Case Law[2025] ZAGPPHC 380South Africa
Botha and Another v Coetzee and Others (4847/2023) [2025] ZAGPPHC 380 (13 April 2025)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria)
13 April 2025
Headnotes
in terms of Section 417 and 418 of the Companies Act of 1973, investigating the affairs of Friendly Loans International. It was during this enquiry that it was established that the Deceased contravened his mandate with the investors and in fact personally owed to Friendly Loans International, a substantial amount of money.
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## Botha and Another v Coetzee and Others (4847/2023) [2025] ZAGPPHC 380 (13 April 2025)
Botha and Another v Coetzee and Others (4847/2023) [2025] ZAGPPHC 380 (13 April 2025)
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF
SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG DIVISION,
PRETORIA
CASE
NO: 4847/2023
(1)
REPORTABLE: NO
(2)
OF INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: NO
(3)
REVISED:YES
In the matter between:
DEON MARIUS BOTHA
NO
FIRST APPLICANT
RETHA STOCHOFF
NO
SECOND APPLICANT
(In their capacities
as the duly appointed
Provisional joint
liquidators (K2015314311)
(In liquidation)
And
ZELMA ESME
COETZEE
FIRST RESPONDENT
ALL OCCUPIERS OF ERF
1[…]
SECOND RESPONDENT
L[…]
CITY OF EKURHULENI
METROPOLITAN
THIRD RESPONDENT
JUDGEMENT
MATSEMELA AJ
INTRODUCTION
1. This is an application
for the eviction of the First and Second Respondents in terms of the
provisions of Prevention of Illegal
Eviction from Unlawful Occupation
of Land Act 19 0f 1998 (‘’PIE Act”)
BACKGROUND
2. The First Respondent
resides at number 1[…] G[…] Road, L[…], B[…]
(The Property), being the property
which forms the subject matter of
the current Application. It is also interesting to note that the
First Respondent is an unrehabilitated
insolvent and a widow. The
Property was initially co-owned by the First Respondent and her late
husband Simon Christoffel Coetzee
(The Deceased).
3. In the Answering
Affidavit the First Respondent alleges that the Property was sold on
public auction and was bought by a company
known as K2015314311 (Pty)
Ltd (The Company). The sole shareholder of the Company is herself and
its main asset was the Property.
4. On 16 May 2022, the
First and Second Applicants were appointed as the joint provisional
liquidators of the Company. The Company
was insolvent and was finally
liquidated on 22 June 2022. An application was brought to this
Court seeking that the joint
ownership of the Property be dissolved.
The application was granted, and the Property was duly sold.
5. The Deceased was an
attorney of this Court. He was struck off the roll due to his
involvement in a pyramid scheme conducted by
a company known as
Friendly Loans International (Pty) Ltd. The Deceased used his trust
account as a vehicle through which funds
of the public were
misappropriated.
6. Members of the public
invested substantial amounts of monies in Friendly Loans
International, for the purposes of securing the
delivery of fuel
which would then be sold by Friendly Loans International to their
client.
7. Under this impression,
the investors assumed that the monies were paid into the Deceased’s
trust account, but the monies
were in fact paid into Friendly Loan
International’s account which was controlled at all times, by
the Deceased.
8. After the liquidation
of Friendly Loans, an enquiry was held in terms of
Section 417
and
418 of the Companies Act of 1973
, investigating the
affairs of Friendly Loans International. It was during this enquiry
that it was established that the Deceased
contravened his mandate
with the investors and in fact personally owed to Friendly Loans
International, a substantial amount of
money.
9. Litigation ensued soon
thereafter against the Deceased to recover the monies that he had
paid to himself. This inter alia included
an application that was
launched to declare the Deceased personally liable for the debt of
the investors in terms of Section 424
of the Companies Act of 1973.
The aforementioned Application was successful to the effect that the
estate of the late Coetzee was
ultimately sequestrated.
10. Following an
investigation into the Deceased’s affairs, it was established
that he was the sole shareholder and beneficiary
of a number of
property-owning companies being Charmart (Pty) Ltd, Marenzahof (Pty)
Ltd, Iris Mia (Pty) Ltd and Marsteph (Pty)
Ltd.
11. The abovementioned
companies all owned valuable properties and furthermore was indebted
to Absa Bank for substantial amounts.
