Case Law[2024] ZAWCHC 24South Africa
Tubestone (Pty) Ltd v Recycling & Economic Development Initiative of South Africa NPC - Appeal (A251/22) [2024] ZAWCHC 24; [2024] 2 All SA 292 (WCC); 2024 (3) SA 207 (WCC) (5 February 2024)
High Court of South Africa (Western Cape Division)
5 February 2024
Headnotes
liable to pay the respondent, the Recycling & Economic Development Initiative of SA NPC (‘Redisa’), the sum of R 2 479 335, together with interest and costs. The amount represented levies which were allegedly due in the period October 2016-February 2017 in terms of a so-called ‘integrated industry waste tyre management plan’ (‘a WTM plan’), administered by Redisa, which was promulgated by the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs on 30 November 2012 in terms of the National Environmental Management Waste Act [2] (‘the Waste Act’) and the Waste Tyre Regulations of 2008.[3]
Judgment
begin wrapper
begin container
begin header
begin slogan-floater
end slogan-floater
- About SAFLII
About SAFLII
- Databases
Databases
- Search
Search
- Terms of Use
Terms of Use
- RSS Feeds
RSS Feeds
end header
begin main
begin center
# South Africa: Western Cape High Court, Cape Town
South Africa: Western Cape High Court, Cape Town
You are here:
SAFLII
>>
Databases
>>
South Africa: Western Cape High Court, Cape Town
>>
2024
>>
[2024] ZAWCHC 24
|
Noteup
|
LawCite
sino index
## Tubestone (Pty) Ltd v Recycling & Economic Development Initiative of South Africa NPC - Appeal (A251/22) [2024] ZAWCHC 24; [2024] 2 All SA 292 (WCC); 2024 (3) SA 207 (WCC) (5 February 2024)
Tubestone (Pty) Ltd v Recycling & Economic Development Initiative of South Africa NPC - Appeal (A251/22) [2024] ZAWCHC 24; [2024] 2 All SA 292 (WCC); 2024 (3) SA 207 (WCC) (5 February 2024)
Download original files
PDF format
RTF format
make_database: source=/home/saflii//raw/ZAWCHC/Data/2024_24.html
sino date 5 February 2024
FLYNOTES:
ADMINISTRATIVE – Collateral challenge –
Delay
–
Redisa
claiming unpaid levies for waste tyres – Tubestone raising
collateral challenges – Whether delay in challenging
levies
and Redisa’s right to claim payment non-suited Tubestone –
High Court finding for Redisa – Interpretation
of
Merafong
City Municipality v AngloGold Ashanti
[2016]
ZACC 35
– Whether delay plays role in “classical”
collateral challenge – Tubestone paid the fee for four years
and did not seek to raise any illegality or invalidity –
Only sought to do so when application was launched by Redisa
–
Prospects of Tubestone succeeding on merits of challenge were
extremely tenuous – Appeal dismissed.
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
WESTERN
CAPE DIVISION, CAPE TOWN]
[REPORTABLE]
Case
no. A
251/22
In
the matter between:
TUBESTONE
(PTY) LTD
Appellant
and
THE
RECYCLING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
INITIATIVE
OF SOUTH AFRICA NPC
Respondent
JUDGMENT
DELIVERED (VIA EMAIL) ON 5 FEBRUARY 2024
SHER, J (FORTUIN J et
MANTAME J concurring):
1.
This
is an appeal (with leave of the SCA) against a judgment of this
Court,
[1]
in terms of which the
appellant Tubestone (Pty) Ltd, a company which imports tyres, was
held liable to pay the respondent, the
Recycling & Economic
Development Initiative of SA NPC (‘Redisa’), the sum of R
2 479 335, together with interest
and costs. The amount represented
levies which were allegedly due in the period October 2016-February
2017 in terms of a so-called
‘integrated industry waste tyre
management plan’ (‘a WTM plan’), administered by
Redisa, which was promulgated
by the Minister of Water and
Environmental Affairs on 30 November 2012 in terms of the National
Environmental Management Waste
Act
[2]
(‘the Waste Act’) and the Waste Tyre Regulations of
2008.
[3]
2.
The Regulations sought to deal with the problem of
the disposal of ‘waste’ tyres including used, retread or
new tyres,
which were not fit for use. They provided that tyre
‘producers’ (who were defined as including both
manufacturers and
importers) were not allowed to manufacture, import,
or deal in tyres unless they subscribed to a WTM plan which contained
measures
for the recycling or disposal of waste tyres in a manner
authorised by the plan. To this end, producers were required either
to
prepare and submit their own WTM plan to the Minister within 60
days of registering, or to subscribe to one which had already been
approved by the Minister.
The background
3.
Following
its incorporation as a non-profit company in 2010, Redisa set about
preparing what it envisaged could serve as a country-wide
blueprint
for a WTM plan. As the effective disposal of waste tyres was an
environmentally sensitive issue which affected the entire
country
[4]
it motivated for the adoption of a single, industry-wide plan on the
grounds that it would be more cost-effective and efficient,
given the
economies of scale involved and given that it would allow for better
financial control than a multiplicity of smaller,
individual plans
developed by various groupings within the thousands of tyre
dealerships in the country. It contended that a national
plan would
be easier to implement and would allow for the maximisation of job
creation and empowerment objectives, by including
the informal
sector, which deals with most scrap tyres.
4.
The draft plan which Redisa prepared was submitted
to the Minister in February 2011. In April and December that year
competing plans
were filed by the SA Tyre Process Corporation NPC
(‘SA Tyre) and the Retail Motor Industry Organisation. In
November 2011
Redisa’s plan was approved, but when an urgent
application was launched for an order suspending its implementation
the Minister
withdrew her approval. An amended plan was then
submitted, which was published for public comment, and a public
participation process
followed. In July 2012 the Minister approved
the amended plan but a further challenge was launched to it, which
resulted in an
interim interdict being granted, pending a review.
Once again, the Minister withdrew her approval, but regranted it to a
further
amended version, which was promulgated on 30 November 2012.
5.
Somewhat
unusually, the plan was promulgated in the memorandum format in which
it had been submitted to the Minister, rather than
in the
traditional, regulatory format which is commonly utilized when
promulgating subordinate legislation.
[5]
As a result it was an extensive and lengthy document, which served
both as a promotional motivation for its acceptance and a loosely
formulated regulatory framework for the disposal of waste tyres.
6.
As for the regulatory framework it proposed, it
envisaged establishing a network of producers, transporters and
processors, who
were to be registered with Redisa. Producers, who
included both manufacturers and importers, would have to submit
monthly returns
in which they declared the number and mass of tyres
manufactured and imported, which were to be verified by means of
annual audit
certificates. The information which was provided in
these returns would serve as the basis for the levying of a ‘waste
tyre
management fee’.
7.
Waste
tyres were to be collected from producers, dealers and public spaces
and conveyed to storage depots and processors, by transporters,
who
were to be paid on a per kilogram/per kilometre basis pursuant to
transportation contracts which would be awarded, on tender.
The
transporters and processors were similarly required to render returns
as to the number, type and tonnage of tyres collected
and transported
to storage depots and disposal facilities, as were the managers of
these facilities..
[6]
The
disposal of waste tyres (primarily by recycling) was to be carried
out by the processors, who would tender for and be awarded
a
specified annual tonnage of waste tyres, which they would dispose of
at a range of processing facilities which were to be established.
8.
As far
as funding the project was concerned, this was an aspect which was
not conveniently dealt with in a single section of the
memorandum,
but in several clauses thereof and an annexure.
[7]
9.
Essentially,
it was envisaged that the plan would be funded from a ‘waste
tyre management fee’ which was to be paid
by subscribers (i.e.
all tyre producers and importers), in the form of a levy which was to
be imposed on all tyres produced in
or imported to SA, on a
Rand-per-kilogram weight cost basis.
