Case Law[2025] ZAWCHC 70South Africa
Pieters N.O v Pienaar and Others (15691/2023 ; 16769/2023 ; 13665/2016) [2025] ZAWCHC 70; [2025] 3 All SA 224 (WCC) (27 February 2025)
Judgment
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# South Africa: Western Cape High Court, Cape Town
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## Pieters N.O v Pienaar and Others (15691/2023 ; 16769/2023 ; 13665/2016) [2025] ZAWCHC 70; [2025] 3 All SA 224 (WCC) (27 February 2025)
Pieters N.O v Pienaar and Others (15691/2023 ; 16769/2023 ; 13665/2016) [2025] ZAWCHC 70; [2025] 3 All SA 224 (WCC) (27 February 2025)
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SAFLII
Note:
Certain
personal/private details of parties or witnesses have been
redacted from this document in compliance with the law
and
SAFLII
Policy
FLYNOTES:
CIVIL
PROCEDURE – Vexatious litigant –
Persistent
unmeritorious litigation –
Repetitive
applications – Challenging liquidation process –
Claims consistently dismissed by courts – Reliance
on
evidence of CIPC investigator – Pending report is irrelevant
to proceedings – Extensive unsuccessful litigation
history
and unpaid costs orders – Allegations of fraud and
misconduct are unsupported – Lacks locus standi –
Declared a vexatious litigant – Vexatious Proceedings Act 3
of 1956, s 2(1)(b).
IN THE HIGH COURT OF
SOUTH AFRICA
(WESTERN CAPE
DIVISION, CAPE TOWN)
Case
number: 15691/2023
RYNETTE
PIETERS N.O.
In
her capacity as the liquidator of King
Financial
Holdings Ltd, formerly Biz Africa
1332
(Pty) Ltd (in liquidation)
Applicant
and
DEON
JOHAN PIENAAR
Identity
number 6[...]
1[...]
V[...] B[...] Road, Parow North
First
respondent
Married
out of community of property to:
Second
respondent
ELSABE
ELISABETH PIENAAR
Identity
number 6[...]
Case
number: 16769/2023
RYNETTE
PIETERS N.O.
In
her capacity as the liquidator of King
Financial
Holdings Ltd, formerly Biz Africa
1332
(Pty) Ltd (in liquidation)
First
applicant
STEPHEN
MALCOLM GORE N.O.
Second
applicant
KEVIN
KIEWITZ N.O.
In
their capacities as the joint liquidators of Midnight
Storm
Investments 386 Ltd (in liquidation)
Third
applicant
BRYAN
NEVILLE SHAW N.O
.
Fourth
applicant
SUMAIYA
ABDOOL GAFAAR KHAMISSA N.O.
In
their capacities as the joint liquidators of Purple
Rain
Properties No. 15 (Pty) Ltd (in liquidation)
Fifth
applicant
and
DEON
JOHAN PIENAAR
Respondent
Case
number: 13665/2016
DEON
JOHAN PIENAAR
Applicant
and
King
Financial Holdings Ltd
(in
liquidation)
First
respondent
STEPHEN
MALCOLM GORE N.O.
Second
respondent
FINANCIAL
SECTOR CONDUCT AUTHORITY
(formerly
the Financial Services Board)
Third
respondent
GERMAN
EMMANUAL ANDERSON
In
his former capacity as the Deputy Chief Executive
Officer
of the Financial Services Board
Fourth
respondent
NICOLAAS
GERHARDUS WESSELS DUVENHAGE
Fifth
respondent
THE
MASTER OF THE HIGH COURT,
WESTERN
CAPE, DIVISION, CAPE TOWN
Sixth
respondent
THE
NATIONAL PROSECUTING AUTHORITIES
Seventh
respondent
and
ADRIAN
WARREN KING
First
interested party
STEPHEN
ROBERT KIN
G
Second
interested party
THE
SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE (DPCI/CCIU)
Third
interested party
THE
FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE CENTRE
Fourth
interested party
THE
SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK
Fifth
interested party
THE
PRUDENTIAL AUTHORITY
Sixth
interested party
NEDBANK
LTD
Seventh
interested party
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS
INC.
Eighth
interested party
THE
DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Ninth
interested party
THE
PUBLIC PROTECTOR
Tenth
interested party
THE
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Eleventh
interested party
JUDGMENT DELIVERED ON
27 FEBRUARY 2025
VAN
ZYL AJ
:
Introduction
1.
There are three applications before this Court:
1.1
The
first is an application
[1]
by Mr
Deon Johan Pienaar to set aside,
inter
alia
,
the liquidation of all the entities in the so-called King Group of
companies, as well as Mr Justice Binns-Ward's order of 14 December
2012
[2]
and Mr Acting Justice
Sievers' judgment of 30 November 2018.
[3]
I shall refer to this application as the “second rescission
application”.
1.2
The
second is an application
[4]
by
the liquidator of King Financial Holdings Ltd (formerly Biz Africa
1332 (Pty) Ltd) (in liquidation) ("KFH") to sequestrate
Mr
Pienaar’s estate.
1.3
The
third is an application
[5]
by
the liquidators of various companies, namely KFH, Midnight Storm
Investments 386 Ltd (in liquidation) ("Midnight Storm")
and
Purple Rain Properties No. 15 (Pty) Ltd (in liquidation) ("Purple
Rain"), to declare Mr Pienaar a vexatious
litigant under
the provisions of section 2(1)(b) of the Vexatious Proceedings Act 3
of 1956 (“the vexatious litigant application”).
2.
The
papers exchanged in the course of all of these proceedings are
voluminous but the issues, properly considered, are fairly
delineated.
I commence with the consideration of the vexatious
litigant application, because the background to all three
applications is well-illustrated
in that matter. It gives some
insight into why the parties have found themselves in a legal
quagmire which vies with the
one chronicled by Dickens in
Bleak
House
.
[6]
The vexatious
litigant application
The applicable
principles
3.
Section 2 of the Vexatious Proceedings Act
provides as follows:
# "Powers
of court to impose restrictions on the institution of vexatious legal
proceedings
"
Powers
of court to impose restrictions on the institution of vexatious legal
proceedings
#
(1)
(a)
If, on an application made by a State Attorney ......
(b)
If,
on an application made by any person against whom legal proceedings
have been instituted by any other person or who has reason
to believe
that the institution of legal proceedings against him is contemplated
by any other person, the court is satisfied that
the said person has
persistently
and without any reasonable ground instituted legal proceedings in any
court or in any inferior court, whether against
the same person or
against different persons
,
[7]
the
court may, after hearing that person or giving him an opportunity of
being heard, order that no legal proceedings shall be instituted
by
him against any person in any court or any inferior court without the
leave of the court, or any judge thereof, or that inferior
court, as
the case may be, and such leave shall not be granted unless the
court or judge or the inferior court, as the case
may be, is
satisfied that the proceedings are not an abuse of the process of the
court and that there is prima facie ground for
the proceedings.
(c)
An order under paragraph (a) or (b) may
be issued for an indefinite period or for such period as the court
may determine, and the
court may at any time, on good cause shown,
rescind or vary any order so issued.
(2)
Any proceedings under subsection (1)
shall be deemed to be civil proceedings ....
(3)
The registrar of the court in which an
order under subsection (1) is made, shall cause a copy thereof to be
published as soon as
possible in the Gazette.
(4)
Any person against whom an order has been made under subsection
(1)
who institutes any legal proceedings against any person in any court
or any inferior court without the leave of that court
or a judge
thereof or that inferior court, shall be guilty of contempt of court
and be liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding
one hundred
pounds or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months.
"
4.
The
Act accordingly authorises the Court to prohibit legal proceedings -
including future legal proceedings not yet instituted at
the time of
the application
[8]
- by any
person who has persistently and without any reasonable ground
instituted legal proceedings against the same person or
against
different persons.
5.
South Africa has a constitutional dispensation,
and access to justice is a hallmark of democracy. That is why
section 34 of
the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,
1996, provides that “
everyone has
the right to have any dispute that can be resolved by the application
of law decided in a fair public hearing before
a court or, where
appropriate, another independent and impartial tribunal or forum
”
.
6.
The
Act has nevertheless passed constitutional muster:
[9]
“
[15]
… This purpose is “to put a stop to persistent and
ungrounded institution of legal proceedings.”
1
The
Act does so by allowing a court to screen (as opposed to absolutely
bar) a “person [who] has persistently and without
any
reasonable ground instituted legal proceedings in any Court or
inferior court”.
This
screening mechanism is necessary to protect at least two important
interests. These are the interests of the victims
of the
vexatious litigant who have repeatedly been subjected to the costs,
harassment and embarrassment of unmeritorious litigation;
and the
public interest that the functioning of the courts and the
administration of justice proceed unimpeded by the clog of groundless
proceedings
.
[16] The effect
of section 2(1)(b) of the Act is to impose a procedural barrier to
litigation on persons who are found to
be vexatious litigants.
This serves to restrict the access of such persons to courts. …
The barrier which may
be imposed under section 2(1)(b) therefore does
limit the right of access to court protected in section 34 of the
Constitution.
But in my view such a limitation is reasonable
and justifiable. …
[17] …
a
restriction of access in the case of a vexatious litigant is in fact
indispensable to protect and secure the right of access for
those
with meritorious disputes. … the court is under a
constitutional duty
to protect bona
fide litigants, the processes of the courts and the
administration of justice against vexatious proceedings.
Section 165(3) of the Constitution requires that “[n]o person
or organ of state may interfere with the functioning
of the courts.”
The vexatious litigant is one who manipulates the functioning of the
courts so as to achieve a purpose
other than that for which the
courts are designed. …
[18] …
[19] While such
an order may well be far-reaching in relation to that person, it is
not immutable. There is escape from
the restriction as soon as
a prima facie case is made in circumstances where the judge
is satisfied that the proceedings
so instituted will not constitute
an abuse of the process of the court.
…
The
applicant’s right of access to courts is regulated and not
prohibited. … The procedure which the section
contemplates therefore allows for a flexible proportionality
balancing to be done, … to protect the interests of both
applicant
and the public.
[20] Requiring
the potential litigant under these circumstances to discharge this
evidentiary burden is not unreasonable.
… Having
demonstrated a propensity to abuse the process of the courts, it
hardly lies in the mouth of a vexatious litigant
to complain that he
or she is required first to demonstrate his or her bona fides.
In this respect, the restriction
is precisely tailored to meet its
legitimate purpose
.”
7.
In the present application, the liquidators seek
an order in terms of section 2(1)(b) of the Act that Mr Pienaar may
not institute
any legal proceedings against the persons and entities
(including the liquidators) listed on annexures A1, A2 and A3 to the
notice
of motion ("the targeted parties") without the
written consent of a High Court judge. The targeted parties are all
related
to or part of the King Group or the Realcor Group. They seek
orders, further, that should such permission be granted, Mr Pienaar
would be obliged to provide security for costs. This is because
the targeted parties have been on the receiving end of protracted,
mostly unsuccessful, proceedings instituted by Mr Pienaar over the
years since the liquidation of the companies within these Groups
had
begun.
8.
The liquidators also seek interdictory relief,
namely that Mr Pienaar be interdicted from taking any further steps
in relation to
the second rescission application, and that he be
interdicted from instituting and conducting private prosecutions
against any
of the targeted parties.
9.
To
obtain the relief they seek under the Act or the common law in
relation to vexatious litigation, the liquidators must show that
Mr
Pienaar has persistently instituted legal proceedings without
reasonable grounds. There is a "stringent onus"
upon
them.
[10]
10.
They must also establish the requirements for a
final interdict to obtain the interdictory relief sought.
The liquidation of
the companies in the King and Realcor Groups
11.
The relevant facts as far as the vexatious
litigant application is concerned – in particular, the
litigation instituted by
Mr Pienaar and the repeated unsuccessful
outcomes thereof - are essentially common cause. The "disputes"
on the
papers arise from Mr Pienaar's own interpretation of events
(his narrative, as he refers thereto), which will be referred to in
more detail in the context of the second rescission application.
12.
The applicants are liquidators of related
companies in the King Group and the Realcor Group, which were
property syndication schemes.
Briefly stated, various companies in
these Groups had solicited investments in commercial and residential
property in South Africa
from members of the public, who would
supposedly benefit from the income generated by the properties. These
property syndication
schemes, despite attracting the investment of
hundreds of millions of rands, became hopelessly insolvent, not least
because they
operated like pyramid schemes. They left thousands
of investors out of pocket, some of them losing their life savings.
13.
All of this started as follows: In about 2004
three brothers, Messrs Adrian, Paul, and Stephen King, set up a group
of companies
which came to be known as the King Group. The brothers
used the companies to market investments in commercial and
residential immovable
property. As indicated, they did so by
soliciting funds from investors in the form of share purchases and
compulsory loans. In
all, about R671 million in investments were made
by thousands of investors in 41 companies in the King Group. KFH was
the overall
holding company.