These companies were placed in
business rescue after the sequestration of the late Coetzee but were
later all liquidated
12. The properties
belonging to the abovementioned four companies were residential units
leased out, which yielded substantial rental
each month.
13. A forensic
investigation followed shortly after liquidation into the income and
expenditure of the aforementioned companies.
It was then when it was
discovered that the First Respondent misappropriated rental monies by
opening an account, in her own name,
no less rerouting the monies to
her personal bank account for her own benefit.
14. The First Respondent
funded her lifestyle and that of the Deceased by paying their private
expenses and their children’s
living costs, with the rental
monies that were earned by the liquidated companies.
15. The liquidators of
the four companies then instituted action proceedings against the
First Respondent for the recovery of the
rental monies. The First
Respondent was sued and was declared to be personally liable for the
debt of the companies since she misappropriated
the rental income.
She mismanaged the companies by failing to, inter alia submit tax
returns.
16. The First
Respondent’s defence was struck by this Court for failure to
comply with the Uniform Rules of Court. Judgment
was then ultimately
granted against the First Respondent, whereafter she was resultantly
sequestrated.
17. The First Respondent
refused to co-operate with the appointed trustees of her insolvent
estate. This resulted in that the creditors
of her insolvent estate,
yet again, to resort to an enquiry to establish what she had done
with the monies she misappropriated.
18. It was ultimately
established that the First Respondent herself, owned fixed property,
known as portion 3 of the farm Onverwacht
72, and farm Weltevreden
19, both farms which are situated in the Welkom district in the Free
State Province.
19. Both these farms were
sold by the First Respondent during the period when litigation was
ongoing between herself and the liquidators
of the aforementioned
four Companies.
20. From the preliminary
investigation and at the enquiry, it was discovered that these farms
were sold for an amount of R4 million.
The Conveyancing attorneys
received instruction from the First Respondent to transfer the
balance of the proceeds of this sale
in the amount of R 3 530 532-47
(three million five hundred and thirty thousand five hundred and
thirty-two rand and forty-seven
cents) to Discovery invest.
21. During the period of
the transfer of the above amount to Discovery invest, it was also
ultimately discovered that the First
Respondent was advised by a
financial advisor to register a family trust, known as the Zelma Esme
Coetzee Family Trust. The liquidators
approached Discovery Invest and
requested it to provide them with details as to the client on whose
behalf these funds were paid
to them.
22. Following the
aforementioned enquiry a subpoena was issued by the Master of this
Court, securing the attendance of Messrs Discovery
Invest at the
enquiry. Thereupon, Discovery Invest provided documentary proof
confirming that the proceeds of the sale of the farms
were indeed
transferred into a Discovery Invest Savings Account, held in the name
of none other than the Zelma Esme Coetzee Family
Trust.
23. The aforementioned
trust invested a lump sum of R3 500 000-00 (Three Million
Five Hundred Thousand Rands) with Discovery.
24. The trust was
registered with the Master of the High Court in Johannesburg with
domicilium
address, being the address of the Property from
which the Applicants now seek the eviction of the First Respondent
and all those
occupying through or under her. Furthermore, the
beneficiaries of the Family Trust are the First Respondent and her
children with
the late Coetzee.
25. The First Respondent
was at the time of the transfer of the proceeds (to Discovery)
factually insolvent and she could not pay
any of her debts to the
liquidators of the four companies. As such the provisions of Section
26 of the
Insolvency Act, 24 of 1935
found application.
26. The proceeds obtained
by the First Respondent from the farms that were sold, were utilised
to purchase the Property through
the aforementioned insolvent
Company, of which the First Respondent was the sole shareholder.
Legal Arguments
27. In the Founding
Affidavit the Applicants argue that the First Respondent, and all
those occupying the Property under her, are
unlawful occupiers as
they occupy premises without their consent, and without any other
right in law to occupy the Property.
28. Counsel for the
Applicants argued further that it is just and equitable that the
First and Second Respondents be evicted from
the Property since the
property in question forms part of the insolvent estate of the
liquidated company. The liquidators have
a real right to the
property, as envisaged by the PIE Act, and have the duty to deal with
the property in the best interest of
the various creditors of the
insolvent estates.