[8]
As tyre sizes varied from type to type and brand to brand, weights
were to be standardised, by size and type of tyre. Included
in the
factors which would determine the Rand-per-kilogram cost were 1)
collection and transportation costs 2) storage, handling
and
processing costs and 3) administration, management, advertising, and
marketing costs. The bulk of these costs, some 38%, would
be for
transportation, with administration and depot/storage costs
anticipated to each come in at half of that i.e. 20%.
[9]
10.
The
waste tyre management fee was ‘estimated’ on the basis of
a ‘steady state amount’ (sic) needed to operate
the plan,
once the necessary systems and infrastructure was in place.
[10]
It was expected that in the initial years there would be an
over-recovery as the number of depots, transporters and processors
would be less than the projected final numbers. This ‘over-recovery’
would be accumulated as a reserve which would
be used to fund the
initial establishment and set-up costs. Operational costs for the 1
st
year
were estimated to be in the region of approximately R 624 million.
Costs for succeeding years were to be based on the actual
costs
incurred in the 1
st
year
and projected fluctuating variable costs, including inflation.
[11]
11.
The
plan provided that the waste tyre management fee would be ‘reviewed’
annually, in consultation with relevant consumer
bodies, based on
‘operational experience’ and the number of tyres
manufactured and imported.
[12]
Redisa’s objective was to strive ‘at all times’ to
minimise and contain the fee, ‘in real terms’,
to an
amount equal to or less than the initial levy charged. Annual reports
would be published which would detail progress made
in implementing
the plan and would provide cost ‘breakdowns’ on a per
kilogram basis.
12.
As for
the initial Rand-per kilogram levy which was to be imposed, it was
explained
[13]
that this had
been arrived at on the basis of an average cost per ton of
transporting waste tyres to kilns, at a rate of R 8/per
(passenger)
tyre, which equated to a cost of approximately R 800/per ton of
rubber; plus a handling fee of R 200/per ton i.e. R
2 per tyre for
services at depots and disposal facilities, and a disposal cost of R
900 per ton/R 9 per tyre, plus 20% for administration
and other
costs. In total this averaged out to a cost of approximately R 2280
per ton, which reduced to a Rand-per-kilogram figure
came to R 2.30
per kilogram, excluding VAT. This was accordingly the initial levy
which was imposed. Subsequent to its promulgation
it was never
increased or decreased and remained the same for the 4½ years
relevant to this matter, from the gazetting of
the plan at the end of
November 2012 until May 2017.
13.
It is common cause that the appellant subscribed
to the plan. Although it only signed a deed of adherence in respect
of the 2011
first draft thereof and did not sign another deed in
respect of the final draft that was approved a year later, it was
listed as
a confirmed subscriber in the gazetted plan.
14.
The appellant rendered returns and paid its levies
for 4 years, from the time when the plan was promulgated in November
2012 until
October 2016. Between October 2016 and January 2017 it
continued to render returns but failed to make payment of any of the
amounts
due in respect of the invoices which were raised by Redisa,
for those 4 months. The invoices reflected that, cumulatively, the
appellant owed the amount which was claimed in the application.
15.
At no time during the period November 2012 to May
2017 did the appellant ever contend that the plan, or any provision
thereof, was
invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, for any reason. In
fact, the appellant did not contest the plan until it was called upon
to
respond to the application which Redisa launched in September
2019, in which it sought to extract payment from the appellant.
16.
The
appellant’s failure to make any payments that were due after
October 2016 occurred against the following background.
[14]
Towards the end of 2013 the government indicated that it intended
changing the funding model for waste management plans adopted
in
terms of the Waste Act. For this purpose in June 2014 an
amendment
[15]
to the Waste Act
was passed, which provided that the Minister of Environmental
Affairs, in concurrence with the Minister of Finance,
was to publish
a ‘National Pricing Strategy’ which would deal with the
funding of the management and disposal of waste.
The Strategy was
published on 11 August 2016. It proposed that waste plan fees/levies
were to be collected directly by the State,
rather than by the
entities established to administer waste plans, who would be funded
by grants from the State.
17.
On 1 November 2016, following an audit which was
carried out on Redisa the Minister called upon it to provide written
reasons, within
15 days, why its plan should not be withdrawn.
Although it was given until 30 November 2016 to respond, on which
date it
duly filed a comprehensive response, the Minister issued a
directive the preceding day, 29 November 2016, in which she gave
notice
that she had assumed control over Redisa and its operations.
18.
Redisa then launched an urgent application in this
Court for an order interdicting the Minister from implementing her
directive,
pending a review of it. An interim interdict was duly
granted on 28 December 2016. This caused the Minister to withdraw her
directive.
19.
On 2
December 2016 amendments to the Waste Tyre Regulations were
promulgated which sought to give effect to the Strategy, and on
1
February 2017 an amendment to the Customs and Excise Act.
[16]
was passed. The cumulative effect of the legislative changes which
were made was that as from 1 February 2017 Redisa was no longer
to be
funded directly by the waste tyre levies which were due from
producers and importers and was to be funded by way of grant
allocations from National Treasury, and the function of collecting
waste tyre levies was transferred to the SA Revenue Service.
As the
Redisa plan provided that levy payments were due within 90 days from
date of invoice,
[17]
the last
levies that Redisa was therefore entitled to claim and receive
payment for, after February 2017, were those which were
due for
payment by no later than May 2017.
20.
Although Redisa was supposed to be allocated R 210
million in funding, pursuant to the publication of an appropriation
bill in February
2017, no funds were forthcoming. In May 2017
it indicated that unless its funding was resolved it would have to
scale back
its operations. The Minister then launched an
ex
parte
application for its winding-up,
as well as for its management company, and provisional orders were
granted against both entities
on 1 and 8 June 2017, which were made
final on 15 September 2017. However in a subsequent appeal the SCA
set aside both windings-up,
on 24 January 2019.
21.
As a result, seemingly, of the events which took
place between August 2016 and January 2019 a formal demand for
payment of the arrear
levies which fell due in the period October
2016-May 2017 was only sent to the appellant in August 2019. During
the time that Redisa
was under liquidation the liquidators did not
seek to recover the arrears from the appellant.
The application a
quo
22.
In
response to the application which was brought for an order directing
it to make payment of the waste tyre management fees for
the period
October 2016-January 2017 the appellant raised several so-called
‘collateral’ or ‘reactive’
challenges. A
collateral or reactive challenge is commonly understood as a
challenge to the validity and enforcement of an administrative
act or
decision, which is raised in proceedings that are not designed or
aimed at impeaching, directly, the validity of such act
or
decision.
[18]
The challenge is
one raised incidentally, in response to an attempt to enforce the act
or decision.
23.
The appellant raised, in the first place, several
alleged irregularities which had occurred during the time that Redisa
had been
in control of the WTM plan, which it claimed vitiated it.
These included 1) the alleged payment of a management fee to the
company
which managed the plan, in excess of what was provided for in
the management contract, from which proceeds the management company
in turn paid large dividends to its shareholders and 2) alleged
irregular payments by Redisa for the benefit of its directors (for
lease rentals and security upgrades at their residences in Cape Town
and the costs of private security), and for a residential
property
for staff members in Bryanston. As Redisa pointed out in its
answering affidavit these allegations were sourced from the
contents
of the affidavits which were filed by the Minister in the winding-up
applications and were rejected by the SCA, which
held that they were
materially devoid of any factual foundation and were unsustainable,
as they had been comprehensively refuted
by Redisa in its answering
papers. As these allegations were not pressed in argument before the
Court a
quo
and
have not been resurrected as part of the grounds of appeal before us,
there is no need to canvass them any further.
24.
