Case Law[2022] ZAGPPHC 486South Africa
Minne v Minne and Others (71753/2018) [2022] ZAGPPHC 486 (14 June 2022)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria)
14 June 2022
Headnotes
by the Plaintiff and the defendants jointly in terms of the Deed of Transfer No. T[....];
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## Minne v Minne and Others (71753/2018) [2022] ZAGPPHC 486 (14 June 2022)
Minne v Minne and Others (71753/2018) [2022] ZAGPPHC 486 (14 June 2022)
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sino date 14 June 2022
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REPUBLIC OF SOUTH
AFRICA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF
SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG DIVISION,
PRETORIA
Case Number: 71753/2018
REPORTABLE:
NO
OF INTEREST TO OTHER
JUDGES:
NO
REVISED.
14 JUNE 2022
In the matter between:
BRENDA
MINNÉ
Plaintiff
and
MARTHINUS
CHRISTOFFEL MINNÉ
First Defendant
DENNA
MINNÉ
Second Defendant
FIRST
RAND BANK
LIMITED
Third Defendant
THE
CHIEF REGISTRAR OF DEEDS
Fourth Defendant
JUDGMENT
NEUKIRCHER
J:
[1]
This is an action based on the
actio
communi dividundo
for the termination of joint ownership of an immovable property
situated at Farm Ruimsig 265, Portion 21, IQ District, Gauteng
Province (the Property). It is common cause that the property is
registered at the Deeds Office in the names of the plaintiff and
1
st
defendant
[1]
jointly in terms of
Deed of Transfer T[....].
[2]
The 3
rd
defendant
[2]
and the 4
th
defendant
[3]
are cited insofar
as they have an interest in the outcome of this case but no direct
relief is sought against them.
[3]
The 2
nd
defendant is married to the 1
st
defendant in community of property and she is the plaintiff’s
mother. In this judgment, all references to “the defendants”
is a reference to the 1
st
and 2
nd
defendant
only.
COMMON CAUSE
[4]
At the commencement of this trial, the following was common cause:
4.1
that there is a “
joint
ownership of the property”
[4]
;
4.2
that the plaintiff is entitled to a termination of the joint
ownership;
4.3
that the defendants counterclaim has been withdrawn and the
defendants have tendered the party and party costs
consequent upon
that withdrawal.
IN DISPUTE
[5]
The following issues are in dispute and to be adjudicated upon:
5.1 the
extent of and share in the joint ownership;
5.2 the
manner in which the joint ownership should be terminated;
5.3
the scale of costs pursuant to the withdrawal of the counterclaim
[5]
;
and
5.4 the
overall costs of suit.
THE PLEADINGS
[6]
The pleadings in this matter have been amended on several occasions.
Although it is
the latest amended particulars of claim and plea that
are to be adjudicated upon, the pre-amendment pleadings provide
context for
the argument regarding the division of the proceeds of
the Property, and the method of division.
[7]
In her original suit, the plaintiff alleged the following:
7.1
that she and the defendants are the registered joint owners in equal
and undivided shares in 2 immovable properties,
of which the Property
is one
[6]
;
7.2
that the Property is held by the Plaintiff and the defendants jointly
in terms of the Deed of Transfer No.
T[....];
7.3
that the Property was purchased by the plaintiff and the defendants
on 6 July 2003 for R2 150 000-00;
7.4
that the property is presently used by the defendants as their
primary residence;
7.5
that the plaintiff wishes to terminate the joint ownership.
[8]
The Plaintiff has proposed a method of termination which she has
detailed in her suit
and which ultimately will mean that she will see
50% of the proceeds in the Property and the defendants the other
50%.
[7]
[9]
In a first amendment of the particulars of claim, the plaintiff
re-iterated her stance
regarding the equal joint ownership between
herself and the defendants by suggesting relief that would see a
division of any proceeds
of the sale of the property being divided
into 1/3 equal parts between them.