LOCUS STANDI
29. Section 4 (1) of the
PIE provides as follows:
4. (1) Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary contained in any law or the common law, the
provisions of this section apply to
proceedings by an owner or person
in charge of land for the eviction of an unlawful occupier.
30.
Perusing the Opposing Affidavit, it is patently clear that the First
Respondent does take an issue with the fact that the Applicants,
by
virtue of their appointment as liquidators and whether they, have the
requisite locus standi to seek her eviction. The First
Respondent
does not advance anything that ought to dissuade this Court from
granting the Applicants the relief that they seek.
31. An executor of an
estate, or a trustee, liquidator or curator
bonis
of a
personal entity owning immovable property from which it is sought to
evict an unlawful occupier, has locus standi to bring
an application
in terms of Section 4 (1) or 5 (1) of the PIE Act. In
Yarram
Trading CC t/a Tijuana Spur v Absa Bank Ltd
2007 (2) SA 570
(SCA)
at
577 D-H
it was said that executors, trustees, liquidators and
curators have
locus standi
in terms of the PIE Act proceedings
by virtue of them being ‘’persons in charge of land.’’
32.
In
Chetty v Naidoo
1974 (3) SA 13
(A) at 20A –E; Belmont House v Gore N.N.O.2011 (6) SA 173
(WCC)
,
the
liquidators of a company successfully brought eviction proceedings.
A
trustee or liquidator
is therefore on the
same footing a normal owner regarding the common law principle that
the owner may claim his property wherever
found from whoever holding
it.
33.
The Company was liquidated by this Court which found that it was used
as a vehicle through which money was dissipated.
34. The Applicants, in
their capacities as the duly appointed joint provisional liquidators
of K2015314311 (PTY) Ltd the liquidated
Company, (which is the
registered owner of the Property) have now stepped into the shoes of
the owners of the Property and they
now seek to evict the First and
Second Respondents.
35. As proof of their
representative capacities, the Applicants attached as Annexure “FA2’’
their Certificate
of Appointments in their Founding Affidavit. The
Applicants have been authorised by the Master of the High Court
insofar as it
might be necessary, to prosecute this Application for
Eviction.
36. It is interesting to
note that it was not denied that most of the litigious matters came
before this Court on an opposed basis,
inter alia matters opposed by
the First Respondent herself. This Court found in each and every
matter in favour of the creditors
and the liquidated entities, and
not the First Respondent. Now to come and question the
locus
standi
of the Applicants at this stage cannot be justified.
37. It then follows that
the Property which vests within the insolvent estate of the
liquidated company, now for all intents and
purposes have become the
property of the Applicants. The Applicants are the custodians of the
Property, in that they are duty bound
to deal with the Property as a
result of their obligation toward the creditors of the Company, inter
alia the insolvent estate
of the First Respondent and in turn, the
creditors of her and her late husband’s insolvent estates.
ANSWERING
AFFIDAVIT
38.
Regarding the personal circumstances in the Answering Affidavit of
the First Respondent the following are worth mentioning and
are
common cause:
38.1. The First
Respondents’ husband Simon Coetzee passed on during the course
of 2022.
37.2. The First
Respondent is still occupying the subject property and is refusing to
vacate same.
38.3. The First
Respondent has 4 (four) sons all of whom are trustees of the Zelma
Esme Coetzee Family Trust, which offsprings are
all adult working
males, able to earn an income which could also assist with the future
accommodation of the First Respondent.
39.
The First Respondent is litigating in person. The Affidavit is
couched in a story-like manner. From the first paragraph of the
Affidavit, this Court has noted that the first Respondent appreciates
the nature, and resultant relief sought, of the current Application
for Eviction. The First Respondent states that she, and her late
husband, have been occupying the Property for 31 years. This seems
to
be the high-watermark of her opposition.
40.
She is still occupying the Property, and that she is’ still
taking care” of her major son, who is currently 45 years
old.
According to the First Respondent, her son has very little to no
prospects of employment”. She however, does not append
any
medical proof, nor a report from an industrial psychologist to
underscore this sweeping statement.
41.
The First Respondent believes that the only reason for her eviction
is that ‘’
I have lost ownership thereof (with
reference to the subject immovable property) in that I was
sequestrated under master’s
reference T[…]”.