In the
second place, the appellant contended that it was only liable to pay
waste tyre management fees that were lawfully due, and
those that
were claimed were not. It pointed out that the plan provided that the
initial R2.30 per kilogram levy which was imposed
in 2012 was only an
‘estimated’ fee which was to be reviewed and amended
annually, after consultation with stakeholders,
having due regard for
the actual costs which had been incurred in previous years. Contrary
to this Redisa had sought payment of
waste tyre management fees for
the period between October 2016 and January/February 2017, which were
levied on the basis of the
original, unamended 2012 tariff. It had
therefore either failed to review the plan annually, or if it had
done so, had improperly
resolved to maintain the waste tyre
management fee at its original level, thereby failing to take into
account the considerations
it was supposed to. If Redisa had reviewed
the plan annually without input from stakeholders, it had also acted
in a manner that
was procedurally unfair, contrary to the provisions
of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (‘PAJA’),
[19]
which, according to the appellant, required it to have held a public
enquiry and to have obtained public comment before doing so.
As
Redisa had apparently managed to build up a ‘remediation
reserve’ of approximately R
665 million the levy was clearly excessive and Redisa was
over-charging its subscribers. In the circumstances it had also
failed
to comply with its obligation, in terms of the plan, to ensure
that the waste tyre management fee was minimized, and the levy
contained
in ‘real terms’. Thus, the appellant contended,
Redisa had breached the plan in several ways, and in doing so had
violated
the legislation and made itself guilty of a criminal
offence, and the fees claimed were unlawful.
25.
The Court a
quo
considered that the collateral challenges should
not be entertained, on the grounds of the lengthy delay concerned.
An assessment
(i)
The law
26.
The
parties’ cases rest on opposing interpretations of the judgment
of the Constitutional Court, per Cameron J, in
Merafong.
.
[20]
The appellant contends that the judgment held that delay plays no
role in a ‘classical’ collateral challenge which
is
raised by a ‘non-state’ actor, and it therefore cannot be
taken into account. Thus, in its reading of the judgment,
when the
validity of an administrative act or decision is challenged
collaterally the Court cannot refuse to entertain it and has
no
discretion to disallow it. It is only in the case of the ‘extended’
form of such a challenge i.e one involving an
organ of state, that
delay may be relevant.
27.
On the other hand, Redisa contends that the
appellant’s interpretation is based on a selective misreading
of the judgment,
and the remarks which were made by Cameron J therein
are limited to instances where the subject or entity which seeks to
raise
a collateral challenge was unaware of the existence of the
administrative decision or ruling it later seeks to resist, because
it was one that was of general application and not specific to, or
directed at, it. In its reading of the judgment, in instances
where a
decision or ruling is specific to, or directed at an applicant, or to
a class or group to which it belongs, delay may well
be a
consideration which can result in a court refusing to entertain a
collateral challenge. This is no more than the necessary
result and
corollary of the well-established principle that, in the interests of
finality and certainty, and as an incident of
the rule of law,
administrative decisions are considered to be binding and to have
consequences and effect, unless and until they
are set aside, and
collateral challenges are an exception to this principle. Thus, where
citizens or entities affected by an administrative
decision or ruling
seek to avoid it, they are required to bring review proceedings
timeously to set it aside and cannot sit back
and wait to resist the
enforcement of such decision or ruling.
28.
In
Merafong
the issue for determination by the CC was whether
the SCA had been correct in holding that, for so long as an
administrative decision
or ruling had not been set aside an organ of
state could not raise its alleged invalidity as a defence to
proceedings in which
that decision or ruling was sought to be
enforced against it. Consequently, the SCA had held that the Merafong
municipality could
not raise a collateral challenge to the validity
of a decision by the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry which
‘overruled’
a surcharge the municipality sought to impose
on water which it supplied to AngloGold Ashanti, for use in its
mining operations.
The municipality had contended that the Minister’s
decision was
ultra vires
and
invalid as it intruded on the exclusive constitutional competence
which had been conferred on the municipality to provide the
supply of
water, and the attempt to enforce the ruling could consequently be
resisted.
29.
In his
judgment for the majority Cameron J set out the state of the law in
relation to so-called ‘reactive’ or ‘collateral’
challenges, with reference to the most important pre- and
post-constitutional decisions. In doing so he contrasted the approach
which has been followed by courts which have dealt with reviews (both
at common law pre-the Constitution and in terms of PAJA thereafter),
with that adopted in cases involving collateral challenges, which
differ distinctively in their object, application, and scope
from
review matters.
[21]
He
pointed out that since the grant of a review is a discretionary
remedy, courts have regularly refused to entertain reviews on
the
basis that the applicants had delayed unreasonably before launching
them. This was however not the case in collateral challenge
matters,
where the state sought to coerce citizens ‘into payment or
prison’. In such matters the courts were frequently
prepared to
uphold a so-called ‘collateral’ or ‘reactive’
challenge to an administrative decision or ruling
no matter how
‘ancient’ it was,
[22]
on the grounds that it would offend the rule of law for a citizen to
be subjected to punitive measures or sanctions based on
administrative
acts or decisions which were unlawful. Thus, it was
said that courts in collateral challenge matters did not have a
‘discretion’
to allow or disallow the raising of such a
challenge, as a litigant’s right to do so arose from the fact
that the validity
of the administrative act or decision in question
constituted the basis and legal prerequisite for the validity and
legal force
of the enforcement action that followed,
[23]
and even if the original decision may have been unlawful or formally
invalid it could still produce, or result in, ‘legally
effective’ consequences.
30.
Much
has been said and written, in academic works
[24]
and subsequent cases about the meaning and scope of the aforegoing
dicta pertaining to the consequences of legally invalid
administrative
decisions. For the purposes of this judgment it is not
necessary or relevant to traverse the debate that has ensued in this
regard.
This is because it was accepted by the parties that unless
and until a Court declared that the Redisa plan, or the relevant
components
thereof which were in issue (i.e. those which dealt with
the levying of the waste tyre management fee), were unlawful, the
promulgation
of the plan had certain consequences in fact, if not in
law, one of which being that it gave rise to a right on the part of
Redisa
to claim payment of the amounts levied on the appellant.
31.
The issue that requires determination in this
matter is whether the appellant’s
delay
(in challenging the levies that were imposed and
Redisa’s right to claim payment thereof), should have
non-suited it, as the
Court a
quo
held. This is an important distinction to remember
when considering what was said in
Merafong
,
because that matter was not decided on the basis of the delay which
had occurred between the time when the municipality had been
overruled by the Minister in July 2015 and when the collateral
challenge by it was raised, in proceedings in the High Court, some
6
years later, when AngloGold sought an order compelling the
municipality to comply with the Minister’s ruling. (In this
regard it should be noted that until the application was brought by
AngloGold it had continued to pay the surcharges imposed on
it as the
municipality had indicated that if it failed to do so it would
discontinue the supply of water to it).
32.
In his
discussion of the legal position Cameron J referred to the decisions
in
Panasonic,
[25]
Photocircuit
[26]
and
Oudekraal
[27]
all of which originated from, or were decided by, this Court. To
properly understand and contextualize the remarks he made, on
which
the parties both rely for their competing contentions, it is
necessary to briefly detail what occurred in these matters.
33.
In
Panasonic,
which
was decided in 1991, a trade union sought a declarator that the
continued lock-out of its workers by the respondent company
was
unlawful, on the grounds that the preceding notification which it had
given of a deadlock in negotiations and its referral
of a dispute to
conciliation by the then Industrial Council for the sector, was
invalid. Conradie J considered the challenge to
be a collateral one
which (in the words of the English author Wade
[28]
)
had not been brought by the ‘right person at the right time’.
In his view the challenge had been brought too late
[29]
as the lock-out had been underway for several weeks and the applicant
was getting ready to go on strike, on the understanding that
the
actions which had been taken by the respondent had been validly
carried out. In the circumstances and having regard for the
undesirability of interfering in labour relations and the collective
bargaining process, he held that the collateral challenge
should not
be entertained. Thus, it is evident that the delay which attended on
the matter in
Panasonic
was
an important factor which featured in non-suiting the applicant.
