Case Law[2025] ZAGPPHC 763South Africa
Burgerbrug Beleggings (Pty) Ltd v City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (20135/2022) [2025] ZAGPPHC 763 (21 July 2025)
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## Burgerbrug Beleggings (Pty) Ltd v City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (20135/2022) [2025] ZAGPPHC 763 (21 July 2025)
Burgerbrug Beleggings (Pty) Ltd v City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (20135/2022) [2025] ZAGPPHC 763 (21 July 2025)
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sino date 21 July 2025
REPUBLIC
OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA
Case
Number: 20135/2022
(1) REPORTABLE: NO
(2)
OF INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES
(3)
REVISED: NO
DATE:
21 JULY 2025
SIGNATURE
In
the matter between:
BURGERBRUG
BELEGGINGS (PTY) LTD
Applicant
and
CITY
OF TSHWANE METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY
Respondent
JUDGMENT
MODIBA, J
[1]
In an amended notice of motion, Burgerbrug
Beleggings (Pty) Ltd (Burgerbrug) seeks a suite of relief. It seeks a
review and setting
aside of contravention notices (the notices) the
City of Tshwane (the City) issued to it in terms of section 14(4) of
the National
Building Regulations and Building Standards Act 103 of
1977 (the Act), and regulation A25(10) of the National Building
Regulations
promulgated in terms of the Act (the regulations), the
City’s Town Planning Scheme (TPS) read with the Spatial
Planning and
Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013 (SPLUMA), the Land
Use Management By-Law (the by-law) and the Town Planning and
Townships Ordinance
15 of 1986 (Ordinance). The City issued the
notices in respect of portion R/32 of the Farm Klipfontein 268 –
JR (the property).
Burgerbrug also seeks an order declaring certain
statutory and regulatory provisions in respect of planning and
building regulations
(the impugned provisions) to be unconstitutional
on the basis that they are incompatible with the right to freedom and
security
of the person, human dignity and just administrative action.
Consequent upon the declaration of constitutional invalidity,
Burgerbrug
seeks remedial relief which I will describe shortly. The
City opposes the application.
[2]
In the event that it obtains the review and
declaratory relief, Burgerbrug seeks a reading down of the impugned
provisions to absolve
it from criminal liability as the development
activities which occurred on the property in contravention of the
applicable planning
and building prescripts, were allegedly
undertaken without its will and knowledge. It also seeks an order
compelling the municipality
to enforce the applicable planning and
building prescripts against the unlawful occupiers of the property;
and payment by the City
to Burgerbrug, of compensation or
expropriation in the public interest.
[3]
The background facts are largely
undisputed. Middemeer Beleggings, an entity associated with
Burgerbrug, acquired the property in
1965 as an investment, with a
view to developing it for industrial purposes in the future. That
plan never materialized. When the
circumstances that gave rise to
this application occurred, the property was registered to Burgerbrug
as its owner.
[4]
Burgerbrug is a private entity with limited
liability, incorporated in terms of South Africa’s company
laws. Its main business
is the ownership and letting of immovable
property. The City is a metropolitan municipality established in
terms of the
Local Government: Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998
(Structures Act) as provided for in s 155(1)(a) of the Constitution.
It is cited as the authority responsible for implementing
and
enforcing the statutory and regulatory scheme set out in the Act,
regulations, and TPS in its area of jurisdiction. It does
so through
criminal prosecution or civil interdictory proceedings.
[5]
The property is situated near Sefako
Makgatho Health Sciences University (previously known as MEDUNSA);
Rosslyn, best known for
its automotive industries, and Soshanguve, a
township whose residents were resettled from Mamelodi and
Atteridgeville. The property
is zoned for agricultural use in terms
of the TPS. In terms of s 26 of SPLUMA, TPS is an adopted and
approved land use scheme,
has the force of law, and is binding upon
all landowners and users. This means that the property may only be
used for agricultural
purposes. Any alternative use will only be
permitted if an application for the intended use was successfully
made to the City in
terms of its by-laws. Such alternative use could
include content use, granting development rights without changing the
formal zoning
of the property. An application for alternative use of
the property has not been made.
[6]
The property is located near an urban edge
as designated in the City’s Regional Spatial Development
Framework (SDF), with
no access to water or sewerage reticulation. An
urban edge is a virtual development boundary which serves to control
urban sprawl
by mandating that the area inside the boundary be used
for high density urban development, and the area outside for lower
density
and/or future development, and/or green open spaces. Over
time, the surrounding areas became densely populated by informal
housing
developments and light and heavy industry. Crime, including
theft, became rampant. As a result, when the property was still
registered
to it, Middemeer Beleggings could not use the property or
find a tenant.