14.
The core assets and business in the Realcor Group
was an immovable property known as Erf 1[...], Blaauwberg, Milnerton,
owned by
Midnight Storm, and upon which the Blaauwberg Beach Hotel
was being constructed. During December 2007 Purple Rain, acting
as promoter, began soliciting investments from members of the public
to raise capital for this hotel development. The services
of
various brokers, who concluded agreements with Purple Rain, were used
for this purpose.
15.
Prior to its collapse, the Realcor Group raised in
the region of R640 million from about 3 000 members of the public in
this manner
to fund the operations of the Realcor Group, particularly
the hotel development. The investment companies involved in
turn
lent the money to Midnight Storm to finance the construction
costs of the hotel development.
16.
Purple
Rain's only source of income was a construction contract concluded
between it and Midnight Storm, and the "promoter's
fees"
payable to it by the individual investment companies. The
scheme was doomed to fail. The liquidators of
Purple Rain and
Midnight Storm
[11]
are of the
view that the soliciting of funds from the public to fund the hotel
development and the manner in which the scheme was
conducted was
reckless and carried out with the intent to defraud creditors.
17.
The hotel development was never completed in the
Realcor Group, but had to be sold in 2013 by the liquidators of
Midnight Storm.
Mr Pienaar and one Mr Van Zyl attempted to interdict
the sale, but their application was dismissed on 20 May 2013, the
Court finding
that they lacked
locus
standi,
and had not established the
requirements for an interim interdict.
18.
The companies in the group went into liquidation
(a series of liquidation applications had been brought and granted
between 2009
and 2011), leaving a shortfall in Purple Rain and
Midnight Storm of some R92 million.
19.
Going
back in time, in early 2008 the activities of the Group attracted the
attention of the then Financial Services Board (FSB”).
[12]
It conducted an inspection of the records of the Group and prepared a
report which indicated widespread irregularities in the way
in which
the business of the Group was conducted. These are best described in
the Binns-Ward judgement
[13]
as follows:
“…
.the
affairs of the group were in material respects conducted in
a
manner
that maintained no distinguishable corporate identity between the
various constituent companies in the group. The entire
group was
operated, in effect, as one entity through the holding company. Funds
solicited from investors were transferred by the
controllers of the
holding company between the various companies in the group at will,
with no effectual regard to the individual
identity of the companies
concerned, and with grossly inadequate record-keeping. The
investigations bore out the admission by the
King brothers that they
'treated all their companies as one'”.'
[14]
20.
During
2009 one of the investors, a Mrs Zera, instituted proceedings in this
Court for the liquidation of KFH.
[15]
She was a retired woman who had invested all of her savings,
amounting to R1.4 million, in the King Group. In her founding
affidavit
the basis for her application was expressly stated to be
the inability of KFH to meet its financial commitments to its
creditors.
She made the allegation that KFH was insolvent, or in any
event commercially insolvent, and unable to pay its debts. Five other
applicants joined in her application.
21.
Mrs
Zera's application was supported by the FSB. At the time Mr
Anderson
[16]
of the FSB
deposed to an affidavit, which Mr Pienaar has placed before this
Court in the present proceedings. In the affidavit
Mr Anderson
referred to a letter dated 3 July 2009 addressed to investors by the
attorneys then representing the King Group.
Mr Anderson pointed
out that the letter states that, if the Group was to be liquidated,
it would have a negative asset value of
approximately R650 million.
Mr Anderson also referred to the inability of the Group to pay
its creditors as a result of a
monthly deficit of R3.3 million. He
stated that the FSB had concluded that there was no hope of
resuscitating the financial
services business of the King Group, and
that the appointment of a curator to such business would not be
appropriate. He concluded
his affidavit by stating that the FSB
supported the liquidation application in the circumstances.
22.
The Court granted the application, and KFH was
liquidated. It goes without saying that Mrs Zera had satisfied the
Court that KFH
was insolvent and unable to pay its debts. It was for
this reason, and no other, that KFH was placed in liquidation.
23.
The liquidation of KFH led to the liquidation of
all of the 40 subsidiary companies in the group. The liquidators of
these companies
were faced with an intractable problem. It was
difficult, because of the chaotic administration of the affairs of
the Group, for
the liquidators to identify the companies against
which individual creditors had claims. The affairs of the companies
were so intermingled
that it was impossible to separate them.
24.
To
solve this problem, 38 applicants, being the liquidators of the 41
companies which constituted the King Group, obtained an order
on 14
December 2012 under case number 18127/2012 (the Honourable Justice
Binns-Ward presiding) in terms of
section 20(9)
of the
Companies Act
71 of 2008
.
[17]
Reasons
were given on 13 February 2013. The effect of the judgment was
that all the companies in the King Group were
deemed not to be
juristic persons in respect of any obligation owed by them to
investors. This meant that, after the payment of
secured and trade
creditors, the surplus funds in each entity were pooled with those of
the other companies in the Group to generate
a dividend for all
investors across the Group.
25.
Given the admission made by the King brothers
about the fact that they had treated all of the companies in the King
Group as one,
the order was undoubtedly correctly made.
26.
As will become clear when I address the second
rescission application, in seeking to rescind
inter
alia
the Binns-Ward and Sievers
judgments in that application, Mr Pienaar is in truth seeking to
overturn the liquidation of these companies,
which commenced in 2009,
and which would have been finalized by now but for the repeated
institution of litigation by Mr Pienaar.
This is despite the fact
that all of the liquidation proceedings proceeded pursuant to court
orders validly and lawfully obtained.
27.
In this regard, the final business of KFH in
liquidation is the finalisation and confirmation by the Master of the
High Court of
a seventh liquidation and distribution account.
The liquidators are unable to proceed until such time as the
litigation with
Mr Pienaar has been finalized (in particular the
second rescission application, which seeks to undo a swathe of
liquidations).
They submit that Mr Pienaar's ability freely to
institute further litigation in frustration of the liquidation
process must be
curtailed. This will also put an end to the
running up of millions of rands in unpaid costs orders against him.
28.
The liquidators submit further that they are
entitled not to have their professional reputations being impugned
recklessly and without
cause in the court papers delivered by Mr
Pienaar. It is clear from the reams of affidavit delivered that
Mr Pienaar pours
onto paper exactly what is in his mind. The
liquidators face, in addition, constant threats of criminal
prosecution made
by Mr Pienaar against them.
29.
The liquidators’ case is amply supported by
the papers before this Court.
Mr Pienaar’s
litigation track record
30.
Over the years, Mr Pienaar has immersed himself
fully into the circle of those formerly in control of the King and
Realcor Groups.
He previously made a livelihood by being a
broker or promoter for the property syndication schemes involved in
these proceedings,
and with whose liquidators he has been at
loggerheads for years.
31.
Mr Pienaar himself explains how he took up the
cudgels:
"
When I read to
see what happened to Brokers who had marketed Krion financial
products, and read in the media, that the same was
going to happen to
Brokers who had marketed PSPC [property syndication schemes]
investments, I knew I had to investigate the truth
myself.
It was here that I
realised, that nobody was going to defend me, and I would have to do
so myself I would have to do my investigations
myself as well.
I knew, I had given
all my clients the same advice, and if I was guilty of being
negligent for one, the same would apply for all
the others. If this
was to be established, I knew I would not be able to repay all
my investors, and for this reason I realised
no matter what, I had to
establish the real causation of PSPC implosions.
This
I could not do, as an independent Broker, and soon it started taking
up all my time.
"
32.
Mr Pienaar is no longer employed, and his living
costs are wholly funded by his wife and from donations that he
solicits from former
investors. He writes regular newsletters or
circulars in relation to the liquidation and related processes, and
has asked the investors
to pay donations in support of his services
directly into his bank account. In return for these donations,
he speaks on the
investors’ behalf in the litigation that he
instigates.
33.
His
activities have led to him being declared a vexatious litigant under
section (2)(1)(b) of the Act in respect of PriceWaterhouseCoopers
(“PwC”), including PwC employees and related parties.
In a judgment delivered
[18]
on
10 September 2021 (the Honourable Acting Justice
[19]
Nziweni presiding) this Court recorded that PwC had incurred legal
costs against Mr Pienaar of more than R12.5 million since 2014,
all
of which had gone unpaid. The Court found that Mr Pienaar had
litigated with impunity, running up cost orders against
him exceeding
R50 million on his own version.
34.
Mr Pienaar does not deny this, and has not been
deterred As counsel for the liquidators in the present matter
put it: “
Pienaar flogged property
syndication investments to members of the public; in full knowledge
of the damage done and that he himself
may be liable for some of the
damage done, he nevertheless accepts donations from hapless investors
in order to pursue various
litigious proceedings and to fund his own
livelihood; in so doing, he has run up millions of rands in legal
costs without suffering
any consequence; and he has no standing in
the litigation he brings
”
.
35.
In email correspondence addressed to the then
Acting Judge President of this Division during 2023, Mr Pienaar
attached a list of
the matters in which he had been involved,
entitled "
Litigation where I
incurred costs in order to show actions and conduct of SARB / FSB
unlawful and ultra vires, but without success
".
36.
The
list is telling. It shows 17 separate civil cases from 2013
onwards, most of them launched by Mr Pienaar, and each one
"
without
success
"
as far as he is concerned. The cases relate mainly to Realcor
and the King Groups.
[20]
These cases, comprising more than 37 000 pages of documents, have
resulted in 23 orders or judgments. On Mr Pienaar’s
own
version, in the course of these cases an estimated R50 million in
legal fees have been incurred. He has laid criminal
charges in
six different cases involving
inter
alia
Realcor
and King companies.
37.
Mr Pienaar has, in addition, furnished this Court
with a comprehensive chronology, carefully setting out details which
include the
rise and fall of the Groups and the liquidation
applications brought, as well as his own litigious activities.
The history
is impressive.
38.
Having
had regard to the papers filed of record in all three of the
applications before this Court, I agree with the submission
made by
counsel for the liquidators that, by his own admission, Mr Pienaar
has litigated without any substantive success whatsoever.
He is
litigating vexatiously and without reasonable grounds:
[21]
"
In its legal
sense vexatious means frivolous, improper: instituted without
sufficient ground, to serve solely as an annoyance to
the defendant
…. Vexatious proceedings would also no doubt include
proceedings which, although properly instituted, are
continued with
the sole purpose of causing annoyance to the defendant; abuse
connotes a mis-use, an improper use, a use mala fide,
a use for an
ulterior motive.
"
39.
In the
Nziweni judgment
[22]
to which
I have referred earlier, the Court remarked as follows:
“
[50] …
the first respondent [Mr Pienaar] views the courts with impunity.
He further takes the courts as his playground.
[51]
The repeated attempts by the first respondent to have findings
against him set aside failed dismally, yet, he was barely
fazed or
deterred by that. The first respondent is showing no appetite
for stopping the litigations against the applicants
and SARB, even
though he loses every case he throws against the applicant. Instead,
the first respondent demonstrates determination
in his quest. His
assertion that he will continue until the cause of his action is
recognised further demonstrates his unyielding
determination.
[52]
Another vexing aspect about the litigation of the first respondent is
that it knows no boundaries, and he does not accept
defeat.
Interestingly, the first respondent states … that it is time
for the court to see how these Masters of manipulation
misrepresent
the Court. The following assertion by the respondent also plainly
illustrates the point:
‘
The
court cannot expect him just to roll over and pretend to be dead. It
is the view of the first respondent that the court has
made no
attempt to adjudicate the merits and for this reason
there
is still a scope for
much
litigation
if
the applicant and SARB continue to misrepresent the court with
diversions.’ (my own emphasis and underlining.)
[53]
Under the circumstances, it is quite bizarre that the first
respondent who has been unsuccessful with his applications
in the
past; keeps on filing further proceedings against the applicant. The
persistence of the first respondent to litigate
against the applicant
is highly illuminating. I get the distinct impression that the
first respondent harbours a strong view
that in his quest of
incessant litigation, he is only losing the battles but he will
ultimately win the war because of his persistence.
Accordingly, to
the first respondent the ends justify the means. Unfortunately, when
regard is had to the history of litigation
between the parties, this
belief by the first respondent is deeply flawed and short-sighted and
happens to be very costly.
[54]
Gleaning from the papers, it appears that the first respondent has
self-proclaimed himself as a champion for fighting
the causes of
other citizens’ in the so-called Property Syndicate Schemes. I
am however, not convinced that the litigation
by the first respondent
is motivated by just cause.
”
40.
This Court can but echo these sentiments.
The history of litigation set out in the Nziweni judgment and in the
affidavits
filed of record illustrates that Mr Pienaar is not
deterred by losing in court. In fact, his inability to accept
defeat is
well-illustrated by his conduct in instituting the second
rescission application.
The second
rescission application as an example of vexatious litigation
41.