34.
Some two years later this Court had occasion, in
Photocircuit,
to
pronounce on a collateral challenge which was contested on the
grounds of undue delay. The applicant had sought an order compelling
the respondent to render returns so that it could compute the
respondent’s levy contributions in terms of industrial
agreements
which applied to employers in the industry concerned. The
application was resisted on the grounds that the Minister’s
approval
of the registration of the applicant as an industrial
council was
ultra vires
and
the applicant accordingly lacked the necessary jurisdiction to
require the respondent to submit returns. One of the aspects
which
the Court was required to determine in
limine
was whether, by reason of the lapse of time, the
applicant should be precluded from doing so, as had previously
occurred in
Panasonic
.
35.
Scott
J (as he then was) contrasted review matters which sought to set
aside an administrative action or decision, in which it was
accepted
that a court had a discretion to decline to assist, as a result of
undue delay, even though a substantive case for relief
may have been
made out; with collateral challenge matters, which were not in
themselves aimed at impeaching the validity of the
decision or action
but to resist its enforcement. He held that in such matters a party
could not be precluded from raising the
invalidity of an underlying
administrative action or decision ‘
merely
’
on the
grounds of delay, for this might be ‘akin’ to holding
that a defence to a claim had become prescribed before
the claim
itself.
[30]
Consequently, in
some cases administrative acts and subordinate legislation had been
indirectly challenged in criminal and enforcement
proceedings many
years after they were performed or promulgated. In this regard he
referred to the decision in the UK in 1961 in
Cure
[31]
where a purchase tax regulation which had been passed in 1945 was
held to be
ultra
vires
in
a collateral challenge, when it was sought to be enforced some 16
years after its passing. In the circumstances, he concluded
that the
delay rule which was applicable in review matters
[32]
where the alleged invalidity of an administrative act or decision, or
of subordinate legislation, was challenged, could not serve
as a
defence to an action or application in which it was challenged
collaterally.
36.
Properly read in the context of the relevant facts
which were before the Court at the time and the earlier remarks which
were made
by it, this decision also goes no further than to state
that a defendant/respondent cannot be precluded
per
se
from raising a collateral challenge,
on the grounds of delay. On my reading of it the decision did not
purport to lay down a general
rule that in collateral challenge
matters delay will
never
play
a role and if it did purport to do so, this is contrary to the
position which has subsequently been adopted by our highest
Courts.
37.
That
brings us to the decision in
Oudekraal,
which
also originated in this Court,
[33]
and then made its way to the SCA, on two occasions. The relevant
facts were briefly as follows. In 1957 the then Administrator
of the
Cape Province granted approval for the laying out of a township on
the site of the
Oudekraal
farm,
in an area along the so-called ‘Twelve Apostle’ mountain
range on the Atlantic coast, between Bakoven and Llandudno.
The
legislation required that a general plan for the township was to be
submitted to the Surveyor-General within 12 months from
the date of
the Administrator’s approval, and once it was approved it was
in turn to be lodged with the Registrar of Deeds
within 3 months
thereof, for his approval. This did not happen, even though the
Administrator had granted extensions for the lodging
of the documents
referred to, in June 1960 and October 1961. Despite these extensions
the submissions and approvals occurred out
of time, in or about
1961-1962. In 1965 the land was acquired from the original owner’s
deceased estate, but no attempt was
made to develop it until 1996
i.e. some 30 years later, when the succeeding owner submitted an
engineering services plan for the
proposed township to the then Cape
Metropolitan Council (‘the City’) for approval. The
application was rejected on
the grounds that the approval for the
township had lapsed in 1961, as the general plan for the development
had not been submitted
and approved within the requisite time
periods. In response, the owner made application for an order
declaring that the township
and development rights had not lapsed and
were of full force and effect. The City (together with a range of
other parties) resisted
the application by way of a collateral
challenge, on the basis that the authorisation on which the applicant
relied had lapsed
in 1961. In response, the applicant in turn
countered that the City could not rely on such a defence as it had
delayed excessively
before challenging the authorisation.
38.
Davis J noted that from the documents which had
been submitted for approval of the general plan in 1961 it was
apparent that the
existence of several graves of Muslim slaves and
kramats (burial shrines) which were of great religious, cultural and
historical
significance to the Muslim community, had not been
depicted and had accordingly not been considered and taken into
account when
approval for the township was granted. In addition, the
area had in the intervening years been incorporated into a national
park
and was of great environmental importance. This aspect too had
also clearly not been considered at the time when the approval had
been granted in 1961. Consequently, given the potential for a serious
breach of now constitutionally enshrined religious, cultural
and
environmental rights, were the property to be developed, he was of
the view that it would be an improper exercise of the Court’s
‘discretion’ to refuse to allow the City’s
collateral challenge ‘solely’ on the grounds of delay.
In
this regard he pointed out that not only had the City not sought to
challenge the authorisations and approvals which had been
granted in
the 60’s but the applicant himself had not done so for some 30
years after acquiring the property. Consequently,
he held that as the
approval for the township had lapsed before the general plan could be
submitted and approved, it was a nullity,
and the City was entitled
to raise this as a defence.
39.
From the aforegoing it is evident that the issue
of delay was considered,
a la
Photocircuit,
to
be a factor that should be taken into account in determining whether
the collateral challenge should be sustained.
40.
On
appeal, the SCA confirmed and restated
[34]
with reference to the decision of the House of Lords in
Boddington,
[35]
that collateral challenges were commonly raised in proceedings that
were not designed directly to impeach the validity of an
administrative
act or decision, but to resist its enforcement. They
occurred in instances where an administrative act or decision was
sought to
be applied coercively by the state or a public authority
against a person or entity. As the coercive action derived its force
from
the prior administrative action or decision, the right to
challenge the validity thereof indirectly or ‘collaterally’
arose because the validity of the action or decision was an essential
prerequisite for the validity of the coercive action.
[36]
41.
In the
circumstances, a person or entity which was subject to the coercive
action could not be precluded from challenging the validity
of the
administrative action or decision from which it derived its force.
Thus, in those cases in which the validity of an administrative
act
or decision could be challenged collaterally a court had no
‘discretion’ to allow or disallow the raising of such
a
defence,
[37]
unlike in review
matters, where the court had such a discretion, which served as a
‘moderating tool’ for avoiding or
minimising injustice in
instances where ‘legality and certainty collide’.
[38]
But the SCA warned that the two remedies were not to be conflated:
each one had its own, separate application to its appropriate
circumstances, and they ought not to be seen as ‘interchangeable
manifestations’ of a single remedy that arose whenever
an
administrative act was challenged on the grounds of invalidity.
[39]
42.
Thus, contrary to the Court a
quo
the SCA held that in matters involving collateral
challenges, which are properly raised, the court concerned does not
have a ‘discretion’
to refuse to entertain the challenge,
unlike in reviews. But the SCA did not hold that in appropriate
circumstances a delay in
raising a collateral challenge may not count
as one of the factors which must be taken into account, in order to
determine whether
the challenge should be permitted.
43.
Contrary
to the Court a
quo
the
SCA also held that the City’s purported reliance on a
collateral challenge was ‘misplaced’, for two reasons.
In
the first place, it was of the view that the approval of the
Oudekraal township by the Administrator, constituted no more than
permission to develop land in a particular way, which took effect
once various steps that were prescribed had been complied with,
and
on a proper construction of the relevant legislation the validity of
the subsequent steps i.e. those taken afterwards was not
dependent on
the legal validity of the Administrator’s approval, but merely
on the fact that it was given.
[40]
There was no obligation on the Surveyor-General and Registrar of
Deeds to satisfy themselves that the Administrator’s approval
was valid in order for them to carry out their functions, and the
validity and legal force and effect of their actions did not
depend
upon the validity of the Administrator’s actions or decisions.
44.
