all the expenses incurred by the respondents in
this matter. An
award of punitive cost; on an attorney and client
scale is warranted in the circumstances because it would be unfair to
expect
the respondents to bear any costs occasioned by the
condonation application as well as the lapsed appeal.
[15]
[55]
Accordingly, the grant of a punitive costs order against the
appellant is therefore necessary
and warranted.
Order
[56]
In the result, I make the following order:
1.
The application for condonation is dismissed with costs on the
attorney and own
client scale.
2.
The appellant is ordered to pay the costs incurred by the respondents
in opposing
the lapsed appeal on the attorney and own client scale.
MD
BOTSI-THULARE
ACTING
JUDGE OF THE HIGH COURT
GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA
I
agree and it is so ordered.
LT
MODIBA
JUDGE
OF THE HIGH COURT
GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA
I
agree.
JJ
STRIJDOM
JUDGE
OF THE HIGH COURT
GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA
APPEARANCES
Counsel
for the Appellant: Advocate GM Young
Instructed
by: Mathee Attorneys
Counsel
for the First and Second Respondent: Advocate De Waal Keet Nigrini
Instructed
by: Cremer Attorneys
Date
of Hearing: 27 November 2024
Date
of Judgment: 10 February 2025
MODE
OF DELIVERY: This judgment is handed down electronically by
transmission to the parties' legal representatives by email,
uploading
on Caselines and release to SAFLII. The date and time for
delivery is deemed to be 10 00am.
[1]
Yunnan
Engineering CC v Chater
2006
(5) SA 571
(T) at 578H-J.
[2]
[2013] 2 All SA 251
(SCA) al para 11.
[3]
PAF v
SCF
2022
(6) SA 162
(SCA) at para 21. Also see
United
Plant Hire (Pty) Ltd v Hills
1976
(1) SA 717
(A) al 720E-G and
Van
Wyk v Unitas Hospital (Open Democratic Advice Centre as Amicus
Curiae)
[2007] ZACC 24
;
2008
(2) SA 472
(CC) at 477A-B.
[4]
2010 (5) SA 340 (GSJ).
[5]
Id
at para 14-17.
[6]
Van Wyk
v Unitas Hospital
at
479H-480A.
[7]
Van Wyk
v Unitas Hospital
at
480A-B.
[8]
Shaik v
Pillay
2008
(3) SA 59
(N) at 611.
[9]
1965 (2) SA 135
(A} at 141C-E. See also
Mtshali
NO and Others v Buffalo Conservation
97
(Pty) Ltd
[2017] ZASCA 127
(29 September 2017)
[10]
Aymac
CC v Widgerow
2009
(6) SA 433
(W) at 451D-H
[11]
Melane
v Santam Bank Insurance Co. Ltd
1962
(4) SA 531
(A) at 532 8-E
[12]
[2010] ZAGPJHC 41 at para 36 (25 May 2010)
[13]
See
Mahomed
& Son v Mahomed
1959
(2) SA 688
(T);
Ridon
v Van der Spuy and Partners
2002
(2) SA 121 (C).
[14]
Mashele
v BMW Financial Services (Pty) Ltd
2021
(2) SA 519
(GP) al para 39.
[15]
Public
Protector v South African Reserve Bank
2019
(6) SP. 253
(CC) at para22.
sino noindex
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