[10]
In their plea, filed after the above first amendment, the defendants
allege that:
10.1 the 1
st
defendant paid an amount of R1 100 000-00 towards the
acquisition of the Property with the balance being paid by an entity
called BCM (Supplies CC).
10.2 the plaintiff
made no contributions towards the purchase of the Property.
[11]
The defendants ask that the claim be dismissed with costs.
[12]
In October the plaintiff then amended her particulars of claim again.
In this she alleges, simply
that the plaintiff and the 1
st
defendant are the registered owners in equal and undivided shares and
that the property was purchased by plaintiff, 1
st
defendant and 2
nd
defendant on 6 July 2003 for
R2 150 000-00
[13]
In their amended Plea the defendants now plead that:
“
2.
It is admitted that the parties are the registered joint owners of
the property but the First and Second
Defendants plead that such
joint ownership is held on the basis that the property [is] co-owned
in equal share[s] of 33,33% each.
In addition, the co-ownership of
the parties in such immovable property, stems from and was paid with:
2.1
an amount of R1 100 000 … from the 1
st
Defendant; and
2.2
the balance was paid by BCM Supplies CC, …, which forms the
subject matter of the counterclaim
hereinafter.
The First and Second
Defendants plead that the Plaintiff made no contributions toward the
purchase of the property as described
in paragraph 9 of the
Particulars of Claim. The contributions as set out above need to be
taken into account when termination of
joint-ownership is made.
Anything to the contrary is denied.”
[14]
The plea simply seeks an order that the claim be dismissed with
costs. There is no counterclaim
by the defendants
[8]
.
On this basis, the trial proceeded and the plaintiff and the 1
st
defendant each testified.
THE EVIDENCE
[15]
The plaintiff presently resides in a property owned by her, 1
st
defendant and 2
nd
defendant, in the Western Cape. The
Western Cape property does not form any part of the present dispute
between the parties.
[16]
The Property was purchased as an investment property, in which the
plaintiff, her son, 1
st
defendant and 2
nd
defendant would reside. According to the Tax Invoice dated 18 March
2003 from Bento Inc, the conveyancers, the purchase price of
R2 150 000-00 was financed as follows:
a)
R1 150 000-00 via FNB bond; and
b)
a deposit of R 1 230 293-63.
There
is no indication on any paperwork or document placed before me who
paid the deposit, but the 1
st
defendant testified that he financed this through the sale of a
property he and 2
nd
defendant owned in Erf 517 Fairland CC.
[9]
[17]
According to the Offer to Purchase (OTP), dated July 2003, the
Property was purchased from Equestrian
Property Investments (Pty) Ltd
and reflects the purchasers as the plaintiff, the 1
st
defendant and the 2
nd
defendant. It does not reflect the
actual percentage in which they hold their ownership.
[18]
The Title Deed reflects only plaintiff and 1
st
defendant
as the registered owners of the Property. The evidence that this was
incorrect was an email from the 1
st
defendant, dated 31
January 2019, to Monica from Dykes Van Heerden Attorneys stating:
“
Ek
sal u hulp in die opsig baie waardeer aangesien daar n belange
persentasie foutiewelik aangedui word wat baie dringend reggestel
moet word…”
It appears that all the
paperwork pertaining to the transfer of the Property was directed to
the 1
st
defendant only and thus it appears that he was the
one in charge of the transaction. He also testified that he drafted
the letters
and emails directed to the seller and conveyancer. He
however proffered no explanation for the discrepancy between the
50/50 ownership
reflected in the Title Deed and the 1/3 each share
that forms the basis of the defendants’ defence.
[19]
The fact is, and it is borne out by the evidence and the documents
placed before me, that subsequent
to the plaintiff requesting a
termination of the joint ownership in 2016, the 1
st
defendant had informed the plaintiff of the 1/3 each ownership in the
correspondence he directed to her, and all discussions regarding
a
division of equity had been dealt with on this basis. This is
confirmed by the pre-amended Particulars of Claim. The latest
amendment asks for a 50/50 division because the plaintiff states that
she was informed by her attorneys that the Title Deed reflects
that
she has a 50% ownership, and therefore she is entitled to 50% of the
proceeds of any sale.