[7]
Ms Karien van Niekerk (Ms Van Niekerk) was
Middemeer Beleggings’ General Manager.
Mr
Kalla Krebs (Mr Krebs) was its Buildings and Facilities Manager. The
two visited and inspected the property twice or thrice a
year. When
they did so in 2019, there was no incident. The property was still
vacant. Burgerbrug and Middemeer Beleggings embarked
on an
amalgamation transaction in 2019. As part of that process, Ms Van
Niekerk instructed Mr Jaco Goosen (Mr Goosen) to do a property
valuation. This required him to visit the property. It is unclear
when ownership of the property was passed to Burgerbrug. Burgerbrug
alleges that it has not developed the property due to its location.
Since the property had not been developed when the circumstances
that
led to this application occurred, the City only levied municipal
rates and taxes on the property, calculated based on its
permitted
use.
[8]
Ms Van Niekerk and Mr Krebs could not visit
the property for almost two years, purportedly due to the Covid-19
pandemic. In early
2021, Mr Goosen visited the property for a purpose
unrelated to the evaluation that he had conducted in 2019, and found
that the
property had been unlawfully occupied. He addressed an email
to Ms Van Niekerk on 2 February 2021 to enquire if she was aware of
the development on the property. When Ms Van Niekerk visited the
property with Mr Krebs on 5 February 2021, they found that a township
with brick-and-mortar houses and what appeared to be municipal
offices had been established on the property.
[9]
As advised by the Chairperson in the office
of the Mayor, Counsellor Gert Pretorius, Ms Van Niekerk laid
trespassing charges against
the occupiers of the property with the
police. When no response was forthcoming from the police, Mr Krebs
visited the police station
in April 2021 and was provided with a case
number. He unsuccessfully followed up with the police for several
months thereafter.
[10]
On 21 September 2021, Burgerbrug’s Ms
Nadia Wiedeman reported the land invasion to the City’s land
contraventions department,
requesting assistance. Notwithstanding all
these efforts, the City served notices on Burgerbrug, reflecting
incorrect erf numbers.
In response to the notices, on 30 September
2021, Burgerbrug wrote a letter to the City, explaining the
circumstances surrounding
the development on its property, the
efforts it made to address it, lack of response by the police and the
City; and pleading its
innocence.
[11]
On 1 October 2021, the City responded that
it has a statutory duty to use its resources in the best interests of
the local community.
Assisting with evictions on private property
falls outside its mandate. It urged Burgerbrug to evict the occupiers
at its expense
and secure its property. On 12 October 2021, the City
issued Burgerbrug with fresh contravention notices reflecting correct
erf
numbers. It is these corrected notices, and not the ones
containing the incorrect erf numbers, that Burgerbrug impugns in this
application.
[12]
On 17 November 2021, Ms Van Viekerk,
Burgerbrug’s attorney, who is also its director and its legal
counsel, visited the property
and found 150-170 houses and buildings
erected thereon. The occupiers were hostile towards them and
threatened to kill them. They
were provided with the occupiers’
version of the circumstances under which they allegedly gained
occupation of the property
by a person who identified himself as a
community leader.
[13]
The City correctly impugns the occupiers’
version as hearsay. Confirmatory affidavits by persons with personal
knowledge of
the alleged facts are not attached. It seeks the
relevant paragraphs struck out from Burgerbrug’s founding
affidavit. I am
satisfied that the City is entitled to such an order.
The remainder of paragraph 8.8 starting with the words ‘
He
told us that they all bought stands on the property from …’
as well as paragraph 8.9 of Burgerbrug’s
founding affidavit, are accordingly struck out.
[14]
Against this background, Burgerbrug
contends that:
14.1
the occupiers unlawfully invaded its land. The City and specifically,
its land invasion department
and the police, have failed to
proactively respond to this occurrence, despite its request for their
assistance to prevent the
unlawful land invasion. This constitutes
wanting conduct which brings the criminal justice system into
disrepute;
14.2
the police inaction was probably based on the National Instruction 7
of 2017 - Unlawful Occupation
of Land and Evictions (the SAPS
national instruction) which regards occupiers as persons who enjoy
legal protection in terms of
the Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act 3
of 1996 (the LTA), the Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1997
(ESTA) or the Prevention
of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful
Occupation of Land Act 19 of 1998 (the PIE Act). These statutes
prohibit their eviction without
a court order. By giving occupiers
under these circumstances immunity from prosecution for trespassing,
the author of the SAPS
national instruction acted ultra-vires. It is
as a result of the ultra-vires SAPS national instruction and wrong
interpretation
of the legislation on which it is based that a person
who initially trespasses onto land, who is guilty of all elements of
the
crime of trespassing, undergoes a metamorphoses from a
perpetrator of trespassing, to a person who, by taking the further
step
of unlawfully erecting a structure on someone else’s
property, is constitutionally protected and immune from prosecution.