In the "first” rescission application,
issued on 1 August 2016, Mr Pienaar attempted,
inter
alia
, to have the Binns-Ward judgment
rescinded, to declare the actions of the FSB in relation to their
investigations into the King
Group unlawful, and to obtain a
declaration that "
all liquidation
and/or sequestration applications of the Consolidated KFH be
nullified and that all unlawful proceeds that persons
have benefitted
from as a result of these unlawful benefits form part of the
Restitution process as prescribed by Chapter 6 of
POCA
."
42.
The
first rescission application was dismissed on 30 November 2018, the
Honourable Acting Justice Sievers presiding. The Court
found
that, while Mr Pienaar purported to act on behalf of shareholders and
investors, he was not entitled as a layperson to do
so. On the
facts, he did not act in his own interest or seek to protect or
enforce his own rights; and he did not represent
others as
contemplated in section 38 of the Constitution.
[23]
The Court found further that the application for rescission was
wholly without merit. Proper cases had at the relevant times
been
made out for the liquidation of the companies in the Group, and no
basis was established to set aside the BinnsWard judgment.
[24]
43.
The
Court remarked that Mr Pienaar had impugned the integrity of the
respondents in the first rescission application in his heads
of
argument, and in court, without any legitimate basis to doing so.
This was a vexatious abuse of process, and his application
was
dismissed with costs on a punitive scale.
[25]
Leave to appeal was refused. Applications for leave to appeal
to the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional
Court suffered
the same fate,
inter
alia
on
the basis that there was no reasonable prospect of success on appeal.
44.
In the face of these rejections Mr Pienaar
launched the second rescission application in March 2021. As
will be dealt with
in more detail below, the effect of the relief
sought in that application would be to reverse the winding-up of the
King Group
through the rescission of all liquidation and
sequestration "
orders/judgments/determinations
"
that placed the Group and its controllers (or the estates of its
controllers) in liquidation or sequestration approximately
14 years
ago, and the rescission of the Binns-Ward and the Sievers judgments.
Mr Pienaar wants to set the clock back to 2009,
when the liquidation
of the King Group began.
45.
Mr
Pienaar denies that this is the case, but the second rescission
application aims to re-litigate the first rescission application
(dealing as it does with identical issues and the same parties,
albeit casting a wider net). Additionally, he now seeks the
rescission of the Sievers judgment, and asks for relief under the
Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (“FICA”)
and
the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998 (“POCA”).
He has joined eleven "interested parties"
to the
litigation, including the South African Reserve Bank, the Prudential
Authority, Nedbank, PwC, the Department of Trade and
Industry, the
Public Protector, and the Human Rights Commission.
[26]
46.
The first and second respondents in the second
rescission application delivered their answering affidavit in April
2021, and Mr
Pienaar replied in May 2021. The application was
therefore ripe to be set down for hearing. Yet, Mr Pienaar
failed
to prosecute the application for more than three years.
He alleged that the second rescission application could not be
enrolled
because the FSB (one of the respondents who had initially
indicated that it was opposing) failed to delivered an answering
affidavit.
47.
The
failure of a respondent to deliver an answering affidavit of course
does not prevent the applicant from setting the matter down.
The second rescission application therefore lurked in the background
until it was set down for hearing together with the sequestration
and
the vexatious litigant applications.
[27]
48.
The inference to be drawn from this conduct is
that Mr Pienaar was not
bona fide
in proceeding with the second rescission
application. As counsel for the liquidators remarked, “
one
may appreciate his dilemma: he relies on ‘investors’ to
simultaneously fund his litigation and his living costs
- so it
simply does not avail him to have hopeless applications finalised,
for if he gets to the end of that road, he comes to
the end of his
source of income
”
.
The denigrating
statements made in the papers
49.
As indicated, the Sievers judgment commented on Mr
Pienaar’s unjustified attacks on his opponents’
reputations.
In his answering affidavit in the present
application, Mr Pienaar accuses the applicants as liquidators, and
the second applicant
(Mr Gore) in particular, of being guilty of the
following offenses or misconduct:
49.1
Fraudulent misrepresentation;
49.2
Concealment of court documents;
49.3
The liquidators' personnel benefited from the
unlawful proceeds of crime;
49.4
The liquidators unlawfully captured the King
Group;
49.5
Mr Gore illegally sold assets forming part of the
liquidation;
49.6
Mr Gore obstructed the proper application of the
law;
49.7
Mr Gore failed to adhere to his fiduciary duties;
49.8
Mr Gore is a corrupt liquidator, and not the only
one;
49.9
Collusion between Mr Gore and the South African
Reserve Bank;
49.10
Mr Gore lacks independence;
49.11
Fraudulent enquiry summonses were issued;
49.12
The liquidators and other persons are corrupt;
49.13
Money-laundering by the liquidators and by others;
49.14
Recklessness justifying criminal charges,
including by the legal fraternity;
49.15
Perjury; and last but not least,
49.16
Extortion.
50.
These are serious allegations, not to be laughed
off. Neither Mr Pienaar's answering affidavit nor any of his
other affidavits
filed of record in the matters before this Court
contain any facts that either constitute these offences or that show
that the
liquidators have acted wrongfully. The allegations are
plainly defamatory.
51.
Mr Pienaar also attacks various civil bodies, and
is contemptuous of them. Of particular concern are his attacks
on the courts:
51.1
He has complained that there have been "
all
these ambiguous orders and judgments, where the courts merely rubber
stamp unopposed applications
", and
"
The courts failure to deal fairly
with my cases, is the reason as to why this litigation cannot reach
finality
''.
51.2
He accuses the Honourable Deputy Judge President
Traverso, now retired, of being influenced by the media and not by
the merits of
the case before her.
51.3
He has labelled the Nziweni judgment a "
vexatious
judgment ... made without considering the facts
",
and has made a complaint against the Honourable Justice Nziweni at
the Judicial Conduct Committee for "
a
total unfair bias judgment, which will be rescinded soon
".
51.4
Regarding this Court having declared him a
vexatious litigant in relation to PwC, Mr Pienaar states: "
The
court was reckless to allegedly protect PwC against me. It is in
fact, all the victims of this crime, that need protection against
the
criminal, inter alia PwC”.
52.
Mr Pienaar does not trust the Court:
52.1
"
The court has
become a draconic platform to violate citizen's Constitutional
rights
".
52.2
"
Our fraud in
the legal system in South Africa have fraudulently omitted to listen
to my side of the story, and as a result of their
own bias, allowed
all this litigation to follow”.
52.3
"
Sievers J makes
a mockery of my whole application, by justifying his unlawful conduct
by accusing me of filing a confusing NOM
”
.
52.4
"
I cannot think
of a more bias and unfair Judge than Sievers
",
and stating that the Sievers judgment is an “
unfair
”
judgment.
52.5
"
I
have placed all the Judges who had any say in my Realcor proceedings,
before the JSC
."
[28]
53.
These statements were made in answer to the
vexatious litigant application. - even the fact that such an
application was contemplated
had not given Mr Pienaar pause for
thought. His allegations are defamatory and contemptuous, and
devoid of supporting facts.
They demonstrate that Mr Pienaar
does not care about substantiating his emotive responses to the
repeatedly unsuccessful
outcomes of his court cases. Those
cases were unsuccessful because they, too, were unsubstantiated.
The criminal
charges brought, and threatened, by Mr Pienaar
54.
Mr Pienaar does not confine his activities to the
civil court, but has also laid criminal charges against the second
applicant,
Mr Gore. The charges included perjury, obstructing
the course of justice, failing in his fiduciary duties, and
collusion.
They were all unsubstantiated.
55.
Mr
Pienaar has since obtained the representations made to the National
Prosecuting Authority (“NPA”) on Mr Gore’s
behalf,
and has been advised that Mr Gore will not be prosecuted. That
is not the end of the road for Mr Pienaar. In
the answering
affidavit in the vexatious litigant application he states that he
intends to institute fresh criminal proceedings
against Mr Gore,
notwithstanding the NPA's decision not to prosecute.
He
plans, further, to obtain
nolle
prosequi
certificates
to enable him to bring private prosecutions against "
all
of the accused adversaries
".
It is these threatened private prosecutions which the liquidators
seek to interdict.
[29]
Mr Pienaar’s
defence to the relief sought in the vexatious litigant application
56.
It is
difficult to discern Mr Pienaar's defences to the relief sought
against him from his 317-page answering affidavit.
[30]
The issues are unfortunately clouded by a myriad of irrelevant
and wide-ranging extraneous information, cast in emotive language.
Throughout the affidavit he labels the winding up of the King
and Realcor Groups and the conduct of the liquidators, the courts,
and other parties as corrupt, abusive, criminal, and fraudulent.
These allegations do not serve as a defence. On the
contrary,
they emphasise the need for the grant of the relief sought. Mr
Pienaar views himself as a "whistle-blower",
probably in an
attempt to overcome the hurdle that - as the Sievers judgment found –
Mr Pienaar had no
locus
standi
in
the first rescission application.
[31]
57.
Mr Pienaar’s central defence to the
vexatious litigant application is that he submits that his narrative
will be proved to
be correct through the evidence of an investigator
at the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (“CIPC”)
by the surname of Zwane. According to Mr Pienaar, he is
awaiting a report from Mr Zwane, which report would endorse Mr
Pienaar's
allegations of malfeasance committed by the various
authorities, the courts, and the liquidators of the property
syndication schemes.
He says that his narrative, including the
Zwane report, contains information which undoes a series of court
orders granted
since 2009, and that this Court must consider whether
“
with this information, the sword
of Damocles can be held over my head with the sequestration and
vexatious applications should [sic]
continue. This will amount to
extortion
”
.
58.
According to Mr Pienaar, Mr Zwane has already
published a 26-page report on 25 July 2022. That report is not
attached to any
of Mr Pienaar’s affidavits in the proceedings
before this Court, and its content is unknown. Mr Pienaar is
expecting
another report from Mr Zwane.
59.
Mr Zwane’s involvement in the matter came
about when he took up a complaint lodged by Ms Deonette De Ridder,
the founder of
the Realcor property syndicate. Having
considered the complaint, Mr Zwane felt that it had some merit, and
decided to investigate
the activities of the South African Reserve
Bank (“SARB”) prior to 2012 in relation to the Realcor
Group.
60.
There are several problems with Mr Pienaar’s
Zwane defence. The first and overall issue is that CIPC, Ms De
Ridder,
and SARB, and their historic relationship with one another,
are irrelevant to the applications presently before this Court.
These parties are not before the Court as respondents, and much of
what is complained about by Ms De Ridder constitutes
res
judicata
, having been dealt with by the
courts over the years since 2012.
61.
The second issue is that Ms De Ridder's complaint
and CIPC's letter in reply to her, specifically, are irrelevant to
the present
applications. Mr Pienaar is correct in stating that
Mr Zwane wrote a letter on 10 October 2023, which does form part of
the
papers, in reply to Ms De Ridder's complaint, and that the tone
of the letter is a positive one. Mr Zwane appears to have
concluded that there may be something in the complaint, and he
notifies her that he intends to undertake further investigations.
He cites section 41 of the Constitution, 1996, which provides that
organs of State must co-operate with one another, and indicates
that
a preliminary and a final report from ClPC will be published after
CIPC has consulted with the relevant bodies.
62.
Mr Pienaar says in his answering affidavit that,
as soon as this substantive CIPC report is to hand, he will put it
before the Court,
thus promising more litigation. In a
“circular” addressed to his “clients” and
followers, he predicts
what the report will say:
"
To us this
report will be as good as a court order/ judgment. ... The findings
of this report, I believe will show that the SARB
BSD and/or FSB
and/or others had acted unlawfully, ma/a tides, ultra vires and
unconstitutionally. If we get this verdict, it will
confirm all the
merits I had asked the courts to confirm, over the past few years,
but which they all failed to do.
This independent
report will be enough to show that the Courts were biased; the WC NPA
were corrupt not to investigate my allegations
earlier; that the
legal fraternity deliberately misled the courts; and that prior to
now, the FIG had never been taken seriously.
I
cannot think of a bigger case of corruption being exposed in South
Africa's history, and the good part is, that the State will
help us
get restitution and compensation.
"
63.
According to Mr Pienaar's circular, Mr Zwane's
investigations were well underway and the inter-regulatory meetings
between the organs
of state like CIPC and SARB that he appeared to
think were the nub of the matter, were expected to take place from
January 2023
to March 2023. Two years later there is still nothing
more from Mr Zwane.
64.
It is, in my view, highly improbably that a
substantive report will be produced by CIPC that can serve to reverse
the decade-old
history of the liquidation of the companies in the
property syndication schemes. Having regard to the details set
out in
the papers regarding the financial state of the King and
Realcor Groups, it appears that the companies forming part thereof
were
hopelessly insolvent, and fell to be wound up as a matter of law
to pay creditors and salvage a dividend for investors. Whether
organs of State duly consulted one another at the relevant time in
terms of section 41 of the Constitution is plainly irrelevant
to the
financial implosion of the groups.
65.