[20]
The plaintiff lived in the property with her son and the defendants
from its purchase in 2003
until ± 2011 when she moved out.
According to her, the bond payments were paid via debit order each
month from a bank account
in the name of BCM Supplies (Pty) Ltd
(BCM)
[10]
. According to the
evidence, the 1
st
defendant was then placed on semi-retirement
[11]
and there was a subsequent dispute as regards the shareholding in BCM
– full details of which were not placed before me –
but
which saw an order granted under case number 26448/2019 on 25
February 2022 that the plaintiff was to pay the 1
st
defendant R185 795-00 for his 5% shareholding in BCM.
[21]
It is apparent from the documentation that:
21.1 according to
BCM’s previous accountants, M G Taute, BCM’s general
ledgers and financial records indicate
that BCM paid for the
Property’s expenses on behalf of its members/shareholders i.e.
the plaintiff and the 1
st
defendant;
21.2 since the year
ended 28 February 2013 up to the year ended 28 February 2017, BCM
held these expenses in its books and
the expenses were not allocated
to the loan accounts of the two shareholders;
21.3
that from year end 28 February 2018 onward, the bond expense
[12]
was allocated according to a 1:2 ratio – 1/3 to the loan
account of the plaintiff and 2/3 to the loan account of the 1
st
defendant.
[22]
According to the plaintiff, the 2018 financial statements of BCM have
not been signed and she
has instructed her new accountants
[13]
to revise those to reflect the correct state of affairs i.e that a
1:1 ratio is to be used when allocating the Property’s
expenses
in accordance with the Title Deed. It bears mentioning that, while
the plaintiff has indicated that BCM’s financial
statements for
the years ending 2018 to 2021 have been submitted to SARS already,
those were not placed before this court. A letter
from Omnium states:
“
According
to our knowledge and records, bond payments for the above mentioned
property was allocated in a ratio of 1:1 to the loan
accounts of B.
Minné and M.C. Minné for the financial years ending
February 2018 to February 2020.
Furthermore we confirm
the resignation of M.C.Minné dated 1 September 2019, As from
this date payments made on behalf of
the above mentioned property are
allocated in full to the loan account for M.C.Minné.”
[23]
It is thus the position of:
23.1 the plaintiff,
that the equity division in the Property should reflect the position
stipulated in the Title Deed i.e
50/50; and
23.2
the defendants, that the actual agreement between the parties is
reflected in the OTP and all the correspondence i.e
that the equity
division should be 1/3 each. The defendants also maintain that the
deposit of R1,1 million should first be deducted
from any net equity
from the sale of the Property and whatever the remaining balance is
should only then be divided 1/3 each between
the parties.
[14]
The Legal Position
[24]
The general principles pertaining to an
actio
communi dividundo
are set out in
Robson
v Theron
[15]
as the following:
24.1 no co-owner is
normally obliged to remain a co-owner against his will;
24.2 the action is
available to those who own specific tangible things (
res
corporales)
in co-ownership, irrespective of whether the
co-owners are partners or not, to claim division of the joint
property;
24.3
the action
[16]
may be brought
by a co-owner for the division of joint property where the co-owners
cannot agree to the method of division.;
24.4 it is for
purposes of the action immaterial whether the co-owners possess the
joint property jointly or neither of them
possesses it or any one of
them is in possession thereof;
24.5 the action may
be used to claim as ancillary relief payment of
praestationes
personales
relating to profits enjoyed or expenses incurred in
connection with the joint property;
24.6 a court has a
wide discretion in making a division of joint property. The wide
equitable discretion is substantially
identical to the similar
discretion which a court has in respect of the mode of distribution
of partnership assets among partners
as described by
Pothier
.
