Case Law[2024] ZAGPPHC 1219South Africa
California Nails Pretoria East (Pty) Ltd v Adeyemi and Others (126746/2024) [2024] ZAGPPHC 1219 (27 November 2024)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria)
27 November 2024
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## California Nails Pretoria East (Pty) Ltd v Adeyemi and Others (126746/2024) [2024] ZAGPPHC 1219 (27 November 2024)
California Nails Pretoria East (Pty) Ltd v Adeyemi and Others (126746/2024) [2024] ZAGPPHC 1219 (27 November 2024)
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sino date 27 November 2024
REPUBLIC
OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA
Case
Number: 126746/2024
(1)
REPORTABLE:
YES
/NO
(2)
OF INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES:
YES
/NO
(3)
REVISED: YES/
NO
DATE:2711/2024
SIGNATURE:
In
the matter between:
CALIFORNIA
NAILS PRETORIA EAST (PTY) LTD
Applicant
and
SAMSON
ADEYEMI
First Respondent
TAMMY
TAYLOR GLOBAL FRANCHISING
Second Respondent
PETRUS
VILJOEN
Third Respondent
METROPROP
(PTY) LTD
Fourth Respondent
JUDGMENT
WENTZEL AJ
Introduction
[1]
This is an application brought by way of
urgency interdicting and restraining the first respondent from
interfering with the business
operations of the applicant trading as
Tammy Taylor Parkview (“
the
business
”) situated at the
Parkview Shopping Centre in Pretoria, which it alleges it purchased
from the first respondent’s agent,
the second respondent, duly
represented by the third respondent.
[2]
The applicant also seeks a declarator in
terms of prayer 4 of the notice of motion in terms of section
21(1)(c) of the Superior
Courts Act 10 of 2013 (“
the
Superior Courts Act
”) that a
valid sale agreement in respect of the business was concluded,
entitling it further to an order (sought under prayer 5
of the notice
of motion) compelling the first, second and third respondents to
transfer of all rights attached to the business
into the name of the
applicant. The second and third respondents consent to this relief in
a letter from their attorney dated 5
November 2024 attached to the
replying affidavit.
[3]
In addition, the applicant seeks an order
in terms of prayer 6 of the notice of motion directing the third
respondent, or any person
instructed by him, to restore the
applicant’s access to the Instagram account operated in the
name of the business (which
it alleges was deactivated on 3 November
2024) and to confirm in writing that this has been done. The second
and third respondent
have, through their attorney, denied that they
have any control over this Instagram account.
[4]
No relief is sought against the fourth
respondent who is cited solely because it is responsible for the
management of shopping centre
at which the business is situated and
collects the rental payments owing by the tenants to the owner of the
shopping centre.
Background facts
[5]
Lerato Maphike (“
Maphike
”)
explains in her founding affidavit that she is involved in the beauty
business and initially wished to purchase a licence
to run a
California Nails franchise owned by California Nails (Pty)Ltd
(“
California Nails
”).
To this end, Maphike states that she formed a company, California
Nails Pretoria East (Pty)Ltd (the applicant), through
which to run a
California Nails franchise business.
[6]
After experiencing considerable delays in
setting up the California Nails franchise business, Petrus Viljoen
(“
Viljoen
”),
who is the third respondent and was the director in control of a
competing franchisor, Tammy Taylor Global Franchising
(“
TTGF
”)
(the second respondent), suggested that Maphike purchase a Tammy
Taylor franchise business situated at the Parkview Shopping
Centre in
Pretoria as a going concern instead.
[7]
Viljoen informed Maphike and her husband,
Siphiso Ngema (“
Ngema
”)
that he had a mandate to sell the business and agreed to sell the
business as a going concern to the applicant on behalf
of the
undisclosed owner for R1.5 million, inclusive of the licence fee of
R300 000 owing to TTGF for the franchise.