The SAPS national instruction wrongly absolves the police from any
responsibility to protect private property, and effectively
removes
the deterring effect that the crime of trespassing is required and
intended to have on land invasions;
14.3
it is irrational to threaten Burgerbrug with civil and criminal
sanctions when the invasion of
its land was caused by the culpable
neglect of the City under circumstances where it has the statutory
authority to address the
consequences of land invasion in terms of
the impugned legislation and its building control and management and
control of informal
settlements regulations and by-laws;
14.4
to enforce the notices against Burgerbrug and its directors who had
no criminal intent, and who
took active steps to prevent the
contraventions from occurring, is unconstitutional and renders the
notices subject to judicial
review.
[15]
Burgerbrug seeks a declaration of the
unconstitutionality of the impugned provisions for the following
reasons:
15.1
they render it criminally liable for offenses committed regarding the
development activities
carried out on the property, despite the
activities being conducted without its knowledge and against its
will;
15.2
they compel it to correct the alleged contraventions by obtaining
written approvals, demolishing
or removing temporary structures,
containers, and dwellings, as well as clearing any other materials or
debris from the property,
even if the contraventions were not caused
by it.
[16]
Burgerbrug submits that the impugned
provisions are unconstitutional and incompatible with the rights to
freedom and security, human
dignity, and just administrative action.
Hence, it requests this Court to read them down to restrict the
property owner’s
legal liability to cases where they
intentionally performed an act or omission that directly caused a
contravention of the impugned
provisions on its property.
[17]
The City opposes the legality review for
the following reasons:
17.1
the establishment of a township without the property being rezoned
constitutes a contravention
of clause 14(4), read with clause 14(3),
of the TPS. In terms of clause 36 of the TPS, read with s 40(2) of
the Ordinance, any
person who commits, or knowingly permits a
contravention of any of the provisions of the TPS or of the
requirements of any order
or notice issued, or conditions imposed in
terms of the TPS, shall be guilty of an offence. Section 4 of the Act
makes provision
for approval by local authorities of applications for
the erection of buildings. In terms of s 4(1), no person shall,
without the
prior approval in writing of the local authority in
question, erect any building in respect of which plans and
specifications are
to be drawn and submitted in terms of the Act. The
buildings which were erected on the property contravene s 14(4) of
the Act as
they are occupied without a certificate of occupancy
issued in terms of s 14(1) of the Act, read with the regulations. In
terms
of s 14(4)(a)(i) of the Act, it is an offence to occupy a
building without a certificate of occupancy being issued by the City.
The buildings erected have been erected on Burgerbrug’s
property, it is therefore its responsibility to evict and demolish
the buildings, lest it holds it criminally liable for the alleged
contraventions;
17.2
when it issued the notices, it acted within the scope of its powers
in terms of the impugned
provisions. It is the owner’s
responsibility to ensure that its property complies with the
applicable planning and building
regulation prescripts. It has the
duty to exercise the municipality’s executive and legislative
authority and use the resources
of the municipality in the best
interests of the local community at large, not in the best interests
of a private juristic person;
17.3
from the date Burgerbrug was made aware of the invasion, to date, it
has done nothing to correct
the contraventions. Bringing this
application, does not suspend its duty to comply with the applicable
statutory and regulatory
provisions. Therefore, Burgerbrug remains in
wilful default.
[18]
The City further contends that Burgerbrug
had two effective alternative relief options, but has failed to
pursue them:
18.1
instead of bringing an application to review the City’s
decision to issue notices, it should have sought
an eviction order
against the occupiers;
18.2 it
could have applied to the City for the rezoning of the occupied
portion of its property.
[19]
The City also disputes that the notices are
reviewable in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3
of 2000 (PAJA).