[25]
In
Robson
the court decided that where two partners dissolve a partnership by
agreement and one partner
de
facto
retains the goodwill of the partnership for his own use and benefit,
the retiring partner is entitled under the common law, by
virtue of
either the
actio
pro socio
or the
utilis
actio communi dividundo
,
to payment of his half share of the goodwill from the continuing
partner. T
he
court then analysed the requirements of an
actio
pro socio
and
those of the
actio
communi dividundo
[17]
and,
decided
that the goodwill of a professional practice cannot subsist by itself
but must be attached to the practice. Where it is
impossible to
divide the goodwill between the parties or to cause it to be
auctioned and to have the
proceeds divided between the parties, the Court will place a
valuation on the goodwill, with due regard to the particular
circumstances
concerning its value at the date of dissolution, and
order payment of half that amount to the retiring partner.
On
the facts of that matter, the court then placed a value on the
goodwill
[18]
and deducted an
amount for the opening goodwill of the partnership.
[26]
The defendants argue that a similar adjustment should be made in this
matter – this is
that the deposit of R1,1 million should be
deducted as an opening contribution by the defendants towards the
purchase of this property.
However, what this particular argument
loses sight of is firstly that the
actio pro socio
cannot be
used as a comparable remedy as its requirements differ, secondly that
goodwill is an asset in a partnership and its value
is relevant to
the value of the partnership (which is not the case here).
[27]
In
Matadin
v Parma and others
[19]
the court restated the principles applicable to the
actio
communi dividundo
and
stated the following as regards the equitable division of the
property:
“
[9]
The question is whether any equitable adjustment needs to be made for
the benefit to the first respondent
and one of the daughters of the
deceased having occupied the property, the receipt of rentals by the
applicant and the claim by
the applicant to have paid certain of the
rates and that of the first respondent that the husband of the
occupying daughter and
she have paid municipal charges. The
applicant, as co-owner, was clearly entitled to occupy a portion of
the property. This she
has done by way of the tenant occupying the
outhouse and paying rentals to her. As regards the payment of
expenses, there is not
sufficient clarity on exactly how much has
been paid by each party or in respect of what obligations the
payments have been made
on the papers. This is not a matter which
requires oral evidence since the property is a modest one and the
expense of such a course
would in all probability take up all or most
of the proceeds of the sale. In any event, neither party has
requested such a measure.
The courts, after all, have a wide
discretion and I do not believe it necessary to make any adjustments
in respect of expenses
incurred or benefits of occupation enjoyed.”
[28]
What is important here is the restatement of the principle that a
court enjoys a wide discretion
to order the distribution that it
deems just and equitable.
[29]
The starting point of the present matter is whether the court should
apply a 1/3; 1/3; 1/3 distribution
ratio or a 50:50 ratio.
[30]
According
to the defendants the 1/3 each ratio is clear from the OTP and
several emails between the plaintiff and 1
st
defendant starting with the plaintiff’s request on 19 April
2016 to sell the Property (as she was struggling to obtain financing
to purchase a property in the Western Cape because of her existing
obligations
[20]
). Her request
to sell was met by the following email from the 1
st
defendant dated 14 May 2016:
“……
Tog
stem ek saam dat die besluit om n derde aandeel aan jou te registreer
tans die verkeerde besluit was
aangesien
die beginsel uiters eensydig van aard is…..”
(my underlining)
Other than the evidence
that plaintiff simply accepted the 1
st
defendant’s
word that she held a 1/3 share in the Property, the remainder of that
sentence (as underlined by me) was not
explained.
[31]
The plaintiffs evidence was that all subsequent correspondence and
her additional letters and
the pre-amended Particulars of Claim were
based on the understanding (as informed by 1
st
defendant)
that she held a 1/3 share in the Property. It was only when she was
shown the Title Deed, and received legal advice,
that she realised
her share was in fact, 50%.
[32]
There is no evidence before me as to how the alleged arrangement and
alleged agreement regarding
the 1/3 ownership/division came about.
There is also no evidence before me as to why this was not specified
in either the OTP or
in the Title Deed.