It follows that Mr Zwane is not the saviour that
Mr Pienaar makes him out to be, and his pending report - whether
eventually published
or not - is irrelevant to these proceedings.
66.
The third issue is that, even if what Mr Pienaar
says could remotely be correct, none of this assists him in the
present applications.
He has no
locus
standi
in Ms De Ridder's complaint.
Even if the final CIPC report was overwhelmingly in support of Ms De
Ridder and it appeared (bearing
in mind that such allegations would
still have to be proved) that, in the opinion of ClPC, she was
entitled to damages of some
sort from SARB for their conduct in
investigating the Realcor Group, Mr Pienaar would not be entitled to
any such damages personally,
nor would he have the necessary
locus
standi
to claim them on behalf of
anybody else.
67.
Mr Pienaar has accordingly not raised a
sustainable defence to this application.
Conclusion on the
relief sought under the Vexatious Proceedings Act
68.
It is
clear from what is set out above that Mr Pienaar has persistently
instituted proceedings without having reasonable grounds
for
believing that they would meet with success. The bases upon
which he litigates are without merit, bad in fact and in
law. The
litigation is obviously unsustainable as a certainty, not merely on
the probabilities.
[32]
No
case is made out in any of his papers, which comprise of
densely-composed conspiracy theories and defamatory allegations
against everyone who does not agree with him, including the courts.
69.
As
indicated earlier, the Constitutional Court in
Beinash
stated
[33]
that there are two categories of persons who fall to be protected in
this type of matter. The first are the victims of the
vexatious
litigant, who are subjected to costs, harassment, and embarrassment
in pleading. The second category is the public
interest in
having unimpeded access to functioning courts. The present case
has an overlapping interest group that ought
to be protected, namely
the members of the public from whom Mr Pienaar continues to solicit
funds to keep his livelihood and his
litigation going.
70.
As
indicated at the outset of this judgment, an application for the
sequestration of Mr Pienaar's estate has now been brought.
[34]
Sequestration will not, however, prevent him from launching or
progressing further spurious litigation. In terms of
section 23(6)
of
the
Insolvency Act 24 of 1936
, an insolvent may sue in his own name
in matters that do not affect his estate. The applications which Mr
Pienaar has launched,
and the contemplated criminal proceedings, do
not affect his estate but concern the affairs of the Realcor Group
and King Group.
A sequestration order would not be an impediment to
continued litigation in these respects.
71.
In all of these circumstances, I am of the view
that a clear case has been established against Mr Pienaar, whether
under section
(2)(1)(b) of the Act or the common law, and that he
falls to be declared a vexatious litigant.
Security for costs
72.
The
liquidators additionally seek an order that, should Mr Pienaar be
given permission to litigate, he would be obliged to provide
security
for costs. In
Boost
Sports Africa (Pty) Ltd v South African Breweries (Pty) Ltd
[35]
the
Supreme Court of Appeal endorsed the requirement of security for
costs in litigation by vexatious litigants as follows:
"
In Western
Assurance Co v Caldwell's Trustee
(1918 AD 262)
this court laid down
that a court of law had inherent jurisdiction to stop or prevent a
vexatious action as being an abuse of the
process of the court; one
of the ways of doing so is by ordering the vexatious litigant to give
security for the costs of the other
side, and I know of no reason why
the court below should not have [exercised] such an inherent
jurisdiction."
73.
Mr Pienaar litigates using other people's money,
being that of the investors from whom he solicits funds.
Considering the
audience in court on the day of the hearing of this
application, he has a committed group of followers who adhere to his
advice
and who believe in his powers as litigator. He has run
up millions of rands in costs orders that he does not and cannot
pay.
It appears that he is proud of the fact that he owes
millions of rands in unpaid costs orders. It would, in my view,
be in
the interest of justice for this Court to exercise its inherent
jurisdiction in ordering that Mr Pienaar must provide security for
costs should he be granted permission to litigate. This will be
reflected in the order granted at the end of this judgment.
The interdictory
relief sought by the liquidators
74.
Apart from relief under the Act, the liquidators
seek interdictory relief against Mr Pienaar, to the effect that he be
prohibited
from taking any further steps in relation to the second
rescission application; and further that he be interdicted from
instituting
and conducting private prosecutions against any of the
targeted parties.
75.
Mr
Pienaar's past conduct suggests that should this Court decide the
second rescission application against him, this will not deter
him –
he will seek to have the judgment rescinded or to apply for leave to
appeal against it. Given the conclusion
to which I have come in
the vexatious litigant application, however, I do not think that
interdictory relief is necessary in this
respect. Mr Pienaar
will have to comply with the terms of the order that declares him a
vexatious litigant should he wish
to pursue any further litigation,
including the taking of further steps in respect of the second
rescission application.
[36]
76.
The
threatened private prosecutions are on a different footing. In
Zuma
v Downer and another
[37]
the Supreme Court of Appeal remarked:
“
The
mere decision to prosecute can have a far-reaching impact on an
accused person’s life. It should not be lightly made,
because
even if an accused is ultimately acquitted, the harm already suffered
could prove to be irreparable. As Howie P pointed
out in S
v Western Areas Ltd and Others:
‘
A
criminal trial cuts across a number of an accused person’s
fundamental rights. Attendance at the trial, even if on bail,
limits
freedom of movement and even the right to liberty is curbed to an
extent
.’”
77.
An
application to interdict a private prosecution is competent in law.
Where a prosecutor undertakes a prosecution with an
ulterior purpose,
and not with the object of having justice done, such prosecutor is
able to harass the accused and fraudulently
defeat their rights,
allowing the courts to be used for the oppression of an adversary. In
the context of a private prosecution,
the question is thus whether
the prosecution is instituted for some collateral purpose, rather
than with the object of having criminal
justice done.
[38]
78.
The
Supreme Court of Appeal in
Zuma
confirmed
[39]
that a civil court will grant an interdict to set aside a private
prosecution if it amounts to an abuse, or is vexatious or irregular.
The Court has the power - and the duty - to prevent abuse of its
process. I agree with the liquidators that, given the
background
to this saga, Mr Pienaar's charges against Mr Gore are
patently without substance. There is no reason to think that
his other
contemplated prosecutions will have merit. It would
be vexatious and an abuse of process to allow the institution of
proceedings
that are obviously unsustainable as a certainty.
[40]
79.
The
requirements for a final interdict are well-established:
[41]
79.1
The
liquidators and other targeted parties have a clear right to protect
their reputations from criminal proceedings vexatiously
launched.
They have the right not to suffer the indignity of facing criminal
charges and the threat of criminal charges.
[42]
79.2
There is ongoing reputational harm inherent in the
threat of private prosecution, especially given the blatantly
defamatory manner
in which Mr Pienaar frames his affidavits and other
communications in his quest to prove his narrative. His
constant interventions
hamper the liquidators in the proper execution
of their work, to the determinant of creditors and other
stakeholders.
79.3
The liquidators have no alternative remedy
available to stop the threatened private prosecutions.
80.
Once
the requirements for a final interdict are met, the Court
nevertheless has a discretion (to be exercised judicially) to refuse
such relief.
[43]
In
considering the matter, I do not think that there is scope for the
refusal of the interdict against private prosecution
sought in the
present matter. Mr Pienaar has engaged in persistent and
vexatious litigation over many years, without success.
He has
used other people's money, and has never paid a costs order.
The NPA has refused to prosecute the criminal charges
already
brought, as those charges were without substance. Mr Pienaar
intends to resurrect those charges by way of his planned
private
prosecutions.
81.
I accordingly find that the liquidators have met
the requirements for final interdictory relief in relation to the
threatened private
prosecutions, and that such relief should be
granted against Mr Pienaar.
82.
I turn, against this background, to consider the
second rescission application.
The second
rescission application
The nature of the
second rescission application
83.
As
would by now be clear, Mr Pienaar’s second rescission
application is so called because he had previously instituted a
"first”
rescission application. In that application, issued in August
2016, Mr Pienaar attempted
inter
alia
to
rescind the Binns-Ward judgment, to declare the actions of the
FSB
[44]
in relation to their
investigations into the King Group unlawful, and to obtain a
declaration that "
all
liquidation and/or sequestration applications of the Consolidated KFH
be nullified and that all unlawful proceeds that persons
have
benefitted from as a result of these unlawful benefits form part of
the Restitution process as prescribed by Chapter 6 of
POCA
."
84.
The first rescission application was dismissed on
30 November 2018 by the Sievers judgment. An application for
leave to appeal
was denied by the High Court as well as,
subsequently, by the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional
Court Despite
these dismissals, Mr Pienaar instituted the
second rescission application in March 2021.
85.
He
describes
[45]
the purpose of
his resurrected application as follows: “
My
rescission application is brought primarily to declare that the court
was fraudulently misrepresented in court cases in the past,
and that
my adversaries had acted unlawfully, ultra vires and mala fides.
As a result, the court must establish the correct
facts and law to
establish the correct narrative, and grant applicant the relief
sought, for this fraud, corruption and money laundering
of his
adversaries”
.
86.
This description gives some idea of the scope of
Mr Pienaar’s argument, and the goal that he has in mind.
I have anxiously
considered Mr Pienaar’s affidavits and his
extensive heads of argument, and listened to the oral argument
presented, to discern
any basis upon which this Court should, or
could, come to his assistance. None presented itself.
87.
The striking feature of the second rescission
application is that it is a rescission application brought by the
party who was the
applicant in the original application (against
parties who are cited in the present application), who attended at
the hearing of
the matter – a hearing that was regular in every
respect - and who had his application dismissed, with costs.
Rescission
of judgment is not a remedy available to such an
applicant. He had appeal remedies, but he has exercised all of
them, and
failed.
88.
Mr Pienaar is intent upon recycling his
narrative. For example, in the founding papers in the second
recission application
he makes scandalous and unsubstantiated remarks
about the conduct of the FSB and of Mr Anderson. Stripped of the
emotive verbiage,
Mr Pienaar contends that the inspection of KFH
conducted by the FSB was unlawful, and that the affidavit deposed to
Mr Anderson
in support of Mrs Zera's liquidation application
contributed to the unjustified demise of the King Group.
89.
These allegations are for the most part a
repetition of those made against the FSB by Mr Pienaar in the first
rescission application.
The allegations were fully answered in that
application, and were found by the Sievers judgment to be without
merit. This is clear
from the comments made by that Court in support
of the punitive costs order he granted against Mr Pienaar:
"[34) Another
unsatisfactory aspect is that [Mr Pienaar] impugned the integrity of
the Respondents in his affidavits, his heads
of argument and in
argument before the court without any legitimate basis for doing so.
[35)
This constitutes
a
vexatious
abuse of process of court.
"
90.
The
FSB respondents have again answered the allegations made by Mr
Pienaar and have set out the legislative framework within which
their
investigation and subsequent report had been conducted. There
is nothing far-fetched or untenable in their version,
and the
disputes of fact between their version and Mr Pienaar's narrative
therefore fell, and fall, to be decided on the version
put up by the
FSB respondents, in accordance with the
Plascon-Evans
rule.
Mr Pienaar’s extensive, but contested, allegations of fraud
against the FSB and other persons should in any event
not be
determined on motion.
[46]
91.
Mr Pienaar is persistent in his contention that
the present application is not an attempt to revisit the previous one
because of
the fact that he has incorporated additional relief
(including relief under POCA and FICA) to the original relief
requested, and
by citing various “interested parties” in
addition to the original respondents. He must also now apply
not only
for the rescission of the BinnsWard judgment, but for
the rescission of the Sievers judgment for any of this to make sense.
92.
I am
of the view that the dressing up of the original application by the
incorporation of additional relief is a transparent abuse
of process
in the particular context of this litigation. The second rescission
application is nothing but an appeal pretending
to be something else,
the legitimate avenue to appeal having already been closed. It is an
attempt to relitigate the first rescission
application. A party
cannot seek to invoke the process of rescission to obtain a
re-hearing on the merits.
[47]
These machinations alone constitute a basis upon which to dismiss the
second rescission application.
93.
The
notice of motion serves as a stark illustration of the situation.