With reference to the definition of administrative
action in PAJA, the City contends that issuing the notices does not
constitute
a decision, alternatively, administrative action, and thus
are not reviewable under PAJA. It also contends that Burgerbrug has
failed to set out grounds of review as required in terms of section 6
of PAJA. Therefore, the City further contends, Burgerbrug
has failed
to make out a case for the relief it seeks in terms of PAJA.
[20]
Burgerbrug insists that issuing notices
constitutes administrative action in terms of PAJA, susceptible to
judicial review in terms
of that Act. In any event, in terms of s 172
of the Constitution, the relief it seeks is competent in the event
this Court declares
that the impugned provisions are
unconstitutional.
[21]
Therefore, the following issues are to be
determined:
21.1
whether the municipality’s decision to issue contravention
notices to Burgerbrug is reviewable under
PAJA or the principle of
legality;
21.2
whether the impugned provisions are unlawful and constitutionally
invalid;
21.3
whether the decision should be reviewed and set aside;
21.4
whether the municipality has a duty to enforce the impugned
provisions against the unlawful occupiers.
[22]
Section 1 of PAJA defines administrative
action as:
“
any
decision taken, or any failure to take a decision, by-
(a)
an organ of state, when-
(i) exercising a power in
terms of the Constitution or a provincial constitution; or
(ii) exercising a public
power or performing a public function in terms of any legislation; or
(b)
…
which adversely affects
the rights of any person and which has a direct, external legal
effect, …”
[23]
In
Grey’s
Marine Hout Bay (Pty) Ltd and Others v Minister of Public Works and
Others,
[1]
the
Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) held that:
“
Administrative
action is rather, in general terms, the conduct of the bureaucracy
(whoever the bureaucratic functionary might be)
in carrying out the
daily functions of the state which necessarily involves the
application of policy, usually after its translation
into law, with
direct and immediate consequences for individuals or groups of
individuals.” (footnotes omitted)
[24]
On
a contextual and purposeful reading of the definition of
administrative action, read with the definition of a decision in s 1
of PAJA, which includes, making a demand or requirement, the issuing
of notices constitutes an administrative action in terms of
that
provision. Acting in terms of the impugned provisions, the City
decided to issue the notices to Burgerbrug. The notices constitute
a
demand by the City that Burgerbrug correct the alleged breaches of
the impugned provisions. The City’s reliance on
Minister
of Defence and Military veterans v Motau and Others
[2]
is misplaced. When it issued the notices, the City was not performing
an executive function in terms of the impugned provisions.
It did so
in the conduct of its daily functions, applying the impugned
statutory and regulatory provisions.
[25]
The City’s contention that Burgerbrug
has failed to set out how the issuing of notices adversely affects
its rights and has
an external legal effect is without merit. I find
that Burgerbrug has done so. Since the notices expose Burgerbrug to
criminal
prosecution under circumstances where its constitutional
rights are allegedly infringed, it ought to be able to impugn the
City’s
decision to issue the notices under PAJA. PAJA was
enacted to give effect to the constitutional right to just
administrative action
to, amongst others,
create
a culture of accountability, openness and transparency in the public
administration or in the exercise of a public power
or the
performance of a public function. It empowers parties adversely
affected by administrative action to call organs of state
to account
for and display openness and transparency in their exercise of public
power. This is the purpose Burgerbrug is pursuing
in this
application.
[26]
However, the fact that the City has taken
an administrative action that has an adverse effect on Burgerbrug’s
rights or has
an external legal effect,
per
se
, does not entitle the latter to
relief in terms of PAJA. As contended on behalf of the City,
Burgerbrug has not established any
grounds of review in terms of
PAJA. It is not Burgerbrug’s case that the City acted in breach
of the impugned provisions
when it issued the notices. On
Burgerbrug’s version, the City is empowered by the impugned
provisions to issue the notices.
As I find below, its allegation that
by issuing the notices under circumstances where it had no knowledge
of the developments on
its property constitutes breach of its right
to freedom and security, human dignity and just administrative
action, is bluntly
made. The City’s power to enforce building
and planning regulations against owners and occupiers has been
consistently affirmed
by our courts. So is the duty of an owner to
secure its property against private invasion. Failure by an owner to
secure its property
does not impute a duty on a municipality to
protect it or to remedy the consequences of the owner’s
failures.
[27]
In terms of s 3(1) of PAJA, administrative
action which materially and adversely affects the
rights or legitimate expectations of any person must be procedurally
fair. In
terms of s 3(2)(a), whether administrative procedure is fair
depends on the circumstances of each case.