[8]
In terms of the written agreement of sale
concluded on 6 May 2024 between the applicant, represented by Ngema,
and TTGF, represented
by Viljoen: (a) An amount of R500 000 was
payable by the applicant to TTGF by the end of the day on 6 May 2024,
plus the licence
fee of R300 000; (b) It was agreed that
Maphike would operate the business on a trial basis for 60 days,
whereafter she would
decide whether to purchase the business;(c)
Should Maphike decide to purchase the business, the balance of
R700 000 owing
would be payable once the lease for the premises
was transferred to the applicant, failing which TTGF would resell the
business
and refund the total amount of R850 000 (in fact
R800 000) paid by the applicant back to the applicant; and (e)
During
the 60-day trial period, the profits and loss for the business
would be for the applicant’s account (“
the
sale agreement
”).
[9]
Acting pursuant to the sale agreement,
payment of the amount of R500 000 was made by the applicant to
TTG and R300 000
was paid to California Nails (Pty) Ltd on 6 May
2024. It is unclear why Viljoen instructed Maphike to pay the agreed
licence fee
to California Nails when the licence fee owing would have
been payable to the second respondent as the owner of the Tammy
Taylor
franchise.
[10]
Maphike took possession of the salon on 7
May 2024. After the expiry of the trial period, Maphike informed
Viljoen that she wished
to proceed with the purchase. Notwithstanding
the terms of the sale agreement, Viljoen insisted that the balance
owing in the amount
of R700 000 be paid to TTGF in order to transfer
the lease in respect of the business premises to the applicant. The
applicant
accordingly made payment of the balance of R700 000 to
TTGF in two tranches, the first in the amount of R500 000 (which
was paid on 2 July 2024) and the second in the amount of R200 000
(which was paid on 4 July 2024).
[11]
Maphike states that since acquiring control
of the business, Samson Adeyemi (“
Adeyemi
”),
who, through his company, ASO Services (Pty) Ltd (“
ASO
”)
owned the business sold, has been attending at the business premises
and demanding payment and/or proof of payment of the
moneys owing in
respect of the sale of the business and threatening to close the
business should payment not be made. True to his
word, on 16 October
2024, Adeyemi forcefully closed the business. In an email sent to
Ngema on the same date, Adeyemi stated that
he would open the
premises again on 17 October 2024 and permit the applicant to
continue to trade but, unless Viljoen made payment
to him in respect
of the sale of the business, he would be retaking possession of the
business as from 1 November 2024.
[12]
On the same date, 16 October 2024, Adeyemi
instructed his attorneys to address correspondence to Viljoen and
TTGF on behalf of ASO
demanding payment in the amount of R850 000 for
the sale of the business, failing which he would take repossession of
the business.
[13]
On 24 October 2024, the applicant’s
attorneys addressed a letter to Adeyemi in which they demanded that
that he immediately
cease and desist from interfering with the
applicant’s business. On the same date, the applicant’s
attorneys addressed
correspondence to Viljoen recording that Viljoen
had insisted that the balance of R700 000 owing in respect of
the business
be paid to TTGF before he would transfer the lease to
the applicant and demanding that he ensure that the lease to the
business
premises was transferred to the applicant.
[14]
Viljoen did not make any payments to
Adeyemi; nor did he take any steps to transfer the lease in respect
of the business premises
to the applicant.
[15]
As Adeyemi had not received payment
from TTGF or Viljoen, he forcefully took control of the business
premises on 1 November 2024
and instructed the fourth respondent,
Metroprop (Pty) Ltd (“
Metroprop
”)
to lock the premises. This act of spoliation caused the applicant to
bring the current proceedings on an urgent basis. Of concern
is that
Adeyemi’s attorneys admitted being aware that their client
could not do this without a court order but justified
their client’s
threat on the basis that there were only six weeks left before the
courts went on recess for the festive season,
and thus the chances of
their client’s matter being heard this year to obtain a court
order were “
close to impossible
.”
This was not an excuse for not approaching the court for relief and
advising their client to take the law into his own
hands which they
knew was unlawful.
