Case Law[2023] ZAWCHC 109South Africa
Modack v Minister of Police and Others (5392/2021) [2023] ZAWCHC 109 (8 May 2023)
High Court of South Africa (Western Cape Division)
8 May 2023
Judgment
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# South Africa: Western Cape High Court, Cape Town
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## Modack v Minister of Police and Others (5392/2021) [2023] ZAWCHC 109 (8 May 2023)
Modack v Minister of Police and Others (5392/2021) [2023] ZAWCHC 109 (8 May 2023)
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sino date 8 May 2023
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
(WESTERN CAPE DIVISION, CAPE TOWN)
Case number: 5392/2021
In the matter between:
NAFIZ
MODACK
Applicant
and
THE
MINISTER OF POLICE
First
respondent
THE
NATIONAL COMMISSIONER OF
THE
SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE
Second
respondent
BRIGADIER
SOLOMON MAKGATO
Third
respondent
LIEUTENANT
COLONEL EDWARD CLARK
Fourth
respondent
CAPTAIN
JOUBERT
Fifth
respondent
WARRANT
OFFICER DU PLESSIS
Sixth
respondent
JUDGMENT
DELIVERED ON 8 MAY 2023
VAN ZYL AJ:
Introduction
1.
This
application was initially brought as one for interim relief on an
urgent basis. The applicant indicated later in replying papers
that
he had sought interim relief at that stage in the event that the
respondents were not able to deliver answering papers, and
that since
the respondents have delivered an answering affidavit, there was no
reason why final relief should not be granted.
The
applicant thus seeks final interdictory relief against the
respondents, to restrain the latter from:
1.1
“…
in
any way whatsoever causing or attempting to cause the Applicant any
physical or economic harm or injury of any nature whatsoever
“
;
1.2
“…
confronting,
intimidating or in any other way whatsoever unlawfully harassing the
abovenamed Applicant, any member of his family
by
birth
or by
marriage, and any of his
employees and/or
business
associates”;
1.3
“…
entering
the home, dwelling place or place of business of the abovenamed
Applicant, and/or any member of his family by birth or
by marriage
and/or any of his employees and/or business associates, unless
authorised by
a
warrant
duly issued by an authorised judicial officer, or due and adequate
cause for such entry exists in law.”
2.
In
seeking final interdictory relief, the duty is on the applicant to
show (i) that he has a clear right; (ii) an injury actually
committed
or reasonably apprehended; and (iii) the absence of
an
alternative remedy.
[1]
All three
requirements must be present.
3.
The
ordinary rules relating to the discharge of such duty on affidavit
apply. Consequently, the version set up by the respondents
must be
accepted unless their allegations do not raise a real, genuine or
bona
fide
dispute
of fact,
or
are
so
far-fetched or
clearly untenable
that it
will
be justified to
reject them merely
on the papers.
[2]
The test in
determining whether a respondent's version may be rejected on the
papers, is "a
stringent
one not easily
satisfied”.
[3]
4.
The
respondents oppose the application
inter
alia
on the bases that:
4.1
the
applicant lacks the necessary
locus
standi
to institute these proceedings
for the relief
sought to the benefit of
other parties;
4.2
the
applicant has failed to join a number of parties who, on his version,
have a direct and substantial interest in the outcome
of
this
application;
4.3
the
relief sought by the applicant is impermissibly vague and ambiguous
and, if granted, the order will not be executable and enforceable;
and
4.4
the
applicant has failed to meet the requisites for final interdictory
relief as he has not shown a clear right, nor has he demonstrated
an
injury actually committed by the respondents, or
reasonably
apprehended.
5.
Before
dealing with these grounds of opposition, the relevant facts
underlying the application are set out.
The relevant factual background
6.
The
following facts are either common cause, or have been established for
the grant of final relief.
[4]
7.
The
third to the sixth respondents are part of a National Task Team
responsible for the investigation of the murder of the late
Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear (“Kinnear”), who was
attached to the Western Cape Anti-Gang Unit. Kinnear was shot
inside
his state vehicle in front of his home in Bishop Lavis. A case
of murder was registered under case number Bishop Lavis
CAS
304/09/2020.