In the second place, in the form in which the
matter had come before the Court a
quo
the invalid administrative act of the
Administrator had not been sought to be applied coercively against
the City by a public authority
or the state, nor did it serve to
provide a foundation for any coercive action against the City. Thus,
the requirements for a collateral
challenge had not been present.
45.
However, despite these findings the SCA
nonetheless concluded that the relief which had been sought had been
correctly refused and,
in its view, the applicant had not been
entitled to obtain a declaratory order to the effect that the steps
which had been taken
by the various officials involved were regular
or lawful, as this would pre-empt the review which had been launched.
46.
In
this regard, it noted, as per the findings of the Court a
quo,
that
the graves and kramats had not been referred to or shown on the
application for approval of the township, and it agreed that
their
presence was a significant factor that should have been taken into
account when the decision of whether to permit the establishment
of a
township on the land, had been taken. The failure to consider this
potentially rendered the approval which was granted by
the
Administrator invalid and
ultra
vires
and
liable to be set aside on review. However, for so long as the
Administrator’s approval was in place the owners of the
land
were allowed to develop a township on it, as the approval was an act
which had consequences, and the City was not entitled
to ignore
it.
[41]
47.
Subsequent
to the decision by the SCA the review application which was launched
by the City succeeded in this Court, notwithstanding
the delay
involved, which was condoned on the grounds of the unique
circumstances which were present. The decision was upheld on
appeal
to the SCA in
Oudekraal
2
[42]
which emphasised the
constitutional changes which had been brought about by the
recognition of religious and cultural rights and
the right to have
the environment protected. The SCA held that the principle of
legality and the interests of justice would be
advanced by ensuring
that the invalid decision of the Administrator did not stand.
48.
From the aforegoing discussion of the
Oudekraal
decisions it will be apparent that the
issue of delay in relation to collateral challenges, which was
touched upon in the first
decision of Davis J, was not revisited and
did not feature in the ratio of the subsequent decisions on appeal.
49.
The
next time the issue of delay arose in a collateral challenge matter
which went all the way to the SCA, was in 2010, in
3M
SA
[43]
where in response to an attempt by the Commissioner of the SA Revenue
Service to extract payment of arrear import duties, the defendant
sought to assail the validity of the underlying administrative
decision on which it was based, in an application for a declarator.
In response, the Commissioner objected on the basis that the
applicant should have instituted a review within 180 days in terms
of
PAJA but had failed to do so. After citing the extract in
Photocircuit
previously
referred to, about a defendant in proceedings involving a collateral
challenge not being precluded from raising the defence
‘merely’
on the grounds of delay (for to do so would otherwise be akin to
holding that the defence had become prescribed
before the claim
itself), the SCA held that Commissioner’s attempt to raise the
delay as a defence, in the circumstances
before it, was ‘simply
not available’.
[44]
50.
That brings us back to the decision of the CC in
Merafong
,
in 2017. As was previously pointed out at the commencement of this
discussion, the issue the CC was required to determine was
whether a
collateral challenge could be raised by an organ of state, and not
whether the
delay
which
was attendant thereon, should non-suit it.
51.
On
this aspect the Court held that even though collateral challenges
were aimed, in the first instance, at protecting citizens from
the
undue exercise of state power
[45]
there was no practical or conceptual reason to restrict their use
only to such circumstances and Merafong’s status as an
organ of
state did not categorically exclude it from raising a collateral
challenge.
[46]
52.
But
Cameron J was of the view that Merafong’s challenge had
distinctive attributes which rendered it different from the so-called
‘classical’ collateral challenge, where delay ‘played
no role’ and the subject of coercive action was entitled
to
have the lawfulness thereof scrutinised because the rule of law
required that official power should not be exercised against
someone
unless it was lawfully sourced.
[47]
In this regard the ‘virtue’ of ‘classical’
reactive challenges lay in the fact that they provided a defence
to
parties who faced the enforcement of the law but never ‘previously
confronted it’.
[48]
For
this reason, such challenges were sometimes disallowed, in instances
where the challenging party had an appeal or other remedy
available
and the administrative action or decision which was in dispute was
‘specifically directed’ at and known to
it, in contrast
with instances where the administrative action or decision was
directed at the ‘world at large’ i.e.
was of general
application and as such was possibly unknown to it, in which case
delay could not be a disqualifying factor.
[49]
53.
By way
of examples of matters where collateral challenges had been refused
he referred, in passing,
[50]
to the decisions of the English Courts in
Quietlynn
[51]
(which concerned an injunction for failure to operate a ‘sex
shop’ in accordance with a licence) and
Wicks
[52]
(which concerned a prosecution for failure to comply with a stop
building enforcement notice), and the decision of our Courts in
Khabisi
[53]
(which concerned an interdict for failure to comply with compliance
notices issued in terms of environmental legislation).
54.
In
each of these matters the administrative decisions were specifically
directed at the applicants and thus known to them and, as
was said in
Quietlynn
[54]
they had ‘clear and ample opportunity’
[55]
to challenge their legality directly,
[56]
prior to attempting to resist their enforcement collaterally. In
Tasima
[57]
the Constitutional Court spoke of a ‘sufficient’
opportunity.
55.
In
contrast to these matters, the ‘classical’ collateral
challenge, where it was sought to resist an administrative
act of
general application, is the decision in
Boddington,
[58]
which was referred to by the SCA in
Oudekraal
1. It
concerned a bylaw which allowed for the regulation of the conduct of
persons on trains by the British railway authorities.
The bylaw
became operative sometime after it was brought into law, as
subordinate legislation, when notices were posted in trains,
prohibiting smoking in all carriages. When he was charged with
contravening the bylaw the accused sought to raise a collateral
challenge that the decision to post the notices was
ultra
vires
the
authorities’ powers, but he was convicted by the district court
on the basis of existing precedent, which held that unless
a bylaw
was substantively, as opposed to procedurally, invalid it could not
be called into question in criminal proceedings. The
House of Lords
was of the view that collateral challenges could be raised in
criminal proceedings on the grounds of both procedural
and
substantive invalidity and accordingly held that the existing
precedent should be overruled. It was further of the view that
the
collateral challenges in
Quietlynn
and
Wicks
were
distinguishable as they were concerned with administrative acts which
were specifically directed at defendants who had clear
and ample
opportunity to challenge the legality thereof, before being charged.
In contrast with those matters the bylaw was of
a ‘general’
character in the sense that it was directed at the ‘world at
large’, and the first time when
the accused was affected by it,
was when he was charged with smoking in breach of it. Before then,
the accused had no ‘sensible
opportunity’ to challenge
the validity of the posting of the notices.
56.
Cameron
J was of the view that as the Merafong municipality was well aware of
the Minister’s decision against it, which was
specifically
addressed to it, and knew that it could be contested, its reactive
challenge was of the category that necessitated
scrutiny in regard to
the delay.
[59]
57.
As an
organ of state it had a constitutional obligation to uphold and
support the rule of law
inter
alia
by
seeking redress for the unlawful actions of the state,
[60]
and was accordingly obliged to institute proceedings to review the
Minister’s decision without unreasonable delay. By remitting
the matter to the High Court for consideration afresh Merafong would
have the opportunity to provide an explanation for why it
had not
challenged the Minister’s decision directly and the ‘hurdles’
of lateness and potential prejudice could
be considered.
58.
From
the exposition of the decision in Merafong it should be clear that
the issue of delay is not irrelevant to proceedings in which
collateral challenges are raised by so-called non-state actors and it
is a factor which must be considered when determining whether
a
collateral challenge should be entertained, in all matters involving
such challenges. Aside from the passages of the judgment
that have
already been referred to this is made clear in other paragraphs in
Cameron J’s judgment where he commented that
delay, though
‘relevant’, may not be ‘conclusive’ in a
collateral challenge matter
[61]
and there is a range in such matters: in some of them delay will be
‘axiomatically irrelevant’ whilst in others it
‘counts.