The disputes of fact
raised by the first respondent
[16]
In these proceedings, Adeyemi denied he had
given TTGF a mandate to sell the business and that he had any prior
knowledge of the
sale of his business to the applicant. It was argued
by the Viljoen’s counsel that Adeyemi had merely proposed that
TTGF
market and find a buyer for the business, but this had not
constituted a valid mandate as it was only signed by Adeyemi and had
not been signed by Viljoen.
[17]
It
is trite, however, that a mandate agreement need not be in writing
and may be express or or tacit (
Novartis
SA (Pty) Ltd v Maphil Trading (Pty) Ltd
2016
(1) SA 518 (SCA)
para
46 ff
.)
[18]
The authority of the agent to perform a
juristic act on behalf of the principal is derived from the
unilateral juristic act of authorisation
by the principal empowering
another to act on his/her behalf (
De
Wet & Van Wyk Kontraktereg
110;
Maasdorp
v Mayor of Graaff-Reinet
1915
CPD 636
at 639.
). As authorisation
is a unilateral act and is not an agreement, it does not require
acceptance by the person being authorised
(
1 LAWSA ‘Agency’
para 139). It was thus not necessary for Viljoen to have signed the
mandate conferred on TTGF by ASO.
[19]
It was, however, argued in the alternative
that even if the alleged mandate was valid, it did not entitle
Viljoen or TTGF to sell
the business on his behalf. It was argued
that it was contemplated that should a prospective buyer be found who
was willing to
purchase the business, a written offer to purchase
would have had to be made by the prospective purchaser to ASO and if
Adeyemi
was amenable to its terms, he would have had to sign the
offer to purchase himself on behalf of ASO before a valid sale could
be
concluded. It was denied that Viljoen had a mandate to actually
conclude a contract for the sale of ASO’s business to a
prospective
purchaser.
[20]
In support of this argument, Adeyemi’s
counsel quoted from an article written by Professor E. Kahn published
in the South
African Law Journal ((1980)
97 SALJ 324)
in which he
distinguished between estate agents and other agents “
stricto
sensu
”. The passage quoted does
not assist Adeyemi but serves to confirm that, unlike estate agents
of immovable property where
the agent is merely entrusted with the
task of finding a purchaser and are not “
clothed
with the authority to enter into a contract on behalf of the
principa
l”, an agent
stricto
sensu
is indeed clothed with authority
to enter into a contract on behalf of his principal. As will become
apparent hereunder, the terms
of the mandate agreement concluded
between TTGF and ASO were such that Adeyemi in fact granted TTGF a
mandate to sell ASO’s
business.
[21]
The proper approach to factual disputes
where final interdictory relief is sought is set out by Corbett JA in
the well-known matter
of
Plascon-Evans
Paints Ltd v Van Riebeeck Paints (Pty) Ltd
[1984] ZASCA 51
;
1984 (3) SA 623
(A) at 634E – 635D
as follows:
“
In such a case the
general rule was stated by VAN WYK J (with whom DE VILLIERS JP and
ROSENOW J concurred) in
Stellenbosch
Farmers' Winery Ltd v Stellenvale Winery (Pty) Ltd
1957
(4) SA 234 (C)
at
235E - G,
to
be:
"... where there is
a dispute as to the facts a final interdict should only be
granted in notice of motion proceedings
if the facts as stated by the
respondents together with the admitted facts in the applicant's
affidavits justify such an order...
Where it is clear that facts,
though not formally admitted, cannot be denied, they must be regarded
as admitted."