8.
In
the course of the murder investigation, the sixth respondent received
a threatening telephone call on his
official
cellular phone from
an
unknown caller, who stated that there was a R1
million "hit" on his head. As a result, the
sixth
respondent registered a
criminal
complaint of
intimidation under case number
Bellville CAS 450/01/2021.
9.
The
fourth respondent, who was assigned as the investigating officer in
the intimidation case, established the identity of the caller
as a Mr
Petrus Visser (“Visser”).
10.
On
3
March 2021, the fourth respondent applied
for, and was granted, a warrant of arrest (commonly referred to as a
"J50 Warrant
of Arrest") for Visser in terms of section 43
of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 ("the CPA") in the
Bellville
Magistrate's Court in respect of the charge intimidation.
As a result, members of the National Task Team commenced an operation
to locate and arrest Visser pursuant to the warrant of arrest.
11.
During
his investigation the fourth respondent discovered that Visser was
employed by the applicant. The fourth respondent also
established the
location of several addresses frequented by Visser. On 4 and 5
March 2021, members of the Task Team, accompanied
by members of the
Special Task Force of the SAPS, visited the following addresses:
11.1
[…]
S[…] Street,
Summer Greens;
11.2
1[…]
T[…] Street,
Plattekloof;
11.3
[…]
J[…] Close, Plattekloof; and
11.4
the
residence of the applicant's mother-in-law and father-in-law,
situated at Tulbagh Street, Monte
Vista.
12.
The
Task Team was unable to locate Visser at any of these addresses. He
was finally arrested when he handed himself over to the
police on 12
March 2021.
13.
The
applicant was not present at any of these addresses during the visits
on 4 and 5 March 2021. He only delivered confirmatory
affidavits of Ms Charmaine Visser (the wife of Visser's brother, Mr
Matthys Visser), who was present during the Task Team's visit
to […]
S[…] Street, Summer Greens, and of Mr Elvis Willemse, who was
present during the Task Team's visit to […]
J[…] Close,
Plattekloof. No confirmatory affidavits have been delivered in
respect of the visits to the other two
addresses.
14.
The
respondents’ version regarding the actions taken by the Task
Team to locate and arrest Visser at these addresses is that
the Task
Force members did not behave unlawfully and did not confront,
intimidate or harass the applicant, nor did they cause the
applicant
any physical or economic harm or
injury.
They were authorised to
enter the premises
(when they
did so) by virtue of the consent
given to them to search each relevant property and were further
authorised by virtue of their possession
of a duly granted warrant of
arrest. No official present at the various premises forced
entry, or caused any damage to property
whilst conducting the
operation to locate and arrest
Visser.
In the circumstances, the respondents
did
not
behave
unlawfully.
15.
Information
provided by Visser in his Warning Statement, obtained after his
arrest, revealed that he frequented three of the four
addresses
visited by the Task Team. The fourth address, […] S[…]
Street, Summer Greens, is the address of his brother
and
sister-in-law.
16.
The
applicant admitted in a replying affidavit that the search for Visser
at the home of his brother was
"understandable".
Before the applicant approached this Court to apply for
interdictory relief (at that stage on
an urgent basis), he knew that
the Task Team visited those premises because they were searching for
Visser. He was told this
much by Ms Charmaine Visser, and by
the fourth respondent.
The issue of
locus standi
17.
The
respondents aver that the applicant does not have the requisite
locus
standi
to seek the relief sought in the
notice of motion.
18.
Generally,
an applicant must have a direct interest in the subject matter, which
interest must not be too far removed. A mere moral
interest is
insufficient to ground a right to institute a matter.
[5]
In
order to determine
whether a party has standing in a matter, it is thus to be considered
whether the party is enforcing a legal
right and has sufficient
interest to do
so.
[6]
The interest must
be actual, not abstract or academic, and it must a current interest,
not a hypothetical one.
[7]
19.
In
addition, the appropriate allegations to establish the
locus
standi
of
an applicant should be made in the founding affidavit.
[8]
The onus to prove
that a party instituting proceedings has capacity to do so rests upon
that party.