[62]
59.
Following on its decision in
Merafong
in 2017 the Constitutional Court again
had occasion, in several matters which it heard between 2018 and
2019, to consider the issue
and effect of delay in the bringing of
collateral challenges, and extended the range and ambit thereof by
holding that not all
such challenges need to be made or employed
defensively but may be done so offensively.
60.
Thus,
in
Tasima
[63]
the Department of Transport was permitted to raise a collateral
challenge in the form of a counter-application for review, as a
defence to contempt proceedings which were brought, when it sought to
resist compliance with an order which had been granted against
it,
improperly extending a service contract after it had already expired.
There had been a 6-year delay between the time when the
contract was
improperly extended and when the challenge was lodged. The CC
confirmed that reactive challenges may be brought by
organs of state,
provided that the delay in doing so was not ‘unwarrantably
undue’.
[64]
It held
that, whilst a court should be slow to allow procedural hurdles to
prevent it from looking into a challenge to the lawfulness
of the
exercise of public power it was equally a feature of the rule of law
that ‘undue’ delay should not be tolerated,
as it could
prejudice the respondent and undermine the public interest in
bringing certainty and finality to administrative action.
Consequently, a court should exhibit ‘vigilance, consideration
and propriety’ before overlooking a late review, ‘reactive
or otherwise’.
[65]
61.
In
considering whether to condone the delay in
Tasima
,
the CC adopted the ’factual, multifactorial and
context-sensitive’
[66]
test which was formulated in
Khumalo
[67]
(which concerned a review) in which it was held that regard must be
had to all the relevant circumstances including the nature
of the
disputed decision and the merits of the challenge to it,
[68]
and the explanation which has been tendered for the delay and why it
should be overlooked, with reference to the consequences which
may
ensue if the impugned decision is set aside or not enforced,
including any potential prejudice that may be occasioned to affected
parties. It also reiterated that, as far as the explanation for the
delay is concerned it must be a full and comprehensive one,
which
covers the entire period.
[69]
62.
In
similar vein, in
Gijima
[70]
where the CC held that organs of state who seek to review their own
decisions must do so in terms of the principle of legality,
and not
by way of a review of administrative action in terms of PAJA (as it
only applies to private persons and not to the state),
it confirmed
en
passant
that
when doing so by way of a reactive challenge the question of
‘unwarranted delay’ may feature and may have to be
accounted for. Finally, in
Buffalo
City,
[71]
where the municipality raised a collateral challenge in the form of
the review of a tender (in defence to an application for provisional
sentence claiming payment in terms of a contract which was concluded
pursuant to the award thereof) the Court emphasised (per Cameron
J)
that if collateral review challenges were allowed in the face of
utterly unreasonable delays, without even minimal explanations,
the
protections which had been afforded by various judgments would
provide ‘leaky cover’.
(ii)
An application and a summary
63.
It is time to apply the principles which have been
elucidated, to the facts of the case which is before us. In doing so,
and by
way of a preliminary remark, it is in my view wholly unhelpful
to make use of the formalistic distinction between a so-called
‘classical’
collateral challenge by a private person as
it is commonly understood (as typified by and identified in
Boddington),
and
a so-called ‘extended’ one by an organ of state or
corporate entity (of the kind which features in
Oudekraal,
Merafong
,
Tasima
and
Buffalo City)
,
and to attempt to force the facts of this matter into one or other of
these categorizations. Whereas they may be useful when one
is engaged
in attempting to understand the historical origins and the evolution
and development of the use of such challenges,
in English law and our
law, they should not be seen and understood as two different legal
animals, which are subject to two wholly
different legal regimes and
treatments. Given the developments which have occurred in this area
of the law and the extension of
the availability of such challenges,
from private persons to corporate entities and organs of state, and
from purely reactive i.e.
defensive applications to offensive ones it
is, in my view, time to jettison the artificiality of these
distinctions and to simply
refer to collateral challenges as a genus,
rather than in terms of separate species.
64.
It is precisely because of the appellant’s
attempt to straitjacket the facts of the matter into one or other of
these categorizations,
based on the remarks which were made in
Merafong
,
that the parties arrive at diametrically opposite interpretations of
the judgment, and the appellant has misread the judgment.
65.
The
appellant contends that in saying that in a ‘classical’
collateral challenge ‘delay plays no role’
[72]
Cameron J was laying down a rule or principle. And because of this,
as the appellant’s challenge, according to it, is a ‘classical’
one, its delay in raising it is consequently irrelevant and cannot be
held against it.
66.
I do
not understand Cameron J’s comment that way. As is by now trite
and well-established, when interpreting any document,
including a
judgment, one must consider the text i.e. the language used, in the
context of the document as a whole, with due regard
for the purpose
intended by the author. The comment must accordingly be read and
interpreted in the context of the fact that it
was made as part
of an exposition of the origins and development of the use of
collateral challenges in our law, and the further
comment, a
paragraph later, that a ‘classical’ collateral challenge
provides a defence to a person who faces the enforcement
of the law,
but ‘who never previously confronted it’.
[73]
(Perhaps, with respect, a better formulation would have been to say
‘who never previously was confronted by it’?).
67.
In my view, properly considered in this context,
what Cameron J was saying was that in the ‘classical’
collateral challenge
delay
commonly
cannot or does not
play a role, because
it is concerned with cases where a person (or as it has subsequently
been extended, a corporate entity or organ
of state) has not
previously been confronted with the coercive action concerned i.e.
with the enforcement of an administrative
action or decision
which he now seeks to resist, when confronted by it. Obviously, in
such circumstances there can be no issue
or question about any delay
on his part because he was not confronted with the action before.
Delay does not feature because it
is considered that, until the
confrontation occurred, there was no legal obligation on the subject
of the coercive action to challenge
it, or in the words of the case
law, because in the particular circumstances of the case it is
considered that the subject did
not have a ‘sensible’(as
per
Boddington
)
or ‘sufficient’ (as per
Tasima
)
opportunity to do so, until a later date or occasion, in response to
which the collateral challenge was raised. Thus, in my view,
when
commenting that in the ‘classical’ collateral challenge
‘delay plays no role’ Cameron J was not seeking
to lay
down a rule or principle pertaining to a so-called ‘classical’
collateral challenge but was simply describing
a primary feature of
it.
68.
In the circumstances, as I understand it a
collateral challenge will not necessarily succeed, simply because it
is described as
a so-called ‘classical’ one i.e. one
brought by a citizen in response to coercive action by the state,
based on an
administrative action or decision which was general in
nature. There may well be instances where, notwithstanding the
generality
of the action or decision concerned, the citizen may not
be able to resist its enforcement, for instance where the citizen was
aware of the action or decision and that it may apply to him, but
deliberately chose not to challenge it and to see if he could
avoid
it, because it applied to the population at large, and as a result,
flouted the law or acted in deliberate and knowing contravention
of
it, and only chose to confront it later, in response to coercive
action. A court in such circumstances might well decline to
uphold a
late collateral challenge.
69.
Ultimately, the question which requires an answer
is not whether the collateral challenge which is raised, be it by a
private person
or by an organ of state or corporate entity, is a
‘classical’ one or not, but whether, on the facts which
are before
the Court at the time, it is one which can and should be
entertained. In answering this question the determining factors are
1)
whether the object of the challenge i.e. the administrative act or
decision, or the legislation on which it is based and from which
it
derives legal force and effect, is one that was specific to the
challenger (in that it was directed at him/her, or it, in particular,
or to a class or group to which he/she/they belongs), or is one that
was general and unspecific or indeterminate (in that it was
of
application to the world at large) and 2) whether it was known to the
challenger (or should have been known by him/her/it, with
the
exercise of reasonable care).
70.