Mr Pienaar seeks an order declaring the following:
[48]
“
1.1
the Court has fraudulently been misrepresented in WCHC case
13665/2016
[49]
and
others to believe that the Respondents were doing a bona fide and
intra vires administrative inspection of the 1
st
Respondent
and ‘related’ persons and entities; and/ or
1.2
the 3
rd
and 4
th
Respondents (collectively
referred to as the FSB Respondents) had in fact conducted an
autocratic criminal investigation with effect
from 18 December 2008
without adhering to the rule of law; and/ or
1.3
the FSB Respondents must be duly joined and severally liable, with
the necessary resolution
and authorities, confirming that they
support the actions and conduct of the nomine officious cited and/ or
their predecessors
nomine officious, should they deny the allegations
made by Applicant in this application; and/ or
1.4
The FSB Respondents and/ or others ‘related’ to this
investigation, fraudulently
concealed and misrepresented all other
interested parties that it had acted according to the rule of law,
albeit that they had
in fact obstructed the course of justice and
applied their own law; and/ or
1.5
Applicant has provided an investigation founding affidavit with
regards to these fraudulent
and unlawful actions and requests the
court to confirm that the actions of these FSB Respondents, are in
fact a criminal offences;
and/ or
1.6
That the 7
th
Respondent and the 3
rd
and 4
th
Interested Parties can use this investigation in order to prepare the
necessary Application in terms of Chapter 6 of POCA; and/
or
1.7
The prosecuting authorities, cited and provided with the evidence of
these applications,
are compelled in terms of their mandate to
consider the fraud and corruption placed before it, and in the
interest of justice and
public interest, consider prosecuting the 2
nd
to 5
th
Respondents for their role in this money-
laundering collusion; and/ or
1.8
Applicant wants to make sure that in the interest of the public, that
criminal investigations
are not delayed further, as the investors
have been waiting for ten years for answers. The causation of
the First Respondent
(and related companies) implosion, which has
prejudiced so many victims, can be determined by the evidence before
court in these
proceedings; and/ or
1.9
Should the 7
th
Respondent and the 3
rd
and 4
th
Interested Parties wish not to prosecute against the persons
identified in this investigations affidavit, that Applicant be
provided
with the necessary nolle prosequi in order to take further
actions; and/ or
1.10
As a result of the fact all ‘related’ orders/ judgments/
determinations related to Kings have
been based on fraudulent
misrepresentation which has been based on illegality, Applicant seeks
the Court to rescind all related
orders/ judgments/ determinations to
be declared void ab initio; and/ or
1.11
Applicant has joined and/ or cited as many of the dominant interested
parties as possible in these proceedings,
as prescribed by Rule 42 of
the rules of Court; and/ or
1.12
The Court accepts the interested Parties joined as sufficient insofar
they are the only interested parties
that are duly legally
represented and should understand this complex saga; and/ or
1.13
That should the Court appoint a curator via the actions of the NDPP,
that the curator be directed to coordinate
all future proceedings
with the Applicant; and/ or
1.14
Further and/ or alternative relief, which may include:-
14.1
Declaring that the 4
th
Interested
Party (FIC) is hereby notified of this suspected unlawful conduct by
the FSB Respondents and should intervene with the
necessary
Supervisory bodies. The merits have already been placed before
them in this case.
14.2
Declaring that the NDPP (7
th
Respondent) should intervene
and apply FICA and POCA to these proceedings, namely filing for a
preservation order and restituting
the captured fixed properties to
the victims of this corruption and crime via the Asset Forfeiture
unit.
14.3
Declaring that should the NDPP not wish to intervene, based on the
merits placed before it and/ or with further
investigations, that
they issue a nolle prosequi in terms of the charges against the FSB
respondents, without further delaying
this matter.
14.4
Declaring that should a nolle prosequi be obtained, that Applicant
may apply private prosecution.
1.15
Directing that costs of the case be considered in terms of the Bio
watch principle.
C
.
… as a result of the Respondents’ patent errors,
ambiguities and omissions of fact and law, apparently fraudulently
misleading the court, Applicant has prepared this Application in
terms of Rule 42 for a rescission of the judgment in WCHC case
no
13665/2016.
”
94.
The formulation content of this relief speaks for
itself.
95.
The first and second respondents oppose, in
particular, the relief sought in prayers 1.1, 1.7, 1.10, and
paragraph C of the notice
of motion, which is the relief that
directly applies to them insofar as it seeks a rescission of the
Sievers judgment, and relief
that is dependent upon the rescission of
the Sievers judgment. It appears that the relief sought in
prayers 1.1 to 1.5 of
the notice of motion pertains to the third and
fourth respondents.
96.
These respondents are all agreed that no case has
been made out for any of the declaratory relief sought.
97.
As indicated, I have considered the affidavits
delivered in support of the relief sought. They rely heavily
upon interpretations
of the provisions of the Constitution and other
legislation. These are weaved amidst allegations of
ineffectiveness and criminality
of the administrative authorities
involved, and Mr Pienaar’s inability to get redress because of
the corrupt nature of the
legal profession and the various
institutions of justice, including the judges who have presided over
his cases.
98.
It is clear, sadly, that Mr Pienaar has been and
will be dissatisfied with any finding made against what he perceives
as the truth
and as justice. He appears in this application to be
“litigating” his allegations against whomever he can
reach in
the hope that it would give him a further bite at the
cherry. He is frustrated with the law, and the way that the
legal system
operates.
Mr Pienaar’s
lack of
locus standi
99.
A further fundamental problem with the second
rescission application is that Mr Pienaar clearly has no
locus
standi
to act on behalf of the persons
that he purports to represent. This issue was dealt with in
detail in the Sievers judgment
in 2018. The Court found that Mr
Pienaar did not have
locus standi
in the litigation he had allegedly undertaken on
behalf of the former investors. This was because he had no
direct and substantial
interest in the relief sought. He had
been a broker of the property syndication schemes; not an investor
who, having lost
money, had a claim in the liquidation of the group.
He had no authority to represent thousands of investors, as he is a
layman
and therefore not entitled to represent other parties.
100.
This situation persists in the second rescission
application. Mr Pienaar states in his notice of motion that
“
the application is made by the
Applicant on behalf of thousands of investors in terms of Section 38
of the Constitution as a result
of the fact that they have had their
Rights prejudiced and/ or infringed in terms of Sections 1(c), 8, 9,
22, 25, 32, 33, 34, 35
and 39 of the Bill of Rights.
Constitutional matter has also been infringed regarding Sections 41,
165, 167(4), 172, 173,
178, 195, 205 and 223 to 225 of the
Constitution”
.
101.
Simply
invoking the Constitution does not clothe one with
locus
standi
.
There is no substantiation on the papers for Mr Pienaar’s
contention that he falls within the categories provided
for in
section 38
[50]
of the
Constitution in relation to those he represents, or for the
contention that he is acting the public interest.
[51]
102.
Nowhere in Mr Pienaar's extensive founding
affidavit does he set out how his rights are impacted by the KFH
liquidation. On his
own version he acts only
"on
behalf of thousands of investors".
This
is not sufficient:
“
In
terms of s 19(1)(a)(iii) of the Supreme Court Act 59 of 1959, an
applicant for a declarator must show that he has an interest
in
an existing, future or contingent right. The right must attach
to the applicant and not be a declaration of someone else's
right. …
In the present case the right upon which a declarator is sought is
that of the oil company and the applicant has
only a
derivative interest. The fact that the applicant is affected
both commercially and financially does not convert his
derivative
interest into a legal right. See United Watch & Diamond Co
(Pty) Ltd and Others v Disa Hotels Ltd and Another
1972
(4) SA 409
(C)
at
417B; …
”
[52]
103.
Mr Pienaar purports to act on behalf of other
persons but is not a legal practitioner.
Section 33(1)
of the
Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014
provides, in relevant part, as follows:
“
(1)
Subject to any other law, no person other than a practising legal
practitioner who has been admitted
and enrolled as such in terms of
this Act may, in expectation of any fee, commission, gain or reward-
(a)
appear
in any court of law or before any board, tribunal or similar
institution in which only legal practitioners are entitled to
appear;
or
(b)
draw
up or execute any instruments or documents relating to or required or
intended for use in any action, suit or other proceedings
in a court
of civil or criminal jurisdiction within the Republic.”
104.
Mr Pienaar is in blatant contravention of these
provisions. By his own admission he lives off the funds that he
obtains from
the persons whom he purports to represent.
105.
He has
not obtained the leave of the Court to represent these “clients”
despite his status as a layperson. In
Manong
&
Associates
(Pty) Ltd v Minister of Public Works and another
[53]
the
Supreme Court of Appeal held as follows in relation to the High
Court’s inherent powers to regulate its own process:
“
[14] I have
expressly refrained from formulating a test for the exercise of the
court's inherent power as I believe that such cases
can confidently
be left to the good sense of the judges concerned. Lest this be
misconstrued as a tacit or general licence to unqualified
agents, it
needs be emphasised that
in
each such instance leave must be sought by way of a properly
motivated, timeously lodged formal application showing good
cause why,
in that particular case, the rule prohibiting
non-professional representation should be relaxed. Individual cases
can thus be met
by the exercise of the discretion in the
circumstances of that case. It would thus be impermissible for a
non-professional representative
to take any step in the proceedings,
including the signing of pleadings, notices or heads of argument
… without the
requisite leave of the court concerned first
having been sought and obtained
.
[15] This approach, in
my view, is consistent with the right enshrined in s 34 of the
Constitution, which provides that everyone
has the right to have any
dispute that can be resolved by the application of law decided in
a fair public hearing before a
court, or, where appropriate, another
independent and impartial tribunal or forum. Emphasising that the
courts have a duty to protect
bona fide litigants and the importance
of untrammelled access to the courts, the right enshrined in s 34 has
variously been described
by the Constitutional Court as 'fundamental
to a democratic society that cherishes the rule of law', 'of
cardinal importance
. . . that requires active protection',
foundational for 'the stability of an orderly society', and a right
that 'ensures the peaceful,
regulated and institutionalised
mechanisms to resolve disputes, without resorting to self help' and
serves as 'a bulwark against
vigilantism, and the chaos and anarchy
which it causes'.”
106.
It
does not assist Mr Pienaar to say that he, as a layperson, was not
aware of his lack of standing. The issue was raised
squarely in
the first rescission application, as well as in an application for
security for costs
[54]
that
preceded the first rescission application. The Sievers judgment
dealt with the matter in no uncertain terms, concluding
that:
''[17] The Applicant
[Mr Pienaar] was made aware of the need for such an application
[leave from the Court for a layman to represent
another] in an
interlocutory judgement handed down by Ndita J on 28 July 2017. He
nevertheless failed to bring any such application.
The present
application must accordingly fail on this ground alone."
107.
As
indicated, Mr Pienaar’s applications for leave to appeal
against the Sievers judgment were dismissed, three times.
It
follows that Mr Pienaar has not demonstrated the requisite
locus
standi
to
seek any of the relief (insofar as the grant of such relief may be
competent) set out in the notice of motion.
[55]
The second rescission application stands to be dismissed on this
basis alone.
Rescission of the
Sievers judgment
108.
The
issue of
locus
standi
aside,
when the requirements for the rescission are met, the Court may
exercise its discretion in deciding whether it is in the
interests of
justice to rescind a judgment.
[56]
There is no general discretion to rescind a judgment.
109.
The second rescission application fails at the
first hurdle. There is no factual basis discernable from Mr
Pienaar’s
papers to fulfil the requirements of any of the
subrules of Rule 42.
109.1
The
Constitutional Court has confirmed that
"absence"
is
an essential requirement of Rule 42(1)(a).
[57]
It is common cause that Mr Pienaar was present at the hearing of his
application before Acting Justice Sievers, and no judgment
or order
was erroneously sought or granted in Mr Pienaar’s absence.
109.2
There is no support for the contention that the
Sievers judgment contains an ambiguity or a patent error or omission
as contemplated
in Rule 42(1)(b).
109.3
There is also no basis to hold that the Sievers
judgment was granted as a result of a mistake common to the parties,
as provided
for in Rule 42(1)(c).
110.
It is
not clear whether Mr Pienaar also seeks rescission under the common
law but there is, in any event, no scope for such relief.
The
Supreme Court of Appeal has set out the relevant principles.
[58]
The guiding principle of the common law is the certainty of
judgments. Once judgment is given in a matter, it is final. It may
not thereafter be altered by the judge who delivered it. He or she
becomes
functus
officio
and
the court may not ordinarily vary or rescind its own judgment. That
is the function of an appeal court.
111.
There
are exceptions. After evidence is led and the merits of the
dispute have been determined, rescission is permissible
only in the
limited case of, firstly, a judgment obtained by fraud or,
exceptionally,
iustus
error.
Secondly,
rescission of a judgment taken by default may be ordered where the
party in default can show sufficient cause.
[59]
There are, thirdly, certain exceptions which do not relate to
rescission as such but to the correction, alteration and
supplementation
of a judgment or order.
112.
None of these grounds apply to the facts of the
present matter. In particular, and despite Mr Pienaar's
allegations, the Sievers
judgment was not obtained by fraud or any
error
(iustus
or
otherwise) on the part of the Court. In this regard, Mr Pienaar
frames his case for rescission as follows in his founding
affidavit:
112.1
"The Court was fraudulently misrepresented
to believe the correct legal application of law had been applied'.
112.2
"Criminal proceedings should have been
dealt with before proceeding with the civil actions".
112.3
"Lifting of the corporate veil judgment
[i.e. the Binns-Ward judgment] should have preceded the unopposed
liquidation applications".
112.4
"...
reliance on
the state to apply the rule of law";
and
112.5
An argument that the Court should provide
restitution.
113.