Therefore, if her personal circumstances are as mentioned above
she cannot lose the Property.
42. Paragraph 17 of the
Replying Affidavit states very clearly that it is also common cause
that the Company became the owner of
the Property after the joint
ownership of the First Respondent and the late Simon Coetzee was
declared insolvent. This led to the
liquidation and sequestration,
and all other litigious processes, between the parties. Therefore,
there is nothing about “
family’s total financial
destruction”.
I hold the view that the Coetzee’s, as
I shall call them are the authors of their own demise.
43.
In paragraph 4 of this Affidavit, she alleges that ‘’two
other families” share the residence. What is however
glaringly
absent, are Confirmatory Affidavits deposed to by the
alleged
other occupants of this property.
44. In paragraph 5 the
First Respondent makes a pertinent allegation that the current
Application for her eviction forms part of
“
a
pattern
of my and
my family’s total financial destruction
”.
The background above set out the facts which led to the liquidation
and sequestration, and all other litigious processes
between the
parties. Therefore, I cannot see how these litigations between the
parties being “a pattern of the Respondents’
family’s’
total financial destruction”.
45. Paragraph 7 of the
First Respondent confirms that the liquidated the Company,
(K2015314311 (Pty) Ltd), indeed acquired the Property
on auction and
that the Property is one of its “main assets”
46. She furthermore
confirms in paragraph 8 of the Affidavit that subsequent to the
sequestration of her estate, her “main
asset’’ was
her shareholding in the aforementioned liquidated company.
47. In paragraph 12 she
denies that herself, and the Second Respondents are illegal occupiers
of the Property, as they have occupied
same for 31 years. This does
not pass muster. This could not be cogent or meritorious reasons as
to why she and the other occupiers
should not be considered an
illegal occupier for purposes of the provisions of the Pie Act.
48. She argues that the
current Application for Eviction is “fatally flawed’’
as she believes that the Applicants
have “omitted to inform the
court of the full facts of the matter’’. She does not
elaborate on this sweeping
statement, nor does she refer this Court,
either in fact, or in law, to ‘’full facts” that
ought to persuade
this Court to dismiss this Application.
49. The First Respondent
seeks the following order:
(a) That this Court
declares these proceedings
ultra vires
;
(b) Review the
Applicants’ claim in view of the Applicants’ perjury in
replication of her affidavit;
(c) The Application be
dismissed with costs on a
de propiis
basis;
(d) The Applicants be
ordered to reimburse all utility bills and maintenance expenses
incurred since the liquidation of K 2015314311;
(e) The Application for
eviction be dismissed and the property be sold with lifelong
occupants and Applicants be held liable for
all utility bills as well
as costs incurred in defending this matter on a punitive basis.
50. It is noted that the
First Respondent has not instituted a counter application and no
basis is set out for the relief that she
seeks in the above
paragraphs. The reliefs are incompetent, and without merit. The First
Respondent simple does not make any allegations
to sustain the
reliefs sought in her Prayers.
51. The First Respondent
proffered to this Court in her Affidavit, to grant her the reliefs
that she seeks. However, she and her
four children, participated in
the collusive disposition in that they are all members and
beneficiaries of the Trust that was registered
as a shareholder of
liquidated Company.
52. With regards to the
reliefs that the First Respondent seeks in this affidavit, I hold the
view that no basis is set out for
any of the requests, all the more
not for reimbursements of maintaining the properly, municipal rates
and taxes, or any other expense
that the First Respondent now
attempts to reclaim from the Applicants.
REPLYING AFFIDAVIT
53. The Applicants’
Replying affidavit was served on the First Respondent upon Mr Martin
Coetzee, her son, on 3 January 2024.
The deponent to this
Affidavit states that the First Respondents Answering Affidavit was
never served upon the Applicants’
attorney of record. The
Answering Affidavit only came to the deponent‘s attention when
the Court file was organised and prepared
for final enrolment on the
previous date for hearing.
54. The Applicants
applied for condonation for the late filing of the Replying
Affidavit, at the hearing of the matter which was
granted.
55. In paragraph 12 of
this Affidavit, the deponent thereto, in detail sets out the dealings
with the First Respondent’s son,
Martin Jacobus Petrus Coetzee,
during the insolvency enquiry. During that inquiry, it was not
revealed as to why the young Coetzee
is unemployed. The First
Respondent is neither a qualified medical practitioner, nor has she
presented “inability to work”.