[9]
In this regard, it
must be borne in mind that a deponent to an affidavit need not be
authorized by the party concerned to depose
thereto. Rather, it is
the institution of the proceedings and the prosecution thereof which
must be authorized.
[10]
20.
A
consideration of the founding papers reveals that the applicant falls
far short in this respect. He does not even allege
that he is
authorised to institute these proceedings on behalf of
the
unnamed and unidentified family
members, employees, and business associates on whose behalf he seeks
relief in his notice of motion.
21.
The
issue of
locus standi
is
not, as the applicant argues, a mere “technical defence".
It goes to the root of the matter. If the applicant
cannot
establish that he had the necessary authority to institute these
proceedings on
behalf of
all
the unnamed and unidentified family members, employees and business
associates that he seems to represent, those parts of the
relief
claimed on the third parties’ behalf in the notice of motion
cannot be granted.
22.
I
agree with the submission made by the respondents’ counsel that
the applicant has failed to demonstrate a sufficient and
direct
interest in order to institute
these
proceedings on
behalf
of
these
persons.
23.
I
nevertheless proceed to consider the issues of non-joinder, the
respondents’ argument in relation to the vague nature of
the
relief sought, and the merits of the application for final
interdictory relief.
The issue of non-joinder
24.
The
law on joinder is well settled. The test is essentially whether a
party has a direct and substantial interest in the subject
matter of
the litigation, that is, a legal interest in the subject matter of
the litigation, which may be affected prejudicially
by the judgment
of the Court. The failure by an applicant to join with himself as
co-applicant another person whom the law requires
should be joined
when suing a particular respondent or respondents amounts to a
material and fatal nonjoinder.
[11]
25.
On
the applicant's version, Mr Matthys Visser, his wife Mrs Charmaine
Visser, Mr Elvis Willemse, the unnamed owners of the business
he
seeks to protect (the owners are allegedly related to him), as well
as the applicant's father-in-law and mother-in-law, all
have a direct
and substantial interest in the relief he is seeking. They
ought therefore to have been joined, as they are
directly implicated
in the allegations about the events that transpired on 4 and 5 March
2021 in SAPS’ search for Visser:
25.1
In
respect of
the events which allegedly
occurred on 4 March 2021 at 5 St Patrick Street, Mr Matthys Visser
and his wife Mrs Charmaine Visser
have an interest.
25.2
In
respect of the events which allegedly occurred on 4 March 2021 at
1[…] T[…] Street, Plattekloof, Mr
Willemse
has an interest.
25.3
In
respect of the events which allegedly occurred on 5 March 2021 at the
unknown business premises of persons to whom he is related,
the
unknown
business
owners
have an interest (the applicant states that SAPS forced entry to the
premises without consent, and conducted an illegal search
thereof).
25.4
In
respect of the events that allegedly occurred on 5 March 2021, the
applicant's father-in-law and mother-in-law and, possibly,
his
sister-in law, have an interest.
26.
The
applicant states in his founding affidavit that the relief is sought
because he is
"convinced that [his]
fundamental rights will continue to be violated";
that
the order
"will do no more than
make it very clear to the Respondents that the rights which [he]
enjoy[s] as a citizen and inhabitant
of South Africa are to be
respected";
and that the order
will
"serve to protect [him] from
any further unlawful violations of [his] fundamental rights"
as
he believes that the respondents will continue to violate
his rights unless he is granted
protection.
27.
In
his replying affidavit, the applicant states that he seeks relief
only for himself, and that no relief is sought on behalf of
any other
person. This assertion is clearly at odds with the content of the
notice of motion, in respect of which no amendment
has been sought.
28.
I
agree, for these reasons, with the respondents’ submission that
the application suffers from a fatal non-joinder of numerous
parties
on behalf of whom relief is sought.
The relief sought is vague and
ambiguous
29.
There
is another problem with the relief sought. It is widely framed,
and the respondents argue that it lacks clarity in its
wording, and
is impermissibly vague and ambiguous. If granted, the order would not
be executable and
enforceable.
30.
In
Eke
v Parsons
[12]
the Constitutional
Court held
as
follows:
"If
an order is ambiguous, unenforceable, ineffective, inappropriate, or
lacks the element of bringing finality to a matter
or at least part
of the case, it cannot
be
said
that the court that granted it exercised its discretion properly.