The second and third reasons above are not legally
sustainable propositions - there is no set order in which the various
court actions
and applications had to proceed. Propositions
four and five are vague legal statements and the contentions advanced
under
those headings in the affidavit do not provide grounds for
rescission of judgment.
114.
That leaves Mr Pienaar's contention that Acting
Justice Sievers was
"fraudulently
misrepresented to"
.
115.
A
judgment may be set aside, at common law, on the grounds of fraud and
iustus
error
for
the good reason that a judgment procured by the fraud of one of the
parties, whether by forgery, perjury or in any other way
such as
fraudulently withholding material documents, cannot be allowed to
stand.
[60]
The
successful party must have been privy to the fraud.
[61]
116.
Although Mr Pienaar alleges that this Court (and
all of the courts that he wishes to implicate in the relief that he
seeks) was
"fraudulently
misrepresented to"
it is apparent
that the hearing before Acting Justice Sievers was regular in all
respects. The Court duly had regard to and
weighed Mr Pienaar's
case, including the allegations of fraud and corruption raised at
that stage. There was no fraud or
mistake or other irregularity
in relation to the hearing itself, and Mr Pienaar has not alleged
any. All of this was confirmed
by the fact that his
applications for leave to appeal were unsuccessful. There was
no fraud or
iustus error
.
117.
In the circumstances, an application for
rescission under the common law - if in fact such relief has been
sought - must fail.
The declaratory
relief sought
118.
The declaratory relief sought in prayers 1.1, 1.7,
1.10, and elsewhere in the notice of motion is dependent upon the
rescission
of the Sievers judgment. It is only upon rescission that
Mr Pienaar would be entitled to bring a fresh application in which to
make out his case for the declaratory relief sought. Absent
rescission, the declaratory relief is sought in a vacuum.
119.
As to the third and fourth respondents, in prayer
1.1 of the notice of motion Mr Pienaar seeks an order declaring that
these respondents
(the FSB respondents) made fraudulent
misrepresentations to Acting Judge Sievers in the first rescission
application (and other
unidentified matters). In prayers 1.2
and 1.4 Mr Pienaar seek a declaration that the investigation
conducted by the FSB respondents
in 2008 was “
an
autocratic criminal investigation"
conducted
fraudulently and in violation of the rule of law. In prayer 1.3
Mr Pienaar asks for an order declaring that the
FSB respondents must
be
"joined and severally liable"
.
He clearly means “jointly”
and severally, but no detail is given in relation to what the FSB
respondents must be held
liable for, or how such liability is to be
determined. In prayer 1.5 Mr Pienaar seeks an order declaring
that he (Mr Pienaar)
has provided
"an
investigation founding affidavit'
and
that the conduct of the FSB respondents is a criminal offence.
120.
However, nowhere in Mr Pienaar's founding
affidavit of almost 600 pages, his 52-page supplementary affidavit,
or his 132-page replying
affidavit, are there facts which support the
relief he seeks.
121.
Declaratory
relief may be granted in terms of
section 21(1)(c)
of the
Superior
Courts Act 10 of 2013
. A High Court may enquire into and
determine any right notwithstanding that the applicant cannot claim
any relief consequential
upon such determination. However, such
declaratory relief may only be claimed by an interested person with
an identifiable
right and courts will not decide abstract, academic,
or hypothetical questions.
[62]
122.
The
Supreme Court of Appeal recently reiterated the test for the grant of
declaratory relief:
[63]
“
In
terms of
s
21(1)(c)
of the
Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013
,
a
High
Court may, in its discretion, and at the instance of any interested
person, enquire into and determine any existing, future
or contingent
obligation, notwithstanding that such person cannot claim any relief
consequential upon the determination.
The
applicant who seeks declaratory relief must satisfy the court that he
or she is
a
person
interested in an 'existing, future or contingent right or obligation'
and
then, if satisfied on that point, the court must decide whether the
case is
a
proper
one for the exercise of the discretion
conferred
on it. The question must be examined in two stages."
123.
As to the first stage of the enquiry, it cannot be
said that Mr Pienaar is a person interested in an
"existing,
future or contingent right or obligation"
on
the papers. It has already been found that he has no
locus
standi
or interest in the matter.
This was the finding, too, in the Sievers judgment.
124.
Second,
even if the Court were satisfied that Mr Pienaar had
locus
standi
,
this would not be a proper case for the exercise of the Court's
discretion. The aim of Mr Pienaar's bid to overturn the
Sievers
judgment in the present application is to open the way to overturning
the Binns-Ward judgment, and in turn the other liquidation
applications that had been brought in the King Group. These matters
were all determined from about 2009 onwards, and are
res
judicata.
[64]
Mr
Pienaar will therefore not be able to achieve what he hopes to
achieve via the rescission of the Sievers judgment.
125.
In
this regard, the present matter is similar to the situation in
Pasiya
:
[65]
“…
this
was
not
a
case
where
the court ought to exercise its discretion in favour of granting the
declaratory order sought. This
was
so,
reasoned
the High Court, because the appellants unduly delayed in approaching
the court for their relief which they sought. The
appellants only
sought the court's intervention in 2020, imploring it to 'turn the
wheels back to the position prevailing in 2009'.
It found that whilst
the appellants did nothing to vindicate their rights, LM and
other
shareholders proceeded to organise their lives, planned and conducted
the business in accordance with the position after the
dilution of
the shares, and a number of decisions had been made since 2009.
relying upon resolutions which the appellants belatedly
sought to be
declared unlawful.
"
126.
Mr Pienaar’s attempt to undo more than 15
years of litigation through the declaratory relief sought is a
non-starter.
At this juncture the practical difficulties in
setting aside and attempting to reverse the liquidation of the King
Group are insurmountable.
Courts do not make orders which cannot be
enforced.
127.
Third, there is, in any event, and apart from Mr
Pienaar’s narrative, no suggestion that any of the liquidation
applications
or the Binns-Ward judgment were improperly decided.
There is no dispute that the companies in the King Group were
hopelessly
insolvent, and that they fell to be wound up as a matter
of law. The relief sought in relation to the first and second
respondents
can therefore not be granted.
128.
Fourth, I have already indicated that, in respect
of the FSB respondents, no case is made out for the relief sought in
the notice
of motion. The complete lack of a factual basis for
the relief sought makes the issues raised by Mr Pienaar abstract and
nebulous, and militates against the exercise of this Court's
discretion to grant any of the declaratory relief sought.
129.
Fifth, Mr Pienaar has failed to join various
parties who have an obvious legal interest in the relief that he
seeks. The issue
of non-joinder was raised in the first
rescission application, and was expressly considered in the Sievers
judgment: “
Persons who may be
directly or indirectly affected by the relief sought have not been
joined and they have thus not had an opportunity
to present evidence
and argument to the court.
”
130.
Parties interested in the outcome of the
application include all the investors and creditors who have received
dividends from the
companies in liquidation over the years, third
parties who purchased assets from the liquidators, and the
liquidators of all the
subsidiaries of KFH themselves. Given
the wide-ranging nature of Mr Pienaar’s allegations, there are
many more interested
parties.
131.
These are all reasons why this Court is not a
position to grant any of the declaratory relief sought. The
second rescission
application falls to be dismissed.
The application for
a referral to oral evidence
132.
In his heads of argument Mr Pienaar asks that, if
the Court cannot decide “
to grant
me the relief sought”,
the
application be referred to oral evidence under
Rule 6(5)(g).
He
foresees the giving of oral evidence by a virtually open-ended array
of persons who were involved in the saga over the
past decade, on all
of the aspects in relation to which his narrative deviates from the
current status of the litigation history.
133.
The
factual disputes in the present matter were obviously glaringly
foreseeable. Apart, moreover, from the obvious practical problems
that may be encountered in a referral to oral evidence on the facts
of this matter, the fact remains that the second rescission
application does not meet the requirements for rescission, whether
under
Rule 42
or the common law. This, as well as Mr Pienaar’s
lack of
locus
standi
and
the issue of
res
iudicata,
has
been dealt with above. That is the end of the matter.
There is no point in referring any of the multitude of (and
undefined) disputes of fact and other problematic issues on the
papers to oral evidence.
[66]
The costs of the
vexatious litigant application and the second rescission application
134.
It is necessary to deal with the issue of costs in
the vexatious litigant application and the second rescission
application in some
detail. Mr Pienaar was unrepresented.
He had clearly put much effort into compiling the papers and was
serious about
his cause, whatever the merit thereof. He
initially tried to conduct himself respectfully in court, although he
veered into
the invective as the argument proceeded.
135.
One does not lightly depart from the general rule
that costs follow the result, but I did deliberate whether each party
should pay
their own costs, amongst other reasons because the
liquidators in the vexatious litigant application and the respondents
in the
second rescission application would probably not be able to
extract any funds from Mr Pienaar. The mere fact that a
litigant
cannot pay is, however (subject to the Court’s
discretion), not sufficient reason to avoid the making of a costs
order against
him.
136.
Having considered the issues, I am of the view
that Mr Pienaar should pay the costs of each of the applications in
question on a
punitive scale. This is so for four reasons.
137.
First,
Rule 6 of the
Uniform Rules requires an applicant in motion proceedings to set out
the material facts upon which he relies in chronological
sequence,
without argumentative matter, and in a lucid, logical and
intelligible form. As indicated earlier, the affidavits
upon
which Mr Pienaar relied were lengthy documents filled with material
that was argumentative and irrelevant for the purposes
of the issues,
such as they were. The relief sought in the second rescission
application was obviously unsustainable.
He failed clearly to
indicate what his cause of action was, and what exactly the facts
were upon which he relied in support of
the relief claimed.
138.
The
manner in which the papers had been drafted made it difficult for the
other parties and the Court to ascertain the precise relief
sought
or, in the case of the vexatious litigant application, what the
defence was. It was prejudicial to the other parties
to have to
attempt to divine, from the mass of information on record, what case
they had to meet.
[67]
As
a result the Court was “
given
no clear context of facts which are common cause, and no clear
guidance as to the dispute of facts which must be evaluated
against
the background of such a context
”
.
[68]
139.
Second, Mr Pienaar makes much of the fact that he
is a layperson. That argument has outlived its usefulness.
Mr Pienaar
is by now a seasoned litigator who has, unfortunately,
abused the process of court. The glaring defects in the proceedings
that
he has instituted have expressly been conveyed to him time and
again. He has deliberately chosen to ignore the advice because
it does not suit his narrative. He is not willing to admit
defeat.
140.
Third, in his many affidavits and the annexures
thereto, as well as in the heads of argument, Mr Pienaar makes
unsubstantiated and,
frankly, scandalous comments about various
persons and authorities, including the courts. There are too many
examples to mention,
but I have referred to a few instances earlier
in this judgment. The allegations made in relation to these
persons are argumentative
expressions of Mr Pienaar’s opinion.
They are unsupported by objective facts and do not contribute in any
way to the
proper determination of the disputes between the parties.
141.
Mr
Pienaar relies on the principle in
Biowatch
[69]
to
escape the grant of a costs against him. The principle states
that
in
constitutional matters against the state or organs of state the
litigant, subject to exception, should not be made to pay the
costs
of the state. This is to avoid adverse costs orders against
litigants seeking to assert constitutional rights.
142.
This
is, however, not a case in which the invocation of
Biowatch
can
assist him, even if he did raise any constitutional issues. In
Biowatch
the
following was stated as regards the approach to costs in
constitutional cases:
[70]
“
[24]
… the general approach of this court to costs in litigation
between private parties and the State,
is
not unqualified. If an application is frivolous or vexatious, or in
any other way manifestly inappropriate, the applicant should
not
expect that the worthiness of its cause will immunise it against an
adverse costs award
.
Nevertheless, for the reasons given above, courts should not lightly
turn their backs on the general approach of not awarding
costs
against an unsuccessful litigant in proceedings against the State,
where matters of genuine constitutional import arise.
…
[25]
Merely labelling the litigation as constitutional and dragging in
specious references to sections of the Constitution would,
of course,
not be enough in itself to invoke the general rule …. T
he
issues must be genuine and substantive, and truly raise
constitutional considerations relevant to the adjudication.
…”
143.
I have found that the second recission application
constitutes an abuse of process. The relief sought is patently
unsustainable.
The papers in that application, as well as in
the vexatious litigant application, are replete with defamatory and
irrelevant material.
I am of the view that this is a case where the
Biowatch
principle
should not apply.
144.
In all of these circumstances, justice dictates
that Mr Pienaar bear the costs of these applications.
145.
The
established position regarding an award of attorney and client costs
is set out in
Nel
v Waterberg Landbouwers Ko-operative Vereeniging
:
[71]
"
The true
explanation of awards of attorney and client costs not expressly
authorised by Statute seems to be that, by reason of special
considerations arising either from the circumstances which give rise
to the action or from the conduct of the losing party, the
court in a
particular case considers it just by means of such an order, to
ensure more effectually than it can do by means of a
judgment for
party and party costs that the successful party will not be out of
pocket in respect of the expense caused to him
by the litigation
."