His own Confirmatory
Affidavit is also tellingly absent from the Answering Affidavit.
56.
Instead of dealing with the allegations contained in the Founding
Affidavit head-on, the First Respondent rather elects to launch
a
scathing personal attack upon the Applicant’s attorney of
record, Mr Pieter Hendrick Strydom. She inter alia, accused Mr
Strydom of applying bullying tactics and intimidating her.
57. In dealing with the
allegations made by the First Respondent against attorney Strydom,
positive averment is made that attorney
Strydom has not been
appointed as liquidator for the insolvent Company, and that he was
merely mandated by the Applicants, given
his extensive background to
the matter, and in order to save costs, that briefing him would bring
about.
58. The personal attack
launched by the First Respondent against Mr Strydom it is pertinently
stated in paragraph 17.11 of this
Affidavit. It is not the
Applicants’ attorney, being Mr Strydom that litigated against
the First Respondent. It was in fact
the creditors and the
representatives of the liquidated companies and sequestrated estates
that pursued litigations against the
First Respondent. To bring such
an attack against Mr Strydom cannot be justified and is unwarranted.
PIE ACT
59. The Applicants
brought an application for the eviction of the First and Second
Respondents in terms of the provisions of the
PIE Act. The basis of
the Applicants’ claim for the eviction is that the Respondents
are unlawful occupiers of the Property
which is situated in Boksburg.
60. Counsel for the
Applicants argued that no lawful causes exist for the continued
occupation by the Respondents on the Property.
As a result of their
continued unlawful occupation, the Applicants are hindered in
proceeding with their duties regarding the administration
of the
insolvent estate.
61. PIE Act prescribes a
two- fold enquiry. The court first determines whether the person in
respect of whom the eviction order
is sought, is an unlawful
occupier. This is a procedural requirement regarding notification of
the person or persons sought to
be evicted on the date of the
hearing, over and above the requirements of service as determined by
the Rules of the applicable
Court’s. It does not involve a
decision on the merits. In the present case the Applicants properly
complied with provisions
of Section 4(2) of the PIE Act.
62.
If that is the case then, the court, secondly decides if it is just
and equitable to grant an eviction order. This stage
involves the
merits and is dealt with on the date of the hearing of the actual
application for eviction. See
Theart
& Another v Minnaar N. O.; Senekal v Winskor 174(Pty) Ltd
2010
(3) SA 327
(SCA)
.
63. Section 1 of PIE Act
defines “unlawful occupier’’ as: -
“
A
person who occupies land without the express or tacit consent of the
owner or person in charge, or without any other right in
law to
occupy such land, excluding a person who is an occupier in terms of
the extension of security of tenure act, 1997, and excluding
a person
whose informal right to land, but for the provisions of this act,
would be protected by the provisions of the interim
protection of
Informal Lands Rights Act 1996 (Act 31 of 1996).
’’
I will start by
discussing the land, consent, the Extension of Security of Tenure Act
and thereafter Section 4 of the PIE
.
Land
64. Section 1 of the PIE
defines “land’’ to include a portion of land which
is occupied by persons that occupy
it unlawfully, although the
occupation was previously lawful. Section 2 further stipulates that
PIE applies in respect of land
throughout the Republic of South
Africa, unless ESTA applies. Thus, PIE Act applies to municipal,
private and state-owned land.
The definition of “land” in
PIE should be interpreted to include any building or structure on the
land in question.
Consent
65.
The definition of consent was dealt with extensively in the case of
Residents of
Jo Slovo Community Western Cape
v Thubelisha Homes
& Others
2010 (3) SA454 (CC)
which
the court described as voluntary agreement. The Court at para 56
referred with approval to the same interpretation given to
the term
“consent” in Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA)
by the land claims Court in
Landbou
Navorsingraad v Klaasssen
2005
(3) SA 410
(LCC)
2003 (1) SA 113
(SCA)
.
66. The Court went on to
say in paragraph 57:
“
There
is no reason why consent in the PIE Act should have another meaning.
It means voluntary agreement. If consent
means voluntary
agreement, then tacit consent means a tacit voluntary agreement.