It is a
fundamental principle of our law that a court order must be effective
and
enforceable, and
it
must
be
formulated in
language
that
leaves no doubt
as to what the order requires to be done."
31.
In
the notice of motion, the applicant seeks an order interdicting and
restraining the respondents from
"in
any way
whatsoever
causing or attempting to cause the Applicant
any physical or economic harm or injury
of
any nature whatsoever"
.
[Emphasis added.] The relief
sought is couched in such broad terms that, if granted, the order
will effectively prevent the
respondents from conducting any criminal
investigation and carrying out arrest and search warrants whenever
the applicant is the
subject of any such an investigation, arrest, or
search.
32.
The
applicant further seeks an order interdicting and restraining the
respondents from
"
confronting
,
intimidating or in any other way whatsoever unlawfully harassing the
abovenamed Applicant,
any member
of his family by birth or by marriage, and any of his employees
and/or business associates
".
[Emphasis added.]
33.
The
applicant seeks, lastly, an order interdicting and restraining the
respondents from
"
entering
the home, dwelling place or place
of
business of
the
abovenamed Applicant, and/or any member of
his
family by birth or
by
marriage and/or any of
his
employees and/or business associates
,
unless authorised by
a
warrant
duly issued by an authorised judicial officer, or due and adequate
cause for such entry exists in law".
[Emphasis
added.]
34.
An
order restraining the respondents from “confronting” the
applicant, any member of his family, his employees or his
business
associates is impossibly vague. If
granted,
this
means that, notwithstanding whether
there exists a legitimate basis to confront the applicant (or
his family, employees or business associates), the
respondents would
be
prevented in
perpetuity
from
doing so.
35.
In
addition, the relief sought by the applicant seeks to protect
any
member of
his family by
birth or marriage, and
any
of
his employees or business associates without any indication who these
unnamed and unidentifiable
persons are.
The respondents would have no means to determine
who is covered by such an interdict.
36.
The
applicant retorts that the respondents do not need to know the
identities of the persons to be protected by the order. Leaving
aside
the obvious point as to how the respondents will be able to comply
with such an order, the applicant’s view is misguided,
having
regard to the Constitutional Court's
dictum
in
Eke v Parsons
supra
. Since the relief is
couched in vague and ambiguous terms, neither the Court nor the
respondents will know whether the relief,
if granted, will be in
respect of (using the respondents’ examples) 10 persons or
whether the applicant has 1 000 family
members, employees and
business associates who will be protected by the order.
37.
If
granted, such a “blind” order will have far-reaching
consequences. The respondents will be unable to conduct
their
policing duties in relation to any of the applicant's family members,
employees or business associates who are suspected
of having
committed a crime. Numerous contempt of court
applications could arise therefrom.
38.
I
agree, therefore, that on this basis, too, the relief sought cannot
be granted in the form in which it has been couched.
The merits of the application
for interdictory relief
39.
Refence
has already been made to the requirements for the grant of final
interdictory relief, as well as the approach to the grant
of such
relief on motion. The relevant facts, which are either common
cause or have been established for the purposes of
this application
for final relief, have been set out.
40.
In
the applicant’s heads of argument, it is contended that the
respondents' case is weakened by two major defects, namely
the
alleged patent mendacity of the respondents' witnesses, and the
alleged improbability of the version
advanced
by the respondents. These criticisms must be considered in the
context of
Plascon Evans
.
41.
The
applicant argues, for example, that when the third respondent told
the applicant and his legal representatives that the third
respondent
was investigating the organised theft of exotic
motor
vehicles and assured the applicant that he was not a suspect, those
statements were untrue because the Task Force was investigating
the
murder of Kinnear and the applicant was the prime suspect in that
murder investigation. The applicant does not
explain
why it
is improbable for both versions to
co-exist, namely, that the respondents were investigating the
organised theft of exotic motor
vehicles, in which the applicant was
not a suspect, but that the third to sixth respondents were also part
of a National Task Team
responsible for the investigation of
Kinnear’s murder. These versions are not
mutually
exclusive.