[33]
It is common cause that the defendants do not seek rectification of
the Title Deed. Mr Paige-Green
has submitted, the Title Deed is a
jural act that has been incorporated into a written document and this
reflects the true position
of the parties and no evidence may be led
to contradict this.
[34]
But this submission, whilst certainly attractive, is not strictly
speaking correct: Section 102
of the Deeds Registration Act 47 of
1937 defines “
owner
” inter alia as “
the
person registered as the owner
”, but it
“…
does
no more then give a special meaning to the word “owner”
whenever that word is used in the Act. It does not in any
way alter
the general legal meaning of owner, nor subvert the general
principles governing the registration of ownership which
underline
the deeds registries system.
It
should not, in my view, be read to mean that whoever is registered in
the Deeds Office as the legal owner of the property is
in fact the
legal owner
.
Had it been the intention of the Legislature to change the common law
to that effect, it would have said so clearly…..”
[21]
(my
emphasis)
[35]
This is not, however, surprising as there are several examples of a
person acquiring ownership
in an immovable property without their
title being registered, of which one is parties married in community
of property. In that
instance, and by operation of law, if one spouse
is the registered owner of an immovable property at commencement of
the marriage
the other upon conclusion of the marriage, automatically
acquires a share in that ownership even without due registration
thereof.
As is stated
in
Ex Parte Menzies et Uxor
supra
,
“
[t]he
immediate consequence is obviously that the nominal title to
immovable property previously registered in either spouse’s
name in the Deeds Registry no longer accords with the true ownership
position
.”
[22]
[36]
But the point is the following: even though the Title Deed to the
Property only reflects the
plaintiff and the 1
st
defendant as the owners, in actual fact, the 2
nd
defendant is also the owner of the Property by virtue of her marriage
in community of property to the 1
st
defendant. Thus, the effect of that is that the defendants hold a
combined equal share in the Property. More succinctly put, and
if one
were compelled to reduce this to ratios, it would mean that the
plaintiff holds 50% share in the property, and the defendants
the
other 50%.
[23]
[37]
Whilst the OTP certainly mentions the names of the parties as the
purchasers of the Property,
it gives no enlightenment as to the
portions in which the acquisition and their ownership was to be
registered.
[38]
There is also a dearth of information as to the instructions given to
the conveyancer when the
Property was to be transferred in 2003.
Given that it was common cause in this trial, and admitted by the 1
st
defendant in his evidence, that the correspondence pertaining to the
acquisition and registration of the Property were directed
to him and
responded to by him solely, I would have expected some enlightenment.
But the only information before me comes some
13 years ex post facto
in an email.
[39]
Given that the defendants do not seek rectification of either the OTP
or the Title Deed and that
these are the written recordings of the
intention of the parties at the time of the registration, I am of the
view that they reflect
the true position.
[40]
Even if I am incorrect on this, I am still of the view that the
parties should share in the net
proceeds of the Property on an equal
basis as:
40.1
even accepting that the defendants paid the deposit on the Property,
it is not disputed that BCM paid the monthly bond
instalments. It is
common cause that plaintiff was, for a period of 3 years
[24]
,
the sole owner of BCM and then relinquished 5% of the shareholding to
the 1
st
defendant. The fact that the books of accounting of BCM do not
correctly reflect the true position as to the allocation of monies
to
the loan accounts simply means that the accounting records are not
instructive regarding the true extent of the parties’
loan
accounts in BCM and cannot be used to accurately reflect their
respective contributions;
40.2 the defendants
have been living in the property since 2011. In this time, it is
common cause that the bond account with
FNB has been reduced to just
under R100 000 from an initial bond of R1,1 million;
40.3 the defendants
have placed no information before me as to any monies expended by
them on the maintenance and upkeep of
the Property.
[41]
Thus, in my view, and in line with the approach taken in
Matadin
v Parma
supra
, it would be just and equitable were any
equity in the Property to be divided as follows:
41.1 to the
plaintiff: 50%
41.2 to the
defendants: 50%
[42]
It is also common cause that the court has the discretion to follow a
method of distribution
that is fair and equitable to all parties.