…
It seems to me,
however, that this formulation of the general rule, and particularly
the second sentence thereof, requires some
clarification and,
perhaps, qualification. It is correct that, where in proceedings on
notice of motion disputes of fact have arisen
on the affidavits, a
final order, whether it be an interdict or some other form of relief,
may be granted if those facts averred
in the applicant's affidavits
which have been admitted by the respondent, together with the
facts alleged by the respondent,
justify such an order. The
power of the Court to give such final relief on the papers before it
is, however, not confined to such
a situation. In certain instances
the denial by respondent of a fact alleged by the applicant may not
be such as to raise a real,
genuine or
bona fide
dispute
of fact …If in such a case the respondent has not availed
himself of his right to apply for the
deponents concerned to be
called for cross-examination under Rule 6 (5)
(g)
of
the Uniform Rules of Court …and the Court is satisfied as to
the inherent credibility of the applicant's factual
averment, it may
proceed on the basis of the correctness thereof and include this fact
among those upon which it determines
whether the applicant is
entitled to the final relief which he seeks … Moreover, there
may be exceptions to this general
rule, as, for example, where the
allegations or denials of the respondent are so far-fetched or
clearly untenable that the
Court is justified in rejecting them
merely on the papers ...”
[22]
It appears from the averments made by
Adeyemi himself in his answering affidavit and the documents attached
to the papers in this
matter that Adeyemi’s denial of the
mandate provided to TTGF and the validity of the sale concluded by
Viljoen on behalf
of ASO with the applicant may be rejected on the
papers as not being real,
bona fide,
genuine and/or so far-fetched to be clearly untenable as contemplated
in
Plascon Evans
.
I say this for the following reasons:
a.
On 13 April 2024, Adeyemi granted a mandate
to TTGF (as the franchisor) to sell ASO’s business (as the
franchisee) on the
terms proposed by Viljoen in a document prepared
by Viljoen on 12 April 2024 and accepted by Adeyemi by his signature
of the proposed
mandate on 13 April 2024 (“
the
mandate
”).
b.
In terms of the mandate, it was agreed
that:
i.
TTGF, represented by Viljoen, would take
control of the Parkview Franchise on 15 April 2024 and would run the
franchise for its
own loss or profit from the date of takeover.
ii.
The purpose of the takeover by the
franchisor, TTGF, was to assist the franchisee, ASO, to sell the
franchise and give the franchisee
R850 000.
iii.
After takeover of the salon, the franchisor
would market and promote the salon.
iv.
The franchisor had a maximum of 6 months to
find a purchaser, failing which the franchisor was entitled to take
ownership of the
salon, and pay the franchisee an initial payment of
50% of the agreed value, whereafter the franchisor would be obliged
to pay
R150 000 per month to the franchisee until the full
purchase price was paid.
v.
During this six-month period, the
franchisor agreed to supply stock as needed, but would deduct the
stock invoices from the purchase
price of the business.
vi.
The franchisor also agreed to pay for
production, content creation and to pay for influencers to promote
the salon at risk which
would only be deducted from the purchase
price should the franchisee cancel the mandate agreement.
vii.
The franchisee agreed to pay for three pole
adds to promote “
the R350
special
”.
viii.
The franchisor undertook to pay all
expenses incurred by the business from the date of transfer and to
provide proof to the franchisee
that the rent was paid in time.
c.
It is implicit from the mandate that
Adeyemi, acting on behalf of ASO, gave Viljoen, acting on behalf of
TTGF, a six-month mandate
to sell the business for not less than
R850 000, which was payable by TTGF, and not the purchaser, on
the sale of the business.
This in and of itself contemplates that
TTGF could sell the business on behalf of ASO and accept payment of
the agreed sale price
from the purchaser on behalf TTGF. Should
Viljoen not be able to sell the business within the six-month mandate
period, it
was agreed that TTGF would itself acquire the business at
an agreed value, fifty percent of which would be payable upfront,
with
the balance being payable in instalments in the amount of
R150 000 per month until the outstanding balance had been
settled
in full. Should this not be implicit from the terms of the
mandate, it certainly constitutes a proper contextual construction of
the mandate as contemplated in
Natal
Joint Municipal Pension Fund v Endumeni Municipality
2012
(4) SA 593
;
[2012] ZASCA 13
(SCA)
.
d.
It is moreover clear from the terms of the
mandate that as from the date of transfer of the business to TTGF,
TTGF assumed responsibility
for the rental for the business premises.