42.
It
is common cause, further, that the Task Team only spoke to the
applicant about the theft investigation
in
the presence of his legal representatives. It is also common
cause that he was not deceived or lied to about
the
murder investigation. That subject was not discussed in the
course of the meeting with the applicant and his lawyers.
43.
There
was no duty at that stage on the
Task Team
members to inform the applicant that he was a suspect in the murder
investigation. It could
seriously
impair the investigative work of SAPS if they were under a general
duty to inform every suspect of pending investigations.
44.
The
applicant also does not explain why (with reference to Visser) it
is
unlikely that the
respondents
"went to·
-so much trouble to find and arrest
a
single
young
man who
was to be charged with
a
single count of intimidation"
.
I agree with the submission made on the respondents’
behalf that, in the face of the respondents’ explanation
in
their answering affidavit, there is no merit in the contention that
the respondents sought to search the places that Visser
was known to
frequent with a large team without a search warrant. In any event,
this point seems moot, as it is beyond doubt that
a search warrant
for the arrest _of Visser was in fact issued. It is common cause that
Visser was
arrested.
•
45.
The
applicant further argues that
"the
members of the task force lied when they denied that a person was
assaulted during the raids".
There
is no factual basis for
this submission.
The respondents have stated that the members of the Directorate for
Priority Crime Investigation or National Task
Team assaulted Mr
Willemse. The respondents also stated that, although they had had
sight of various videos which were posted on
social media by the
applicant and which depicted two members of the Special Task Force
slapping Willemse with an open hand on the
back of his head and,
later, on
his cheek, they have no personal
knowledge of Willemse being struck with the butt of a machine gun.
46.
I
cannot find any reason to conclude that the respondents' version is
improbable, or that the respondents have
been
dishonest in what they have stated under oath.
47.
The
question arises, lastly, and in the light of the issues discussed
above, whether the applicant has satisfied the requirements
for the
grant of a final interdict.
Has the applicant established a
clear right?
48.
Whether
the applicant has a clear right is a matter of substantive law;
whether that right is clearly established is a matter of
evidence. To
establish a clear right, the applicant must prove on a balance of
probabilities the right which he seeks to protect.
49.
As
mentioned, the applicant states that the relief he seeks is sought
because he is
"convinced that [his]
fundamental rights will continue to be violated";
that
the order
"will do no more than
make it very clear to the Respondents that the
rights
which
[he] enjoy[s] as
a
citizen and inhabitant of South Africa
are to be respected';
that the order
will
"serve to protect [him] from
any further unlawful violations of [his] fundamental rights",
as
he believes that the respondents will continue to violate his rights
unless granted protection, without more.
50.
The
applicant fails, however, to identify the clear right relied upon to
which, if not protected by an interdict, an injury would
ensue. The
relief sought in terms of the notice of motion moreover concerns
other persons apart from the applicant.
In
fact, in his replying affidavit the applicant states that
"it
is the rights of those associated with me which were violated".
On his own version, therefore, the
applicant acknowledges a failure to prove a right clearly established
on his own part.
51.
The
applicant has therefore not made out a case for the relief sought in
prayer 3.1.1 of the notice of motion (“…
in
any way whatsoever causing or attempting to cause the Applicant any
physical or economic harm or injury of any nature whatsoever
“
). Nowhere in the founding affidavit is
there an allegation of the applicant having suffered any physical or
economic harm or an
injury because of the respondents' conduct.
There is accordingly no basis for this interdictory relief since
"physical or economic harm or
injury''
has not occurred. Any
suggestion by the applicant that there is
an
apprehension that
the
respondents
will
cause
him
to
suffer any physical
or economic harm or injury is unreasonable when regard is had to the
applicant's own version as set out in his
founding
affidavit, and compared with the respondents’ allegations.
52.
The
applicant has also failed to meet the requirements for an interdict
in relation to prayer 3.1.2 of the notice of motion (“…
confronting,
intimidating or in any other way whatsoever unlawfully harassing the
abovenamed Applicant, any member of his family
by
birth
or by
marriage, and any of his
employees and/or
business
associates”
). In particular, the
applicant has failed to demonstrate that the respondents have
confronted, intimidated, or harassed him, his
family, employees, or
business associates. He has also failed to demonstrate that
there is a reasonable apprehension that
the respondents will do so in
the future.