The meaning of tacit consent is therefore
inextricably bound up with
what is meant by a tacit agreement.”
67. Perusing the
Founding, Answering and Replying Affidavits it is evident that the
First and Second Respondents did not previously
have the current
owners consent whether express or tacit to occupy the Property nor
does such consent currently exist.
68. The First Respondent
submitted that she and her children have been living in the Property
for more than 31 years and therefore
cannot be evicted.
69.
The First and Second Respondents’ occupation might initially
have been lawful, same is no longer the case subsequent to
the
winding-up of their entity in whose name the Property is registered.
See:
Ndlovu
v Ngcobo;Bekker and Borch v Jika (240/2001,136/2002
[2002] ZASCA 87
.
The First and
Second Respondents are therefore unlawful occupiers.
70. Therefore, the basic
principles underlined by, and inclusion of the common law, relate to
a large extent to the interpretation
of the definition of “unlawful
occupier” that include occupiers who occupied lawfully but
whose occupation become unlawful.
71. I hold the view that
the First and the Second Respondents fall squarely within the
definition of ‘’unlawful occupier’’
as set
out in Section 1 of PIE. The First Respondent, and those occupying
under her, are persons who occupy land without the express
or tacit
consent.
Extension of Security
of Tenure Act.
72. One of the defences
raised by the Respondents is the provision of the Extension of
Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1999 ESTA
.
ESTA
provides for the protection of an occupier that has, as of 4 February
1997, or thereafter, had consent or another right in
law to occupy
the land in question in contrast to unlawful occupiers which fall
under PIE.
73. The criteria for the
applicability of ESTA are as follows:-
73.1 The land must be
rural and not part of township;
73.2 The person occupying
must be doing so with express or tacit consent or another right in
law to do so; and
73.3 The occupier must
have an income of less than R5 000-00 (Five Thousand Rand per
month. If the above criteria are present,
a person occupying land is
protected by ESTA and may only be evicted in terms of ESTA.
73.4. Furthermore, the
relevant property must also be rural and not agricultural land, and
that the absence of any other criteria
for the applicability of ESTA
result therein that the provisions of PIE will apply to the First and
Second Respondents’ unlawful
occupation.
74. The First
Respondents’ reliance on ESTA is misplaced for the following
reasons:
74.1 ESTA is applicable
only to non-urban land, or land in an urban area that has been
designated for agricultural use.
This Court has however
noted that the subject immovable property is situated in Libradene
Boksburg, being a residential urban suburb,
and as such, the said
land is neither non-urban land, nor land designated for agriculture
use.
74.2 The First Respondent
also does not make the averment that she has an income of less than
R5000-00 (Five Thousand Rand) per
month.
75. The First and Second
Respondents do not qualify as “occupiers’’ for
purposes of ESTA. Their continued occupation
is neither by consent,
nor as a result of any other right in law. The immovable property
forming the subject matter of the current
application, is urban
property which then falls within the scope and ambit of the
provisions of the PIE Act.
Section 4
76. In terms of Section 4
(8) an eviction order is made subject to the raising
by the
unlawful occupier of a valid defence. It has been held that these
provisions place an onus on the unlawful occupier to adduce
sufficient facts to enable the court to exercise its discretion
regarding the question of whether an order should be just and
equitable. The SCA states it as follows in
Ndlovu v Ngcobo; Bekker
& Bosch v Jika
supra paragraph 19
“
Another
material consideration is that of the evidential onus provided the
procedural requirements have been met, the owner is entitled
to
approach the court on a basis of ownership and the respondents
unlawful occupation, unless the occupier opposes and disclose
circumstances relevant to the eviction order, the owner, in
principle, will be entitled to an order for eviction. Relevant
circumstances
are nearly without fail facts within the exclusive
knowledge of the occupier and it cannot be expected of an owner to
negative
in advance facts known to him and not in issue between the
parties.”....
77. What is just and
equitable must include the circumstances of both sides, the unlawful
occupier and the owner. Even a bona fide
claim by an occupier
regarding ownership of the property may be a relevant circumstance a
court should take into account only when
considering an eviction.
78. In terms of Section 4
(6) and (7) various circumstances are relevant in the determination
by the court of whether it is just
and equitable to grant an eviction
order. These circumstances include the rights and needs of the
elderly, children, disabled persons
and households headed by a woman,
as well as the availability of land for relocation. None of these
circumstances are applicable
here.