146.
In
MEC
for Public Works, Roads and Transport, Free State v Esterhuizen and
others
[72]
the
Supreme Court of Appeal found that an award of attorney and client
costs was warranted in a case in which unsubstantiated allegations
against the trial judge had been made. The Court held that “
it
is unacceptable that allegations of impropriety can be made against a
judge in so cavalier a fashion...As a mark of opprobrium,
I think a
punitive costs order should be imposed on the scale as between
attorney and client
."
147.
The
Constitutional Court in
Mkhatshwa
and others v Mkhatshwa and others
[73]
made a
similar punitive costs order as a mark of its displeasure with the
accusations levelled by the applicants against various
judicial
officers:
"
It will not do
for litigants to resort to unscrupulous tactics to succeed in this
Court, especially when such tactics involve unjustifiable
attempts at
bringing shame and disrepute upon Judicial Officers. This is because
the Judiciary, unlike other branches of government,
must rely solely
on the trust and support of the public in order to fulfil its
functions. Consequently, any conduct that undermines
and erodes the
authority and integrity of the Judiciary must be prevented. Litigants
who resort to the kind of tactics displayed
in this matter must
beware that they are unlikely to enjoy this Court's sympathies or be
shown mercy in relation to costs. The
only reasonable conclusion in
the circumstances is that a punitive costs order is apposite.
"
148.
On the basis of this precedent, and having
considered the tenor of the documents filed of record as well as the
history of the matters
before me, I regard a punitive costs order as
appropriate.
The sequestration
application
149.
This
leaves the application for the sequestration of Mr Pienaar’s
estate, which is brought by the liquidator of KFH.
[74]
150.
Section 10
of the
Insolvency Act 24 of 1936
provides that, if a Court is of the opinion that
prima
facie
the applicant has established a
claim against the debtor for not less than R100, that the debtor has
committed an act of insolvency
or is insolvent; and that there is
reason to believe that it will be to the advantage of creditors of
the debtor if his estate
is sequestrated, the Court may provisionally
sequestrate the debtor's estate.
151.
In an
opposed application for provisional sequestration or liquidation the
applicant must establish her entitlement to an order
on a
prima
facie
basis,
meaning that the applicant must show that the balance of
probabilities on the affidavits is in her favour.
[75]
A
distinction must be drawn between factual disputes relating to the
respondent's liability to the applicant (i.e. relating to the
applicant's claim) and disputes relating to the other requirements.
At the provisional stage,
[76]
the other requirements must be satisfied on a balance of
probabilities with reference to the affidavits. In relation to the
applicant's
claim, however, the Court must consider not only where
the balance of probabilities lies on the papers but also whether the
claim
is
bona
fide
disputed
on reasonable grounds.
[77]
The applicant’s
claim
152.
The applicant's claim arises from the fact that
KFH is a judgment creditor of Mr Pienaar in the total amount of
R351,329.34,10 in
respect of taxed bills of costs
.
These bills are the following:
152.1
R298,215.23 plus interest from 26 October 2021 to
date of payment;
152.2
R12,045.79 plus interest from 19 August 2020 until
the date of payment; and
152.3
R41,068.32 plus interest from 31 August 2021 until
the date of payment.
153.
The
claim is liquidated and
prima
facie
established
as contemplated in
section 9(1)
of the
Insolvency Act. The
applicant’s
locus
standi
is
undisputed. The onus then shifts onto Mr Pienaar show that the
claims are disputed on
bona
fide
and
reasonable grounds.
[78]
These
are two distinct components, which must both be satisfied.
[79]
154.
The
cost orders arise from the Sievers judgment, and Mr Pienaar's three
failed applications for leave to appeal. The taxed
costs orders
are due and payable
[80]
judgment debts, and Mr Pienaar can therefore not genuinely dispute
the applicant's claim, nor does he do so - the facts in the
sequestration application are mostly common cause.
155.
The papers show that Mr Pienaar is also indebted
to PwC in the total amount of R3,919,588.31 in respect of taxed legal
costs.
The amount does not include PwC’s untaxed costs,
and remains unpaid. I have earlier referred to the Nziweni
judgment
in which it was recorded that PwC had incurred over R12.5
million in legal costs against Mr Pienaar since 2014.
Mr Pienaar is
insolvent
156.
Mr Pienaar does not deny that he owes these costs.
On the contrary, in a circular dated 7 March 2023 sent to his
followers,
he states that he has more than R50 million in costs
orders against him.
157.
For the purposes of the present application, the
amount owed to KFH and PwC in respect of taxed costs is
R4,270,917.65. Interest
is accruing thereon. The PwC
costs orders were taxed and have been due and payable since 2015 and
2018 respectively. The
prescribed interest rate is approximately 10%
per annum. On an almost R4 million debt accruing over at least
6 years and
counting, this amounts to more than R2.5 million of
interest owed on the PwC judgment debts. Interest at the
prescribed rate
has been accruing on the KFH taxed costs since 2020
and 2021 respectively.
158.
The claims of Mr Pienaar's judgment-debt creditors
(KFH and PwC) therefore exceed R4.2 million. With interest, the debts
exceed
R6.5 million.
159.
It is common cause that Mr Pienaar's only
significant asset is his residential property situated at Erf 1[...],
Parow. He
and the second respondent are co-owners of the
property. As they are married out of community of property,
only half of the
value of the property accrues to Mr Pienaar.
160.
The market-value of the property is approximately
R4 million. The forced sale value is estimated to be at R3,250,000.
There
is a mortgage bond registered in favour of ABSA Bank Ltd over
the property in the amount of R1,3 million. On the best case
scenario for Mr Pienaar, the mortgage bond has been paid off by now
and he is entitled to R2 million on the market-value of the
house for
his half share. This is nowhere near the debt which he owes to his
judgment creditors. He is plainly insolvent.
Mr Pienaar has
committed an act of insolvency
161.
In terms of
section 8(b)
of the
Insolvency Act, a
debtor commits an act of insolvency if
"a
court has given judgment against him and he fails, upon the demand of
the officer whose duty it is to execute that judgment,
to satisfy it
or to indicate to that officer disposable property sufficient to
satisfy it, or if it appears from the return made
by that officer
that he has not found sufficient disposable property to satisfy the
judgment."
162.
On 12 January 2018 at the instance of PwC, the
Bellville deputy Sheriff served a writ of execution on Mr Pienaar at
his place of
residence. The Sheriff certified that Mr Pienaar had
informed him that he (Mr Pienaar)
"has
no money, disposable property or assets, inter alia, wherewith to
satisfy the said warrant or any portion thereof No moveable
assets
were either pointed out or could be found by me after
a
diligent search and enquiry at the given
address."
163.
The Sheriff accordingly made a return of
nulla
bona.
In the circumstances, Mr
Pienaar has committed a
section 8(b)
act of insolvency. There
is nothing on record to indicate that Mr Pienaar’s situation
has since improved. He
has continued litigating with the
assistance of the persons from whom he solicits funding.
164.
Regarding his living costs, Mr Pienaar states that
when he was a broker for the property syndication schemes in 2010 his
standard
of living was much higher. He now relies on donations for
the work he does (his "investigations", and the litigation
undertaken on the basis thereof). He says that, together with his
wife's income, this is the way in which he funds his living
expenses.
Whilst he concedes that his standard of living has
come down in the last few years, he maintains that he is not
insolvent. This
denial is plainly spurious, given the common
cause facts.
165.
In terms of
section 10(b)
of the
Insolvency Act,
Mr
Pienaar’s estate may be sequestrated on grounds of
either his common cause factual insolvency or the
section 8(b)
act of
insolvency.
Advantage to
creditors
166.
In
Stratford
and others v Investec Bank Ltd and others
[81]
the Constitutional Court confirmed the approach to the
Insolvency
Act’s
requirement of an advantage of creditors:
“
[43] …It
is the petitioner who bears the onus of demonstrating that there is
reason to believe that this is so. In Friedman the
Court held:
‘
[T]he facts put
before the Court must satisfy it that there is a reasonable prospect
– not necessarily a likelihood, but a
prospect which is not too
remote – that some pecuniary benefit will result to creditors.
It is not necessary to prove
that the insolvent has any assets.
Even if there are none at all, but there are reasons for thinking
that as a result of
enquiry under the [Insolvency Act] some may be
revealed or recovered for the benefit of creditors, that is
sufficient’.
[44] The meaning of
the term “advantage” is broad and should not be
rigidified. This includes the nebulous “not-negligible”
pecuniary benefit on which the appellants rely. To my mind,
specifying the cents in the rand or “not-negligible”
benefit in the context of a hostile sequestration where there could
be many creditors is unhelpful. ….
[45] The correct
approach in evaluating advantage to creditors is for a court to
exercise its discretion guided by the dicta outlined
in Friedman.
For example, it is up to a court to assess whether the sequestration
will result in some payment to the
creditors as a body; that
there is a substantial estate from which the creditors cannot get
payment except through sequestration; or
that some pecuniary
benefit will result for the creditors.
”
167.
In the present matter there is, on the papers,
sufficient free residue in the immovable property to provide for a
dividend to concurrent
creditors. On Mr Pienaar's version,
moreover, he continues to solicit donations from "investors"
into his ABSA
bank account. These funds also contribute to
establishing an advantage to creditors. The facts which indicate an
advantage to creditors
are accordingly common cause.
168.
In the circumstances, the grant of a sequestration
order would be to the advantage of the general body of creditors.
Mr Pienaar’s
defences to the sequestration application
169.
Mr Pienaar raises various
in
limine
points in relation to the
sequestration application.
170.
The first is that Mr Pienaar regards the change of
KFH's name (it was formerly known as Biz Africa 1332 (Pty) Ltd) as
creating a
new entity which could be “plundered” for the
benefit of the liquidators. This defence has no merit, as it is clear
from the applicant’s replying affidavit that the company’s
name had duly been changed after it had converted into a
public
company years ago.
171.
The second point is based on Mr Pienaar’s
mistaken assumption that the delivery and service of the
sequestration application
resulted in the immediate issuing of a rule
nisi
against
him. This is simply incorrect.
172.
The third point is the citing of the second
respondent. Mr Pienaar does not accept that this is a requirement of
this Court’s
Practice Directives. He alleges that the
"legal
fraternity"
recklessly failed to
establish that the respondents are married out of community of
property. He states that his wife
should be left out of
this litigation.
173.
Mr Pienaar argues, fourthly, that the vexatious
litigant application was brought
"solely
to be able to place that rule nisi case on the opposed roll”.
This is, again, plainly not correct.
174.
As set out above, the jurisdictional requirements
for provisional sequestration in the present matter have been met on
common cause
facts. None of the points
in
limine
constitutes a defence to the
sequestration application.
175.
Mr
Pienaar's only substantive defence to the sequestration application
is his allegation that, if the second rescission application
were to
succeed, then the costs orders against him which arose from the
Sievers judgment must be set aside. I have already
found that
the second rescission application has no merit. It is in any
event not a defence to the sequestration application
based on
judgment debts (arising from the Sievers judgment, an order of the
Supreme Court of Appeal, and an order of the Constitutional
Court) to
argue that those costs orders will be rescinded and that that forms a
basis upon which not to sequestrate his estate.
A court order
stands until set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction. Until
then, the order (even if incorrect or invalid)
must be obeyed.
[82]
176.
It follows that there no reasonable or
bona
fide
defence to the applicant’s
claim appears from the papers.
Conclusion on the
sequestration application
177.
The required formalities prescribed in
section
9(3)(b)
,
9
(4) and
9
(4A) of the
Insolvency Act for
the grant of a
provisional sequestration order have been complied with.
178.
Once
the applicant for a provisional sequestration order has
prima
facie
established
the jurisdictional requirements for such an order, the Court has a
discretion whether to grant the order. Where the
conditions
prescribed for the grant of a provisional order are satisfied then,
in the absence of some special or unusual circumstances,
the Court
should grant the order.
[83]
179.
The
onus is on Mr Pienaar to establish special or unusual circumstances
that would justify the Court not sequestrating his estate.
[84]
He has raised none; there are no circumstances that would justify a
refusal of a provisional order. On the contrary,
Mr Pienaar has
incurred costs orders with impunity, and he unabashedly reports on
this fact to his followers and
"investors"
from
whom he seeks additional funds to pay for further litigation
(none of it with any prospects of success) and to pay for
his living
expenses. In these circumstances, a
concursus
of
Mr Pienaar's creditors is necessary and warrants the exercise of the
Court's discretion in favour of the applicant.
180.
I am accordingly satisfied that a proper case has
been made out for the provisional sequestration of Mr Pienaar’s
estate.
Orders
181.
I grant orders as follows:
A.
Case number 16769/2023 (vexatious
litigant application)
1.