In the
case of the former and a challenger who had actual knowledge (such as
in this matter), the further factor that must be considered
is
whether the challenger had sufficient (or ‘ample’)
opportunity to contest the administrative act or decision directly
(by way of review or other legal remedy
[74]
),
but failed, or deliberately chose not, to do so. In such a case,
delay will obviously be an aspect which the court must consider,
in
determining whether to entertain the challenge or to dismiss it.
Unlike in review matters, the court will not have a ‘discretion’
to refuse to entertain the challenge without evaluating it,
simply
or
only
because
it was brought late. It must have regard for all the circumstances,
which will include the delay which was attendant on
the bringing of
the challenge and the explanation which was given in this regard, and
the effect that upholding the challenge may
have on vested rights, as
well as the requirements of certainty and finality of administrative
acts and decisions. Thus, in short,
in our law delay is and has
always been a factor in collateral challenge matters, which
may
have
to be taken into account.
71.
In this matter delay is, in my view, a material
and important feature which
must
be considered. The appellant knew about the Redisa
plan well before it was promulgated in 2012 and subscribed to it. As
an importer
it was part of a group of persons to whom the provisions
of the plan specifically applied. It knew that the plan made
provision
for the levying of a waste tyre management fee which was to
be reviewed and adjusted annually i.e. increased or decreased,
depending
on the prior year’s running and operational costs. It
knew, already in the first year after its promulgation, that the fee
was not reviewed and adjusted, and that it was not reviewed and
adjusted in the years that followed. Despite this it continued
voluntarily and without demur to make payment of the fee, as it was
levied, for a period of 4 years between the promulgation of
the plan
on 30 November 2012 and October 2016, when it stopped doing so,
without offering any explanation. During the 4 years that
it paid the
fee it did not seek to raise any illegality or invalidity in relation
to it and only sought to do so when the application
was launched by
Redisa in September 2019, just short of 3 years after it stopped
paying.
72.
In seeking to challenge the enforcement of the
plan collaterally the applicant made no attempt to provide any
explanation for why
it made payment of a fee it considered to be
unlawful, at least from November 2013 until October 2016, and why it
never sought
to challenge the levying of the fee by way of a review,
or otherwise. It failed to provide any explanation for its delay in
doing
anything until it raised its collateral challenge late in 2019.
It was, by law, required to provide a full and cogent explanation
which covered the entire period of delay, but it did not even provide
a cursory one. In the absence of any of these explanations
it is
difficult not to conclude that its belated raising of a collateral
challenge was nothing more than an opportunistic attempt
to avoid
making payment, and that it stopped making payment of the levies in
October 2016 because it took advantage of the fact
that 1) the state
had indicated in or about August 2016 that it was going to change the
funding model for waste plans and by doing
so Redisa would no longer
be entitled to recover the levies from subscribers, and 2) in or
about October-November 2016 the Minister
sought to take control of
Redisa.
73.
Given the circumstances, can it be said that the
delay should nonetheless have been overlooked by the Court a
quo
?
I think not. In my view the interests of the finality and certainty
of administrative decisions, are strongly against allowing
this.
Millions of rands were paid over in lieu of levies by tyre producers
and importers from November 2012 to May 2017.
74.
It should also be pointed out that the prospects
of the appellant succeeding on the merits of its challenge were
extremely tenuous,
for two principal reasons, and this was a further
factor which militated against allowing the challenge to be
entertained.
75.
In the
first place the contention that Redisa’s failure to review the
plan and to amend the fee constituted a criminal offence
and
therefore the fees claimed by it were unlawful, could not succeed. In
advancing its challenge on this basis the appellant pointed
out that
in terms of the Waste Act a person or entity which is party to a
waste plan commits an offence if they contravene or fail
to comply
with the plan.
[75]
When
considering the provision concerned, one must not stare blindly at
the language and apply a literal interpretation only, and
one must
seek to provide a sensible and purposive interpretation, in the
context of the Act, read as a whole. In this regard, aside
from
provisions which set out the extent of any financial contribution
that may be required to support consumer-based waste reduction
programs, the contents of a waste plan can, in terms of the Act,
[76]
be far-ranging and can include aspirational aspects such as
‘targets’ for waste minimisation, ‘programs’
and ‘opportunities’ to minimise and reduce the generation
of waste, and mechanisms for informing the public of the
impact of
waste-generating products on the environment. The waste plan provided
by Redisa is extensive and detailed and contains
a number of these
aspirational ‘targets’, aims and objectives. Given what
may be contained in a waste plan It could,
in my view, therefore
never have been intended or envisaged that a simple failure to comply
with any single provision in a waste
plan, would result in a
punishable offence.
76.
In the second place, those provisions of the plan
which dealt with the waste tyre management fee, clearly stated that
the initial
levy which was proposed was simply an ‘estimate’,
which was subject to change, and would be reviewed annually, after
consultation with all stakeholders and consideration of the previous
year’s operational costs. As I read it, the plan did
not compel
Redisa to amend the fee annually, only to review it, and if justified
pursuant thereto, to
then
amend it, after due consultation with all
stakeholders, which would include government.
77.
Redisa says that it duly commenced a process of
review in September 2013, within a year after the plan was
promulgated. On 16 September
2013 it held a meeting with the
Department at which a proposed fee increase was discussed. The
Department undertook to revert in
this regard. At a further meeting
which was held on 5 November 2013 Redisa was asked to submit its
proposed amendments to the plan,
which it did on 25 November 2013,
when it submitted a proposal that there should be an annual
adjustment to the fee, based on changes
to the consumer price index.
On 29 January 2014 the Department informed Redisa that in in its view
the plan did not need to be
amended at that stage by being taken
through a fee review process. By doing so the Department effectively
communicated that the
fee should be maintained as it was. Redisa says
that, had the Department supported an increase it would then have
commenced the
necessary consultation and public participation process
with interested parties.
78.
Then, as previously pointed out, at the end of
2013 the Department proposed amendments to the funding model for
waste management
plans which were promulgated in June 2014, and
pursuant to legislative amendments which were passed between December
2016 and February
2017 to give effect to this change Redisa was
no longer empowered to collect the waste tyre management fee directly
from
subscribers, and this function was subsequently transferred to
the SA Revenue Service. In such circumstances it is ludicrous to
suggest that Redisa committed an offence by not reviewing and
amending the waste tyre management fees after September 2013,
because,
as a result of the legislative changes that were made it
was, in my view, no longer empowered to do so.
79.
In the circumstances, the fact that the waste tyre
management fee was not adjusted after its initial promulgation,
because it was
not reviewed and amended, does not mean that it became
unlawful. It was lawfully set and imposed as a levy when the plan was
gazetted,
and until it was reviewed and amended it surely remained a
lawful fee that could be levied, as would any subsequent adjusted
fee,
until it was reviewed and amended.
80.
For the aforegoing reasons the decision of the
Court a
quo
must
be upheld. In the result, I would make the following order:
T
he
appeal is dismissed with costs, including the costs of two counsel
where so employed.
M SHER
Judge of the High
Court
I
agree, and it is so ordered
.
C FORTUIN
Judge of the High
Court
I agree.
B MANTAME
Judge of the High
Court
Appearances
:
Appellant’s
counsel:
B
Stoop SC
Appellant’s
attorneys:
Barnard
Inc (Tshwane) c/o Kemp & Nabal (Tygervalley)
Respondent’s
counsel:
L
Kelly and R Graham
Respondent’s
attorneys:
Cliffe
Dekker Hofmeyr Inc (Cape Town)
[1]
R
eported
sub nom
Recycling & Development Initiative of SA v Tubestone (Pty) Ltd
[2022] 1 ALL SA 774
(WCC).
[2]
Act
59 of 2008- the ‘Waste Act’.
[3]
The
Regulations were promulgated in terms of s 24B of the Environment
Conservation Act 73 of 1989, which (save for the Regulations
made
under it), was repealed by the Waste Act, with effect from 1 July
2009.