79.
It was held in
Johannesburg
Housing Corporation (Pty) Ltd v Unlawful Occupiers of Newtown Urban
Village
2013 (1) SA 583
(GSJ)
at
paragraph 51:
“
that
in
the
determination as to whether it would be ‘just and equitable’
to grant an eviction order, the test has to be, in
theory, an
objective one”.
80.
I
hold the view that the First and Second Respondents have no any other
right in the Property other than
convenience, and it being a
comfortable place for them to continue residing.
81. Therefore, having
regard to the prevailing circumstances as more fully alluded to in
the Founding and Replying Affidavits, the
First and Second
Respondents are indeed illegal occupiers, and that same is not
meaningfully disputed by the First Respondent.
They simply have no
right to occupy the property, and despite the First Respondent’s
best protestations to the contrary,
the arguments advanced by her in
the Answering Affidavit are sadly without merit.
82. PIE is regulatory and
does not divest an owner of his property. Instead, it provides a
basis upon which the judiciary can and
must regulate the exercise the
owner’s proprietary right to possession against unlawful
occupier, in a manner that, as far
as is practically achievable
remains consistent with the bill of rights and the constitution.
83. The purpose of the
PIE Act is to regulate the eviction of unlawful occupiers from land
in a fair manner, while recognizing the
right of land owners to apply
to a Court for an eviction order in appropriate circumstances. In the
present Application the Applicants
did not summarily seek the
expulsion of someone from their home, and they are prosecuting the
application for eviction strictly
in line with the prevailing
legislation applicable to evictions.
84.
I hold the view that sufficient grounds exist for this Court to
declare that the First and Second Respondents are unlawful occupiers,
in accordance with the provisions of the PIE Act.
The
First and Second Respondents have presented absolutely no facts in
support of their attempt to convince this Court that their
continued
occupation of the property is warranted, and that a period of (sixty)
days be afforded to them to vacate the property,
that same is just,
equitable and reasonable under the prevailing circumstances.
Conclusion
85. The Company with its
sole director, being the First Respondent and its members being the
family of the First Respondent was
nothing more than an artificial
vessel used by the First and Second Respondents to conceal assets.
This led to numerous creditors
of the First and the Second
Respondents’ insolvent estate being defrauded. This seems to be
yet another cog in the elaborate
scheme to hide the proceeds of the
sale of the farms and to secure the property for the benefit of the
First Respondent, only.
86. The First and Second
Applicants being the liquidators of the Company, now have to sell the
Property and repay the proceeds to
estate of the First Respondent,
who in turn has to repay a dividend to the insolvent companies from
where the proceeds originated
to be paid ultimately to the Friendly
Loan Investors.
87. The Applicants cannot
be forced to accommodate the First and Second Respondents who are
unlawful occupiers, to the detriment
of the general body of creditors
of the insolvent estate. This Court, ought to indefinitely defer the
Applicants’ right to
vacant occupation of the property, for
purposes of administrating the insolvent estate.
88. The First and Second
Respondents’ continued occupation of the property is currently
jeopardising the property to be realised
for value, to the detriment
of the insolvent company’s general body of creditors.
89. The continued
occupation of the Property by the First and Second Respondents
hampers the administration and finalisation of
the insolvent state of
the corporate entity, once again to the prejudice of the creditors of
the insolvent estate.
90. Having said that I
hold the view that neither the First Respondent, nor the Second
Respondent, are persons occupying the land
with a right in law to do
so. So, it is just equitable for this Court to make the following
order:
Order
(a) The First and
Second Respondents are hereby evicted from 1[…] G[…]
Road, L[…], Boksburg.
(b) The Sheriff of
this Court is authorised to execute the order for eviction.
MOLEFE MATSEMELA
Acting Judge of the
North Gauteng High Court
This judgement is handed
down by electronically circulating among the parties via emails and
loading it on case lines. The date
of the hand down is deemed to be
13 April 2025
Heard
:
21 January 2025
Delivered:
13 April 2025
For the
Applicants
Adv Z Schoeman
Instructed
by
Strydom & Bredenkamp Inc
For the Respondents
In Person
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