53.
The
same applies to the relief sought in prayer 3.1.3 of the notice of
motion (“…
entering the
home, dwelling place or place of business of the abovenamed
Applicant, and/or any member of his family by birth or
by marriage
and/or any of his employees and/or business associates, unless
authorised by
a
warrant
duly issued by an authorised judicial officer, or due and adequate
cause for such entry exists in law”
).
The applicant has failed to demonstrate that the respondents
unlawfully entered the home, dwelling place or place of business
of
the applicant, his family, his employees or business associates.
He has failed to demonstrate that there is a reasonable
apprehension
that the respondents would continue to do so. Notably, it is
common cause that Visser was arrested before the
applicant instituted
these proceedings.
54.
As
indicated, too, instead seeking to protect and assert his own rights,
the relief is essentially sought in respect of
the
applicant's (unknown) family members, his (unknown) employees as well
as his (unknown) business associates.
As
to his family members, employees and business associates, the
applicant's founding affidavit makes no mention of the clear right
relied upon or to whom,
if not protected by
a final interdict, an injury would ensue.
55.
In
these circumstances, the applicant has failed to establish the first
requisite for obtaining a final
interdict.
An injury committed or reasonably
apprehended?
56.
A
reasonable apprehension of injury is one which a reasonable man might
entertain on being faced with certain facts. The test for
apprehension is an objective one. The applicant must therefore
show, objectively adjudicated, that his apprehensions are
well-grounded. Mere assertions of his fears are insufficient. The
facts grounding his apprehension must
be
set
out
in
the founding papers
to
enable
the Court to determine for itself whether the fears are reasonable.
[13]
57.
The
applicant alleges that
"hardly
a
day
has gone
past
in
the
last
three
weeks on which I
have not
had an interaction of one or
other
sort with those policemen and I
am
always afraid of what they might do".
He
fails, however, to
provide any details of
the alleged interactions or the policemen with
whom he had daily interactions, or the reasons why the interactions
warrant interdictory
relief.
58.
In
any event, even if this was true, a mere interaction with members of
the SAPS, even on a daily basis, is insufficient to justify
the
relief sought by the applicant, since the applicant does not allege
that there was anything unlawful about the interactions.
59.
The
applicant alleges in
his replying affidavit
that the respondents are causing him direct harm by causing harm to
others. However,
the applicant does
not explain how the alleged harm
to others
causes him, as opposed to the other person(s), harm. Instead, this
unsubstantiated assertion demonstrates the failure
by the applicant
to meet the second requisite for a final interdict.
60.
The
applicant further alleges in his replying affidavit that he seeks to
protect the right to live a life free of harassment and
fear of being
assaulted by members of the SAPS. The facts that the applicant
relies upon in support of this assertion are
the events of 4 and 5
March 2021, when SAPS were trying to locate Visser – not the
applicant - to arrest
him. A
consideration of those facts does not warrant a finding that the
applicant has been harassed or assaulted by members
of
SAPS,
or that he has a reasonable apprehension that he will be harassed or
assaulted again.
61.
The
applicant alleges that the J50 Warrant of
Arrest
did not authorise the search of the properties at the addresses
mentioned earlier to locate and arrest Visser.
Section
48 of the CPA, however, provides as
follows:
“
Any
person who may lawfully arrest another in respect of any offence and
who knows or reasonably suspects such other person to be
on any
premises, may, if he first audibly demands entry into such premises
and notifies the purpose for which he
seeks
entry and fails
to gain entry, break open, enter and search such premises for the
purpose of effecting the
arrest.”
62.
Section 48 of the CPA permitted the respondents to
break open, enter and search any premises for the purposes of
effecting Visser’s
arrest, if they had a reasonable suspicion
that he was present and after they had audibly demanded
entry. It is, however, common cause that the
respondents did not forcibly enter any of the homes visited in the
course of
their search for Visser.