This could,
inter
alia
,
include a sale by public auction and division of the net amount
[25]
,
allocation of the property to one co-owner subject to payment by the
other of compensation
[26]
, or
a private auction restricted to the co-owners, and division of the
net amount
[27]
.
[43]
The plaintiff has, in her final amended Particulars of Claim, set out
the method upon which she
submits the Property should be divided.
This includes its valuation by 3 independent estate agents, providing
the defendants with
first option to purchase the property for the
average valuation of the 3 estate agents, or putting the property on
the open market
or the appointment of a liquidator to dispose of the
Property.
[44]
The defendants have no put anything before this court as an
alternative, nor have they made any
submissions to the effect that
the plaintiff’s proposals are unreasonable.
[45]
Given all the above factors, I am of the view that the plaintiff has
been wholly successful in
her suit and there is thus no reason to
deprive her of her costs. However, there was argument that the costs
of the withdrawal
of the counterclaim should be given on a punitive
scale as the withdrawal came mere days before this hearing and the
counterclaim
is in fact simply vexatious given that a separate
application for substantially the same relief was heard and finalized
on 25 February
2022 in the plaintiff’s favour. I am not of the
view that the counterclaim was vexatious. Its earlier disposal simply
meant
that it could not continue. The fact is that the Notice
indicating the Counterclaim was withdrawn was communicated to the
plaintiff
in March 2022 already which long before preparation for
this trial commenced – its formal service was simply in
compliance
with the Rules of this Court. I therefore find that
punitive costs are not justified in these circumstances.
[46]
Accordingly the order I grant is the following:
1]
The co-ownership of the Plaintiff and the 1
st
and 2
nd
Defendants’ in the immovable property situated at Farm Ruimsig,
265, Portion 21, IQ District, Gauteng Province (the Property)
is
hereby terminated.
2]
The value of the property will be determined on the average of three
independent estate agents’
valuation thereof.
3]
The value to be paid over to the parties shall be the following: 50%
to each of the plaintiff
on the one hand and the 1
st
and
2
nd
defendants on the other hand, of the net equity in the
property after deduction of the following amounts: any amount owing
in respect
of the bond on the Property; any amount owing to the Local
Municipality for purposes of obtaining any clearance certificate(s);
any costs relating to the marketing, sale and transfer of the
Property including estate agents’ commission and/or auction
costs and/or liquidator’s fees and conveyancer’s fees.
4]
The division of the equity in the Property shall be effected in the
following manner:
4.1
the 1
st
and 2
nd
defendants have until 29 July
2022 at 16h00, to communicate their decision to the plaintiff or her
appointed legal representative,
whether they intend to purchase the
plaintiff’s 50% in the Property or not;
4.2
in the event that the 1
st
and 2
nd
defendants
elect to purchase the plaintiff’s 50% share in the Property,
the plaintiff’s 50% share shall be transferred
and registered
in the 1
st
and 2
nd
defendants name (and in
accordance with the provisions of the
Deeds Registries Act 47 of
1937
) against payment of the net amount calculated as set out in
paragraph 3 supra;
4.3
alternatively, and in the event that the 1
st
and 2
nd
defendants elect not to, or are unable to, purchase the plaintiff’
s
50%
share in the property parties will ensure that the property is
placed on the open market for sale and sold within 90 days thereof;
4.4
further alternatively to 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3: in the event that the
property is not sold within the 90-day
period set out in 4.3 supra,
the Plaintiff may cause the property to be sold on auction for a
reserve price of not less than the
amount set out in paragraph 2
supra, or an amount as agreed by the plaintiff, the 1
st
defendant and the 2
nd
defendant. The Plaintiff shall have
90 days within which to place the property on auction.
4.5
further alternatively to 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 and/or 4.4 supra: in the event
that the property is not sold
on public auction for the reserve
price, or a price as agreed by both parties then a liquidator, as
agreed to between the parties
or as appointed by the Legal Practice
Council in the event that they cannot agree, shall be appointed to
attend to the disposition
of the property.