The
City’s contention that the issuing of the notices meets the
requirements of procedural fairness as provided for in s 3(2)(b)(i)
is unassailable. The notices constitute
adequate
notice of the action the City intends to take against Burgerbrug if
it fails to meet its demand.
[28]
To
the extent that Burgerbrug alleges breach of its right to
administrative action in terms of s 33 of the Constitution, it
conflates
judicial review in terms of PAJA and the principle of
legality in terms of s 172 of the Constitution. In
Bato
Star Fishing (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism and Others,
[3]
citing
with approval
Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers Association of SA and Another: In re Ex parte President
of the Republic of South Africa and Others
,
[4]
the Constitutional Court clarified the position as follows:
“…
the
question of the relationship between the common-law grounds of review
and the Constitution was considered by this Court. A unanimous
Court
held that under our new constitutional order the control of public
power is always a constitutional matter. There are not
two systems of
law regulating administrative action - the common law and the
Constitution - but only one system of law grounded
in the
Constitution. The Courts' power to review administrative action no
longer flows directly from the common law but from PAJA
and the
Constitution itself. The grundnorm of administrative law is now to be
found in the first place not in the doctrine of
ultra vires
,
nor in the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, nor in the common
law itself, but in the principles of our Constitution. The
common law
informs the provisions of PAJA and the Constitution; and derives its
force from the latter. The extent to which the
common law remains
relevant to administrative review will have to be developed on a
case-by-case basis as the Courts interpret
and apply the provisions
of PAJA and the Constitution.” (footnotes omitted)
[29]
Therefore, on the above authorities, since
PAJA gives effect to s 33 of the Constitution, it codifies the
grounds of judicial review
of administrative action. The cause of
action for the judicial review of administrative action now
ordinarily arises from PAJA.
It no longer resides in the common law.
Therefore, Brugerbrug is not entitled to the review of the alleged
breach of s 33 of the
Constitution in terms of s 172 of the
Constitution. For the reasons stated above, Burgerbrug’s review
of the issuing of the
notice in terms of PAJA stands to fail.
[30]
Burgerbrug contends for a legality review
for breach of its rights to human dignity and freedom and security of
the person, but
fails to plead a proper case in that regard. It has
not set out the content of these rights and conduct by the City that
traverses
the content of these rights. It is not its case that the
City unlawfully issued the notices. In terms of s 2 of the
Constitution,
the Constitution is the supreme law of the Republic.
Law or conduct that is inconsistent with the Constitution is invalid,
and
the obligations imposed by it must be fulfilled. Section 172
empowers courts, when deciding a constitutional matter within its
power, to declare that any law or conduct that is inconsistent with
the Constitution is invalid to the extent of its inconsistency;
and
may make any order that is just and equitable.
[31]
Burgerbrug’s contention that it is
irrational to threaten it with civil and criminal sanctions when the
situation was caused
by the neglect of the COT and the SAPS is
inconsistent with Burgerbrug’s case as initially pleaded. When
Mr Goosen went to
the property in 2021, he found that a township has
been developed on the property and it had been occupied. Therefore,
it is incorrect
that the City and the SAPS caused the invasion
through their lack of response to Burgerbrug’s calls for
assistance. The invasion
occurred within the two year period when
Burgerbrug did not inspect the property due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It may be that the
invasion continued after Burgerbrug had become
aware of it and that is what Burgerburg had called on the City and
the SAPS to halt.
However, it downplays its neglect of its own
property. Between 2019 when its officials last visited the property
and 2021 when
it became aware that a township had developed on the
property, on its own version, it was an absent owner. The Covid-19
hard lockdown,
when movement was severely restricted, only endured
for a few months in 2020. Although Covid-19 regulations were only
lifted in
June 2022, the regulations that restricted movement were
gradually lifted from the end of April 2020. Only those prohibiting
evictions
endured until the declaration of a period of national
disaster was ended in June 2022. Nothing prevented Burgerbrug from
taking
measures to interdict the further invasion of the property and
to protect the property from further invasion during this period.
This is its duty as an owner, which it clearly failed to fulfil.
[32]
Although Burgerbrug acknowledges that the
restriction to the police intervention in matters where property is
allegedly unlawfully
occupied in terms of the SAPS national
instructions is grounded on the PIE Act, ESTA and the LTA, it
complains of unfair and irrational
protection of unlawful occupiers,
yet it does not impugn the constitutionality of the relevant
legislation. Therefore, there is
no basis to find that the SAPS
response to Burgerbrug’s calls for intervention is unlawful. It
makes out no case for a finding
that the City’s invasion unit’s
failure to intervene in its case is also unlawful.