Although Adeyemi disputes the validity of the mandate, no payments
towards the rental
owing were made by either Adeyemi or ASO to
Metroprop after April 2024. Although Adeyemi alleges in his
supplementary affidavit
he ceased paying the rental due to financial
constraints, in all probability, Adeyemi ceased making payments
towards the rental
after April 2024 as he had relinquished control of
the premises to TTGF on 13 April 2024 following the conclusion of the
mandate
and understood that should a purchaser not be found willing
to purchase the business for an amount of R850 000 within six
months, TTGF would itself purchase his business for an agreed value.
A purchaser was found and indeed, from 1 July 2024, the applicant
and
not ASO has been making payments towards the rent for the business
premises to Metroprop (although as at 18 November 2024,
there was a
balance outstanding of R47 400.03 which it has claimed from
ASO).
e.
Adeyemi’s conduct since conferring
the mandate on TTGF is also consistent with his acceptance of its
terms. On realising that
Maphike was occupying and conducting a Tammy
Taylor Parkview franchise from the premises, Adeyemi states that he
instructed his
attorneys to engage with Viljoen and to send a letter
of demand to TTGF. Neither the date of this demand nor a copy thereof
was
attached to the answering affidavit. It is, however, suspected
that it was prefaced on the terms of the mandate denied by Adeyemi
to
be valid and that this demand has not been attached as it
demonstrated that even at this early stage, Adeyemi accepted
that a valid sale of the business had been concluded and instructed
his attorneys to demand payment of the amount of R850 000
from
TTGF in terms of the mandate.
f.
This is supported by the fact that on 28
July 2024, Adeyemi’s attorneys addressed correspondence to
Maphike requesting proof
of payment of the funds paid to Viljoen “
for
the purchase of the business situated at Parkview, Pretoria as a
going concern previously owned by our client
.”
At this stage, Adeyemi clearly accepted that ASO’s business had
been sold to Maphike by Viljoen, although he may
not have known the
identity of the company through which she had purchased the business.
g.
Hereafter, Adeyemi instructed his attorneys
to send a second letter of demand to TTGF and Viljoen, which they did
on 31 July 2024.
In this letter addressed to Viljoen, Adeyemi/ASO’s
attorneys stated that they had been instructed by ASO to institute
legal
proceedings against TTGF and Viljoen for payment of the amount
of R850 000 should payment not be received within 7 days of
receipt thereof.
h.
Significantly in the letter of demand dated
31 July 2024, it was recorded that:
“
Our
client confirms that the shop has been sold to another business lady
named Ms Lebo who confirms that she has been running the
business for
the past three months and has finalised the payments for the shop and
you have been requesting to change lease agreements
to be in her
name
.”
i.
It was further recorded that:
“
Our
client further confirms that he has requested for payment numerous
times however our client has not received its payment as
agreed
.”
j.
The basis for the demand made by Adeyemi’s
attorneys was thus clearly prefaced on the mandate signed by Adeyemi
on 13 April
2024 and his acceptance of the validity of the sale
agreement concluded with Maphike.
k.
On 16 October 2024, Adeyemi’s
attorneys addressed a further letter of demand to Viljoen and TTGF.
This letter was referred
to in Adeyemi’s attorneys’
letter dated 24 October 2024 but was not annexed to the answering
affidavit. At the court’s
request, it was addressed and annexed
by Adeyemi to his supplementary affidavit. In this letter, Adeyemi’s
attorney repeated
the demand made in their letter of demand dated
31July 2024 referred to above, which had apparently been repeated in
a further
demand made on 8 August 2024 (also not annexed to Adeyemi’s
affidavit). The 8 August 2024 demand was presumably also prefaced
on
the validity of the mandate provided to TTGF on 13 April 2024 and the
validity of the sale of his business to Maphike. In the
16 October
2024 demand, Adeyemi’s attorneys stated that should payment of
the amount of R850 000 not be forthcoming
within two days of
receipt thereof, their client “
will
be left with no option but to lock out the tenants currently
operating in the shop and take back his shop to resume business
.”
l.