The respondent is declared a vexatious litigant
pursuant to the provisions of section 2(1)(b) of the Vexatious
Proceedings Act 3
of 1956 (“the Act”).
2.
The respondent is not allowed to institute any new
proceedings, or take any further steps in the rescission application
issued in
March 2021 under case number 13665/2016 in this Court (in
particular, in relation to any application for leave to appeal or
rescission),
in any Division of the High Court of South Africa or in
any inferior court without the written leave of the inferior court or
of
the High Court or any judge of the High Court, as the case may be,
as contemplated in section 2(1)(b) of the Act, against any of
the
persons and entities listed in annexures A1, A2 and A3 hereto, in
respect of any issue relating any entity forming part of
the King
Group or the Realcor Group which are listed on annexures A1, A2 and
A3.
3.
In the event that written permission is granted to
the respondent to institute new proceedings or to proceed with
the rescission
application under case number 13665/2016, he shall be
required to provide security for costs to the relevant respondent or
respondents
in an amount to be determined by the Registrar or the
Clerk of the court in question.
4.
The respondent is interdicted and restrained from
instituting and conducting any private prosecution in terms of
section 8
of the
Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977
in respect of any
of the persons listed in annexures A1, A2 and A3 hereto, and in
respect of any issue relating to any entity forming
part of the King
Group or the Realcor Group.
5.
The Registrar.is directed to cause a copy of this
order to be published in the
Government
Gazette
, as contemplated in section
2(3) of the Act.
6.
The respondent shall pay the costs of this
application, including the costs of two counsel, on the scale as
between attorney and
client.
B.
Case number 13665/2016 (second rescission
application)
1.
The application is dismissed.
2.
The applicant shall pay the costs of the
application, including the costs of two counsel where employed, on
the scale as between
attorney and client.
C.
Case number 15691/2023 (sequestration
application)
1.
The first respondent’s estate is placed in
provisional sequestration in the hands of the Master of this Court.
2.
A rule
nisi
is issued calling upon the respondents and all
other interested parties to show cause, if any, to this Court on
Tuesday, 15 April 2025
at
10:00 or as soon thereafter as counsel may the heard, why:
2.1.
The first respondent’s estate should not be
placed in final sequestration; and
2.2.
The costs of the sequestration application should
not be costs in the sequestration.
3.
Service of the provisional order of sequestration
shall be effected:
3.1.
By the Sheriff on the first respondent at 1[...]
V[...] B[...] Street, Parow North, Cape Town;
3.2.
By the Sheriff on the second respondent at 1[...]
V[...] B[...] Street, Parow North, Cape Town;
3.3.
By the Sheriff on any employees of the first
respondent, and any registered trade union representing such
employees, at 1[...] V[...]
B[...] Street, Parow North, Cape Town;
3.4.
By the applicant’s attorney on the South
African Revenue Service via its service email address at
l
[...].
P. S. VAN ZYL
Acting judge of the
High Court
Appearances:
Case
number 16769/2023 (vexatious litigant application)
For
the applicants
:
G. Woodland SC and C.
Morgan, instructed by Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs Inc.
The
respondent in person
Case
number 13665/2016 (second rescission application)
The applicant in
person
For
the first and second respondents
:
G. Woodland SC and C.
Morgan, instructed by Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs Inc.
For
the third and fourth respondents:
S.
J. Koen, Bisset Boehmke McBlain
No appearance for the
remainder of the parties
Case
number 15691/2023 (sequestration application)
For
the applicant
:
G. Woodland SC and C.
Morgan, instructed by Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs Inc.
The
first respondent in person
No
appearance for the second respondent
[1]
Under
case number 13665/2016.
[2]
Under
case number 18127/2012 (“the Binns-Ward judgment”).
Written reasons for the order were given on 13 February
2013.
[3]
Under
case number 13665/2016 (“the Sievers judgment”).
[4]
Under
case number 15691/2023.
[5]
Under
case number 16769/2023.
[6]
Chapter
1: “
Jarndyce
and Jarndyce drones on. This scarecrow of a suit has, over the
course of time, become so complicated, that no man alive
knows what
it means. …Scores of persons have deliriously found
themselves made parties in Jarndyce and Jarndyce without
knowing how
or why; whole families have inherited legendary hatreds with the
suit.
”
[7]
Emphasis
added.
[8]
Under
the common law the High Court has always had the inherent power to
regulate its own procedure and to curtail frivolous and
vexatious
proceedings brought before it. The promulgation of the Act has
not done away with this power: see
Department
of Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs v Maphanga
2021
(4) SA 131
(SCA) at paras [25]-[27].
[9]
Beinash
and another v Ernst & Young and others
1999
(2) SA 116
(CC) at paras [15]-[20]. Emphasis added.
[10]
Department
of Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs v Maphanga supra
at
para [26].
[11]
The
second to fifth applicants in the vexatious litigant application.
[12]
As
it was then called. The FSB is the third respondent in the
second rescission application.
[13]
Delivered
in 2013.
[14]
That
the King brothers themselves admitted that they had treated the
companies as one is borne out by the transcript of an
interview
which
had been conducted as part of the FSB investigation.
[15]
Under
case number 12756/2009.
[16]
The
fourth respondent in the second rescission application.
[17]
A
“piercing the corporate veil” provision:
“
(9) If, on
application by an interested person or in any proceedings in which a
company is involved, a court finds that the incorporation
of the
company, any use of the company, or any act by or on behalf of the
company, constitutes an unconscionable abuse of the
juristic
personality of the company as a separate entity, the court may-
(a)
declare that the company is to be deemed not to be a juristic
person in respect of any right, obligation or liability of the
company
or of a shareholder of the company or, in the case of a
non-profit company, a member of the company, or of another person
specified
in the declaration; and
(b)
make any further order the court considers appropriate to give
effect to a declaration contemplated in paragraph (a).
”
[18]
Under
case number 1845/2021 (“the Nziweni judgment”).
[19]
As
she then was.
[20]
A
few cases related to the Sharemax and Amatenda property syndication
schemes.
[21]
Boost
Sports Africa (Pty) Ltd v South African Breweries (Pty) Ltd
2015
(5) SA 38
(SCA) at para [17].
[22]
At
paras [50]-[54].
[23]
At
paras [26]-[27].
[24]
At
para [28].
[25]
At
paras [34]-[36].
[26]
None
of these parties have taken part in these proceedings.
[27]
On
application by the first and second respondents in the second
rescission application, and by subsequent agreement with Mr Pienaar.
[28]
All
of these complaints have been dismissed by the Judicial
Conduct Committee.
[29]
The
interdictory relief sought is dealt with in more detail below.
[30]
Not
counting the annexures.
[31]
The
respondents in the second rescission application have again raised
the issue of
locus
standi
.
[32]
Department
of Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs v Maphanga
supra
at
para [25], discussing the common law position: “
It
had to be shown that the respondent had ‘habitually and
persistently instituted vexatious legal proceedings without
reasonable grounds.
Legal
proceedings were vexatious and an abuse of the process of court if
they were obviously unsustainable as a certainty and
not merely on a
preponderance of probability.
”
[33]
Beinash
supra
at
para [15].
[34]
The
sequestration application is considered below.
[35]
2015
(5) SA 38
(SCA) at para [15].
[36]
Reference
has been made earlier in this judgment to the fact that the
High
Court has long had the inherent power to stop frivolous and
vexatious proceedings pending before it.
[37]
2024
(2) SA 356
(SCA) at para [24].
[38]
Zuma
v Downer and another
supra
at
para [26].
[39]
At
para [31].
[40]
Zuma
supra
at
para [28].
[41]
Laskey
and another v Showzone CC and others
2007
(2) SA 48
(C) at para [41].
[42]
Zuma
supra
at
paras [23]-[24].
[43]
See
Laskey
supra
at
paras [41]-[45].
[44]
As
it was then called.
[45]
In
a practice note dated 29 October 2024.
[46]
Prinsloo
NO and others v Goldex 15 (Pty) Ltd and another
2014
(5) SA 297
(SCA) at paras [18]- [19].
[47]
Zuma
v The Judicial Commission of Inquiry and others
2021
(11) BCLR 1263
(CC) at para [68].
[48]
Mr
Pienaar’s numbering, spelling, and use of grammar have been
retained.
[49]
That
is, the Sievers judgment.
[50]
“
Anyone
listed in this section has the right to approach a competent court,
alleging that a right in the Bill of Rights has been
infringed or
threatened, and the court may grant appropriate relief, including a
declaration of rights. The persons who may approach
a court are-
(a)
anyone acting in their own interest;
(b)
anyone acting on behalf of another person who cannot act in
their own name;
(c)
anyone acting as a member of, or in the interest of, a
group or class of persons;
(d)
anyone acting in the public interest; and
(e)
an
association acting in the interest of its members.”
[51]
See
Ferreira v Levin NO and others
1996
(1) SA 984
(CC) at para [233].
[52]
Unicorn
Lines (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner of Customs and Excise and another
1997
(1) SA 369
(D) at 375C-E.
[53]
2010
(2) SA 167
(SCA) at paras [14]-[15]. Emphasis added.
[54]
Under
case number 13665/2016.
[55]
Mr
Pienaar was questioned on this issue by the Court at the hearing.
He relied on the argument that he had “peculiar
knowledge of
the matter” as a basis for
locus
standi
.
[56]
Zuma
supra
at
para [50].
[57]
Zuma
supra
at
para [61].
[58]
Colyn
v Tiger Food Industries Ltd t/a Meadow Feed Mills (Cape)
2003
(6) SA 1
(SCA) at para [4].
[59]
Colyn
supra
at
para [11].
[60]
J.A.N
v N.C.N
[2022]
ZAECMKHC 14 (17 May 2022) at para [30].
[61]
Fraai
Uitzicht 1798 Farm (Pty) Limited v McCullough and others
[2020]
ZASCA 60
(5 June 2020) at para [17].
[62]
Association
for Voluntary Sterilization of South Africa
v
Standard
Trust
Limited and others
[2023]
ZASCA 87
(7 June 2023) at paras
[7]-[14].
[63]
Pasiya
and others v Lithemba Gold Mining (Pty) Ltd and others
2024
(4) SA 118
(SCA) at para [46]. Emphasis added.
[64]
See
Board
of Governors of Mitchell House School and others v Maluleke
[2025] ZASCA 15
(25
February 2025) at para [8].
[65]
Pasyia
supra
at
paras [47]-[48]. Emphasis added.
[66]
See
the discussion in
Erasmus
Superior Court Practice
(online
version, RS 23, 2024, D1) at Rule 6-33ff.
[67]
Reynolds
NO v Mecklenberg (Pty) Ltd
1996
(1) SA 75 (W)
at 78I.
[68]
Reynolds
NO supra
at
83A–C.
[69]
Biowatch
Trust v Registrar, Genetic Resources and others
2009
(6) SA 232
(CC).
[70]
Emphasis
added. See also
Lawyers
for Human Right v Minister of Home Affairs and others
2017
(5) SA 480
(CC) at paras [17]-[21].
[71]
1946
AD 597
at 607.
[72]
2007
(1) SA 201
(SCA) at para [9].
[73]
2021
(5) SA 447
(CC) at para [26].
[74]
No
relief is sought against the second respondent in the sequestration
application. She is married to Mr Pienaar out of
community of
property and is joined by virtue of the provisions of this Court’s
Practice Directives.
[75]
Orestisolve
(Pty) Ltd t/a Essa Investments v NDFT Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd
and another
2015
(4) SA 449
(WCC) at para [7].
[76]
The
test for a final order is different. At that stage the applicant
must establish her case on a balance of probabilities. Where
the
facts are disputed, the Court is not permitted to determine the
balance of probabilities on the affidavits but must instead
apply
the rule in
Plascon
Evans Paints (Tvl) Ltd v Van Riebeeck Paints (Pty) Ltd
[1984] ZASCA 51
;
1984
(3) SA 623
(A) at 634E-635C (see
Orestisolve
supra
at
para [9]).
[77]
Orestisolve
supra
at
para [8].
[78]
Afgri
Operations Ltd v Hamba Fleet (Pty) Ltd
2022
(1) SA 91
(SCA) at paras [6] and [17].
[79]
See
Orestisolve
supra
at
para [13] and
GAP
Merchant Recycling
CC
v
Goal Reach Trading 55
CC
2016 (1) SA 261
(WCC) at paras [20] and [26].
[80]
The
Taxing Master's
allocatur
has
the effect of a court order:
Sheriff
of Pretoria North East v SA Taxi Development Finance (Pty) Limited
and others
[2023]
ZAGPJHC 331 (14 April 2023) at para [11].
[81]
2015
(3) SA 1
(CC) at paras [43]-[45].
[82]
Department
of Transport and
others
v Tasima (Pty)
Ltd
2017 (2) SA 622
(CC) at para [180].
[83]
Firstrand
Bank v Evans
2011
(4) SA 597
(KZD) at para [27].
[84]
Firstrand
Bank v Evans supra
at
para [27].
sino noindex
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