[33]
As already stated, the City is empowered by
the impugned regulatory provisions to issue the notices to Burgerbrug
as an owner. Burgerbrug’s
rationality contention is poorly
formulated and lacks substance. The City’s conduct in issuing
the notices, even under the
circumstances alleged by Burgerbrug, is
not unlawful or irrational. The allegation that its right to
security, freedom and human
dignity were infringed by the City lacks
merit. It is unclear on what basis Burgerbrug is seeking this court
to find that the City
infringed these rights when it lacks the
corresponding obligation to protect them under these circumstances.
[34]
The impugned provisions provide for the
liability of owners for breach of the impugned provisions on their
properties. They impute
a duty on owners to ensure that any
development on their properties complies with the impugned
provisions. Burgerbrug clearly failed
in that duty by failing to
secure its property and not inspecting it for a period of almost two
years. When it was made aware of
the alleged unlawful development,
rather than fulfilling its duty as a property owner to secure it to
halt further invasion, it
regarded what had clearly become occupiers
of its property as trespassers and opted to lay criminal charges.
When alerted of the
police lack of authority to act against
occupiers, it sought to impute responsibility on the municipality to
prevent land invasion.
The municipality’s duty to maintain
order does not extend to securing private property or addressing the
difficulty Burgerbrug
finds itself in. It provides no authority for
the duty it seeks to ascribe to the City. It unduly burdened this
Court by copiously
citing authorities in its supplementary heads of
argument that do not support its case, either because the cases are
distinguishable
or the principles applied in those cases do not apply
to the present facts. Dealing specifically with the cited authorities
will
only render this judgment unnecessarily prolix. This probably
explains why the City, in its supplementary heads of argument, did
not specifically respond to the cases Burgerbrug relies on.
[35]
There is no basis for a finding that the
City acted irrationally or unreasonably by issuing the notices to
Burgerbrug and not to
the occupiers. As argued on behalf of the City,
while courts can compel municipalities to act against transgressors,
it does not
lie in their province to prescribe specific enforcement
methods. Municipalities retain the discretion to evaluate
contraventions
and determine appropriate remedies. It issued the
notices within its statutory authority and cannot be faulted.
[36]
As argued on behalf of the City,
Burgerbrug’s prayer for an order to compel the City to proceed
against the unlawful occupiers
is fatal to this application. The
alleged unlawful occupiers have a direct and substantial interest in
the matter. If granted in
their absence; such an order would affect
them prejudicially. Therefore, their non-joinder is material.
[37]
Burgerbrug seeks an order striking out,
with costs, paragraphs 6-53 of the City’s answering affidavit
because they lack probative
value, they deal with advice Burgerbrug
obtained from its legal representative, they constitute argumentative
material and legal
opinions that should not be included in an
affidavit. Save for setting out the basis on which it raises the PAJA
point in
limine
which consists mainly of legal submissions, there is no merit to this
complaint. The PAJA point in
limine,
being a point of law, the City is well within its rights to set out
the legal basis for its case so that Burgerbrug is aware of
the case
it is required to meet. The rest of the City’s answering
affidavit sets out the basis on which it opposes the application
on
the merits.
[38]
In the premises, Burgerbrug’s
legality review also stands to fail. It is not entitled to the
remedial relief that it has prayed
for. Therefore, the following
order is made:
Order
[39]
The application is dismissed with costs.
L.T. MODIBA
JUDGE OF THE HIGH
COURT
GAUTENG DIVISION,
PRETORIA
Appearances
For the
Applicant:
A Vorster
Instructed by Johan
Nysschens Attorneys
For the
Respondent:
T Makola
Instructed by Kutumela
Sithole Attorneys
Date of
hearing:
19 November 2024
Date of
judgment:
21 July 2025
MODE
OF DELIVERY:
This judgment is
handed down virtually on the MS Teams platform and transmitted to the
parties’ legal representatives by email,
uploading on CaseLines
and releasing to SAFLII. The date and time for delivery is deemed to
be 21 July 2025 at 10:00 am
.
[1]
[2005] ZASCA 43
;
2005 (6) SA 313
(SCA) at para 24.
[2]
2014 (5) SA 69 (CC).
[3]
[2004] ZACC 15
;
2004 (4) SA 490
(CC) at para 22.
[4]
2000
(2) SA 674 (CC)
.
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