TTGF’s attorneys responded on 24
October 2024 and avoided entirely dealing with the demand for payment
of the amount of R850 000
owed to ASO due to the sale of the
business; instead, they focused on the fact that Adeyemi had
forcefully taken control of the
business on 15 October 2024 and thus
that the threatened spoilation had already occurred. (In fact,
according to the applicant,
this had only occurred on 16 October
2024. Adeyemi in fact restored possession of the business to Maphike
on 17 October 2024 and
only shut her out of the business again on 1
November 2024 after no payment was forthcoming from TTGF or Viljoen
for the sale of
his business to the applicant.)
[23]
Rather magnanimously, on 5 November 2024,
TTGF and Viljoen’s attorney addressed correspondence to the
applicant’s attorney
stating that their clients consented to
judgment in terms of prayers 4 and 5 of the notice of motion and
would abide the decision
of the Court regarding the remaining relief
against the first respondent sought by the applicant. TTGF and
Viljoen thus have no
difficulty with the declaratory relief sought
that the sale of the business by TTGF to the applicant was valid and
that Adeyemi,
TTGF and Viljoen be ordered to transfer all rights
attached to the business to the applicant. Although the transfer of
the lease
into the applicant’s name is part and parcel with the
relief sought in terms of prayer 5 of the notice of motion, neither
TTGF nor Viljoen have tendered to comply with their obligations in
this regard in terms of the sale agreement; nor have they seen
fit to
make payment to Adeyemi or ASO of the agreed amount of R850 000
owing by TTGF to ASO in terms of the mandate agreement.
This,
notwithstanding that Viljoen’s attorneys stated that:
“
It
is our instruction that the purchase and sale of the relevant salon,
by your client, was valid and that all rights in respect
thereof has
already be transferred to your client (sic). In fact, the Founding
Affidavit in the aforementioned Urgent Application
is replete with
references that the Applicant have obtained ownership and control
over the salon
.”
[24]
Whilst this court has some sympathy with
Adeyemi’s frustration that Viljoen patently sold his business,
did not tell him about
it and, despite numerous demands, has failed
to make payment of the agreed amount of R850 000 to ASO, he was
not entitled
to take the law into his own hands and forcefully take
back his business from Maphike by precluding her from having access
to the
premises. The spoliation by Adeyemi was unlawful and the
restoration of possession of the premises to the applicant was by
definition
urgent. Adeyemi plainly accepted that he had provided
Viljoen with a mandate to sell his business and a valid sale
agreement had
been concluded by Viljoen with Maphike and/or her
husband; his remedy lies against Viljoen and TTGF. It is also in his
interests
that he ensures that the lease in respect of the premises
be transferred to the applicant to avoid his remaining liable for the
rental owing in respect of the premises.
[25]
Importantly, even if the sale concluded
between Viljoen, acting on behalf of TTGF, and the applicant were not
valid in that it was
not signed by Adeyemi on behalf of ASO, in terms
of the mandate provided by ASO to TTGF on 13 April 2024, if after 6
months the
business was not sold, it was contemplated that TTGF would
take ownership of the business, who would pay the agreed value for
the
business. Thus, should the sale of the business to the applicant
not prove valid, ownership of the business would not revert to
ASO as
with effect from 12 October 2024, Adeyemi agreed to sell ASO’s
business to TTGF at the agreed value of the business.
Accordingly,
either way, he was not in law entitled to retake possession of his
business from the applicant and his remedy would
still lie against
TTGF for payment of the agreed value and not the applicant. There is
thus no purpose in an interim interdict
being granted or a rule nisi
being issued in this matter and I am satisfied that it is appropriate
that final relief be granted.
I am also prepared to grant the
applicant final relief as no genuine dispute of fact exists that
Viljoen, acting on behalf of TTGF,
was not provided with a valid
mandate by Adeyemi to sell ASO’s business.