5]
The plaintiff, the 1
st
defendant and the and 2
nd
defendant are ordered to cooperate fully with respect to the
marketing, sale, disposal and transfer of the Property by timeously
and upon demand doing all things and signing all documents necessary
to give effect to paragraph 4 supra.
6]
The Plaintiff is entitled to appoint the transferring attorneys to
give effect to the sale
and/or transfer of the property.
7]
The sheriff of the area where the property is situated, is authorised
and directed to take
any steps and do all such things in the
Plaintiff and the 1
st
and 2
nd
defendants stead
in the event that either the Plaintiff and/or 1
st
and 2
nd
defendants fail and/or refuse and/or neglect do so themselves.
8]
The 1
st
and 2
nd
defendants are ordered to pay
the plaintiff’s costs of suit.
B
NEUKIRCHER
JUDGE
OF THE HIGH COURT
GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA
Delivered:
This judgment was prepared and authored by the Judge whose name is
reflected and is handed down electronically by circulation
to the
parties/their legal representatives by email and by uploading it to
the electronic file of this matter on CaseLines. The
date for
hand-down is deemed to be 14 JUNE 2022
Appearances:
For
the Plaintiff
: Adv Paige-Green
Instructed
by
: McTaggart Labuschagne
Incorporated
For
the Defendants : Mr Niedinger
Instructed
by
: WNA Attorneys Incorporated
Date
heard
: 7
and 8 June 2022
Date
handed down : 14 JUNE 2022
[1]
Her
father
[2]
First
Rand Bank Ltd (FNB) who is the bond holder
[3]
The
Registrar of Deeds (the Registrar)
[4]
Per the Joint
Practice Note filed by the parties on 31 May 2022
[5]
The
plaintiff asks for punitive costs
[6]
The
second property is situated at Erf [....], Riverside Road, Stilbaai
Wes, Western Cape. Although this suit includes a prayer
for the term
of the joint ownership of this property as well, a subsequent
amendment deleted that prayer.
[7]
From now on
referred to as a 50/50 division
[8]
That having
been withdrawn by notice dated 3 March 2022 which was only
served on
1 June 2022 being 4 court days before trial
[9]
This is borne
out by the OTP which provides in effect that the sale of
this
property is a condition of the purchase of the Property.
[10]
Previously BCM
Supplies CC in which the plaintiff held 100% membership. This
was
later amended so that the plaintiff held a 95% shareholding and the
1
st
defendant a 5% shareholding
[11]
The
exact manner in which the retirement came about and was effected is
in dispute and is not relevant to the present issues
[12]
An amount of
R9 362-96 per month
[13]
Omnium Tac &
Accounting CC (Omnium)
[14]
The evidence is
that there is only an amount of approximately R100 000-00
still
owing on the FNB Bond. Given that the first demand to divide the
co-ownership was made in 2016, this is not surprising
[15]
[1978] 2 All SA 264
(A);
1978 (1) SA 841
(A) at 857
[16]
Although in Matadin
v Parma and others
[2010] JOL 25834
(KZP), the action was heard and
decided in motion proceedings
[17]
Both being
available to these parties
[18]
Which is an asset
in the partnership
[19]
[2010] JOL 25834
(KZP)
[20]
With
regard to the Property and the Stilbaai Property
[21]
Ex
parte Menzies et Uxor
[1993] 4 All SA 455
9c) a 460 -461
[22]
At
pg 461
[23]
See
Ex Parte Menzies et Uxor and the explanation of the consequences of
a marriage in community of property via-à-vis the
ownership
of an immovable property at pg 461 to 466
[24]
Ie the first 3
years after acquisition of the Property
[25]
Estate Rather v
Estate Sandig 1943 AD 47
[26]
Robson v Theron
(supra)
[27]
Kruger v Terblanche
1979 (4) SA 38
(T)
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