[4]
In
terms of s 28(1) of the Waste Act a national waste management plan
is required where waste affects more than one province.
[5]
As
the plan was held to be in
Retail
Industry Organization & Ano v Minister of Water &
Environmental Affairs & Ano
2014
(3) SA 251
(SCA) paras 29-30.
[6]
Clause 9.1.
[7]
Annexure D.
[8]
Clause 17.1.
[9]
Vide
the
schematic above c
lause
25.1.
[10]
Clause 16.
[11]
Id.
[12]
Clauses 17.1 and 25.1.
[13]
In annexure D.
[14]
As set out in
Recycling
& Development Initiative of SA v Minister of Environmental
Affairs (Pty) Ltd
2019
(3) SA 251
(SCA) paras 16-44.
[15]
The National
Environmental Management: Waste Amendment Act 26 of 2014.
[16]
Act 91 of 1964.
[17]
C
lause
17.1 of the plan.
[18]
Oudekraal Estates
(Pty) Ltd v City of Cape Town & Ors
2004
(6) SA 222
(SCA) para 32, footnote 22.
[19]
Act 3 of 2000.
[20]
Merafong City Local
Municipality v AngloGold Ashanti Ltd
2017
(2) SA 211 (CC).
[21]
Para
32.
[22]
Para
31.
[23]
Para
36.
[24]
Vide DM Pretorius
‘
Oudekraal
After Fifteen Years; The Second Act (Or, a Reassessment of the
Status and Force of Defective Administrative Decisions
Pending
Judicial Review
’
2020
Stell LR 3;
Angus
McKenzie
The
development of collateral review and the status of unlawful acts in
South African law
(2017)
unpublished LLM dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand; OT
Van Dyk ‘
The
Influence of the Oudekraal and Kirland Decisions on the Legal Status
of an Invalid Administrative Act
’
doctoral
dissertation University of Pretoria 2021.
[25]
Metal
& Electrical Workers Union of South Africa v National Panasonic
Co (Parow Factory)
1991
(2) SA 527 (C).
[26]
National Industrial
Council for the Iron, Steel, Engineering & Metallurgical
Industry v Photocircuit SA (Pty) Ltd
1993
(2) SA 245 (C).
[27]
There
are three reported ‘
Oudekraal
’
matters
relevant to this matter: the decision of Davis J (Veldhuizen J
concurring) in
Oudekraal
Estates (Pty) Ltd v City of Cape Town & Ors
2002
(6) SA 573
(C) which was upheld on appeal to the SCA (albeit for
different reasons) in
O
udekraal
Estates (Pty) Ltd v City of Cape Town & Ors
2004
(6) SA 222
(SCA), commonly referred to as ‘
Oudekraal
1’,
which dealt with delay in the context of the collateral challenges
raised by the City of Cape Town and
O
udekraal
Estates (Pty) Ltd v City of Cape Town & Ors
2010 (1) SA 333
(SCA) ,
or ‘
Oudekraal
2’,
which dealt with delay in the context of the review which was
subsequently brought.
[28]
Administrative
Law
6
th
ed,
331
.
[29]
Id,
530F-H.
[30]
Photocircuit
n
26
,
253C-D.
[31]
Cure
v Deeley
Ltd
[1961] 3 All ER 641 (QB).
[32]
As set out in
Wolgroeiers
Afslaers (Edms) Bpk v Munisipaliteit van Kaapstad
1978 (1) SA 13
(A),
39C-D.
[33]
O
udekraal
Estates (Pty) Ltd v City of Cape Town & Ors
2002 (6) SA 573 (C).
[34]
O
udekraal
Estates (Pty) Ltd v City of Cape Town & Ors
2004
(6) SA 222
(SCA) para 36.
[35]
Boddington
v British Transport Police
[1998]
2 All ER 203.
[36]
Id, para 36.
[37]
Id.
[38]
Id.
[39]
Id.
[40]
Para 39.
[41]
Para
40.
[42]
Oudekraal
Estates (Pty) Ltd v City of Cape Town
2010
(1) SA 333
(SCA).
[43]
3M
SA (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner,
South
African Revenue Service
[2010]
3 All SA 361 (SCA).
[44]
Id
para 33.
[45]
Para 55.
[46]
Para
68.
[47]
Para
69.
[48]
Para
70.
[49]
Paras
70-71.
[50]
In footnote 86.
[51]
Plymouth
City Council v
Quietlynn
[1987]
2 All ER 1040.
[52]
R v
Wicks
{1997}
2 All ER 801.
[53]
Khabisi
v Aquarella Investments 83 (Pty) Ltd & Ors
2008
(4) SA 195 (T).
[54]
Note 51.
[55]
Id,
p
er
Lord Irving in
Quietlynn
n 51,
as endorsed in the recent decision of
R
v Cooper
[2022]
EWCA Crim 922, which concerned a failure to comply with a stop works
notice in terms of environmental regulations, and
the court refused
to entertain a collateral challenge as the defendant could have
availed himself of an internal appeal to an
administrative body but
failed to do so.
[56]
In both
Quietlynn
and
Wicks
the relevant statutory
schemes provided for internal, administrative remedies of appeal.
[57]
Department of
Transport v Tasima (Pty) Ltd
2017
(2) SA 622
(CC), footnote 63.
[58]
Note 35.
[59]
Para
72.
[60]
Para
61.
[61]
Para 77.
[62]
Para
81.
[63]
Note
57.
[64]
Id,
p
ara
143.
[65]
Para
160.
[66]
Per Khampepe J para 144.
[67]
Khumalo & Ano v
MEC for Education, KwaZulu Natal & Ors
2013
(4) SA 262
(CC).
[68]
Khumalo
para
57.
[69]
Tasima
,
p
aras
152-170.
[70]
State Information
Technology Agency SOC Ltd v Gijima Holdings (Pty) Ltd
2018 (2) SA 23 (CC).
[71]
Buffalo
City Metropolitan University v Asla Construction (Pty) Ltd
2019
(4) SA 331
(CC) para 137.
[72]
Id, para 69.
[73]
Id,
para 70.
[74]
In the English cases of
Quietlynn
and
Wicks
(notes 51 and 52)
collateral challenges were held to be impermissible where the
challenger had recourse to an internal appeal
but chose not to make
use of it, and in Canada courts have declined to entertain
collateral challenges for the same reason vide
R
v Consolidated Maybrun Mines Ltd
[1998]
1 S.C.R 706
;
1998 CanLii 820
(SCC); as endorsed in
R
v Al Klippert Ltd
[1998]
1 S.C.R 737
;
1998 CanLii 821
(SCC).
[75]
Section 67(1)(d).
[76]
Sections 30(1)-(2).
sino noindex
make_database footer start
Similar Cases
Webram Four (Pty) Ltd v Transformation Capital Group (Pty) Ltd and Others (7742/2021) [2025] ZAWCHC 390 (27 August 2025)
[2025] ZAWCHC 390High Court of South Africa (Western Cape Division)99% similar
Technical Systems (Pty) Ltd and Another v RTS Industries and Others (17470/2014) [2024] ZAWCHC 2 (2 January 2024)
[2024] ZAWCHC 2High Court of South Africa (Western Cape Division)99% similar
Bengston and Others v Preuss NO and Another (17699.2018) [2025] ZAWCHC 432 (16 September 2025)
[2025] ZAWCHC 432High Court of South Africa (Western Cape Division)99% similar
TMT Services & Supplies (Pty) Ltd v City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and Another (1365/23) [2024] ZAWCHC 93 (27 March 2024)
[2024] ZAWCHC 93High Court of South Africa (Western Cape Division)99% similar
Mtech SA (Pty) Ltd v Afoodable (Pty) Ltd and Others (22702/2023) [2024] ZAWCHC 237 (4 September 2024)
[2024] ZAWCHC 237High Court of South Africa (Western Cape Division)99% similar