[26]
I am moreover satisfied that the applicant
has established a clear right to be granted a final interdict against
Adeyemi to desist
from interfering with the applicant’s
business. I am also satisfied that should this interdict not be
granted the applicant
will suffer irreparable harm and that the
applicant has no alternative remedy.
[27]
The applicant has also established that it
has a clear right to the declaratory relief sought that a valid
agreement for the sale
of the business was concluded by Viljoen on
behalf of TTGF and the applicant. I am thus also inclined to grant
the consequential
relief sought that the first, second and third
respondent be directed to transfer all rights attached to the
business to and into
the name of the applicant. Although not
explicitly claimed, this includes the right to transfer of the lease
in respect of the
premises from which the business is operated. The
landlord, however, has not been joined to these proceedings and the
lease agreement
attached by Adeyemi to his answering affidavit
precludes the sublease of the business premises or the cession of the
rights to
the lease agreement without the consent of the landlord. I
thus make no order regarding the transfer of the lease in respect of
the business premises to the applicant but direct that the first,
second and third respondent do all things necessary to secure
the
transfer the lease in respect of the business premises into the name
of the applicant.
[28]
Viljoen and TTGF have, through their
attorney, denied having any access to or control over the Instagram
account operated in the
name of the business. No allegation was made
by the applicant that Adeyemi or ASO have such access and control;
nor was any order
in this respect sought against either Adeyemi or
ASO. Although no affidavit was submitted by Viljoen in these
proceedings confirming
that neither he nor TTGF have control over the
Instagram account, the applicant’s attorney appears to have
accepted the terms
upon which Viljoen’s attorney agreed to
consent to the orders against the second and third respondent and to
abide the relief
sought against the first respondent. As no consent
was provided to the relief sought in prayer 6 of the Notice of
Motion, this
relief is not at this stage competent.
Costs
[29]
No order for costs was sought in the notice
of motion. However, I was asked to make a punitive order for costs
against the first
respondent as he had denied conferring a valid
mandate to TTGF to sell his business; yet had relied on this mandate
to demand R850 000
payment from TTGF. No order for costs was
sought against the second and third respondent, although Viljoen had
not taken any steps
to transfer the lease in respect of the business
premises into the applicant’s name and Viljoen’s failure
to cause
TTGF to make payment of the amount owing by it to ASO
following the sale of ASO’s business to the applicant was the
catalyst for Adeyemi’s unlawful conduct and his seeking to
regain possession of his business. This appears to be because
the
applicant’s attorney accepted the terms set out in Viljoen’s
attorney’s letter dated 5 November 2024.
[30]
Although this court in no way condones the
unlawful conduct of Adeyemi and his untruthful denials in these
proceedings, mulcting
him with punitive costs when Viljoen and TTGF
are not mulcted with any costs would be unfair and costs on a party
and party scale
B is sufficient an indication of the courts
displeasure of his conduct in threatening and an harassing Maphike
and in unlawfully
depriving the applicant of access to the business
premises and reassuming control of the business.
Order
[31]
I accordingly make an order in the
following terms:
a.
That the first respondent be
interdicted and restrained from interfering with the business
operations of the applicant known as
Tammy Taylor Parkview (“
the
business
”) situated at the
Parkview Shopping Complex/Centre (“
the
business premises
”).
b.
Declaring that there is a valid sale
agreement in respect of the business from the ASO Services (Pty)Ltd
to the applicant.
c.
Directing the first, second and
third respondent to transfer all rights attached to the business into
the name of the applicant.
d.
Directing the first, second and
third respondent to do all things necessary to secure the transfer of
the lease in respect of the
business premises into the name of the
applicant.
e.
Ordering the first respondent to pay
the costs of this application on the party and party scale B.
S.M
WENTZEL
ACTING
JUDGE OF THE HIGH COURT, PRETORIA
For
the Applicant:
Adv.
Adv Bless Manyelo —Kubheka
Instructed
by Mmhlongo Inc Attorney
For
the Respondent:
Adv.
R Sepitsi Maphutha
instructed
by Morakile, Tabane Attorneys Inc.
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