It was
not necessary, since they were given consent to enter […]
S[…] Street, Summer greens, […]
J[…] Close, Plattekloof; and the residence of the applicant's
mother-in-law
and father-in-law in Tulbagh Street, Monte Vista.
It is also common cause that SAPS never entered the property situated
at
1[…] T[…] Street, Plattekloof.
63.
When
the applicant deposed to his founding affidavit on 25 March 2021,
Visser had already been arrested, a fact that the applicant
was aware
of. After Visser's arrest (on 12 March 2021), the purpose of the
operation had been achieved.
The applicant
failed to disclose this evidence when he approached the Court to
obtain interdictory relief. This failure demonstrates
that it is the
applicant, not the respondents, who was less than generous with the
truth.
64.
In
the circumstances, the applicant has failed to satisfy the second
requirement for the grant of final interdictory relief.
In addition, and as
was discussed earlier, his inability to demonstrate that he is
suffering or will suffer some injury, prejudice
or damage or invasion
of a right peculiar to himself, indicates that he has no
locus
standi
in
these proceedings.
[14]
An alternative remedy?
65.
The
final requirement for the grant of an interdict is that there should
be no other satisfactory remedy available to the applicant.
If
there is an
existing remedy "
with
the same result
"
for the protection of the applicant, an interdict will not be
granted.
[15]
66.
As
the applicant has failed to demonstrate that the respondents have
interfered with his rights or to demonstrate a reasonable
apprehension of injury by the respondents, it is unnecessary to
consider the presence or absence of adequate alternative redress
in
some other form.
Conclusion
67.
In
all of these circumstances, I am of the view that the
applicant has failed to make out a case for the relief sought, not
only because
of his lack of
locus standi
, the non-joinder of
necessary persons, and the vague nature in which the relief has been
couched, but also because the requirements
for the grant of final
interdictory relief have not been satisfied.
68.
Given
this finding, it is not necessary to determine the respondents’
application for the striking
out of portions of the founding
affidavit for being hearsay or irrelevant evidence.
Costs
69.
The
respondents were successful, and are entitled to their costs.
Order
70.
In
the premises, it is ordered as follows:
The
application is dismissed, with costs, including the costs of two
counsel.
P. S. VAN ZYL
Acting judge of the High Court
Appearances
:
For
the applicant
:
L.
Guma, Guma Attorneys
For
the respondents
:
P.
Botha SC (with him R. Matsala),
Instructed
by
the
State Attorney
[1]
Setloqelo
v Setloqelo
1914
AD 221
at 227.
[2]
Plascon
-Evans
Paints Ltd v Van Riebeeck Paints (Pty) Ltd
[1984] ZASCA 51
;
1984
(3) SA 623
(A) at 634 E-635 C.
[3]
National
Scrap Metal (Cape Town) v Murray & Roberts
2012 (5) SA 300
(SCA) at
para [22].
[4]
In
terms of
Plascon
Evans supra
.
[5]
Moloto
Communal Property Association v Tshoane
[2019)
ZAGPPHC 325 (19 February 2019) at para [5].
[6]
Gross
and others v Pentz
[1996] ZASCA 78
;
1996
(4) SA 617
(SCA) at 632C-F.
[7]
Jacobs
v Waks
[1991] ZASCA 152
;
1992
(1) SA 521
(A) at 533J-534A.
[8]
Scott
v Hanekom
1980
(3) SA 1182
(C) at 1188H.
[9]
Mars
Incorporated v Candy World (Pty) Ltd
[1990] ZASCA 149
;
1991
(1) SA 567
(SCA) at 575H-I.
[10]
Ganes
v Telecom Namibia Ltd
2004
(3) SA 615 (SCA) at 624G-H.
[11]
See the
discussion in
Van
Loggerenberg
Erasmus
Superior Court Practice
(2ed)
Vol. 2 at D1-124.
[12]
2016 (3) SA
37
(CC) at para [74].
[13]
See the
discussion in
Van
Loggerenberg
Erasmus
Superior Court Practice
(2ed)
Vol. 2 at D6-14.
[14]
Von
Moltke v CostaAreosa (Pty) Ltd
1975
(1) SA 255
(C) at 258D-E.
[15]
See, for
example,
Reserve
Bank of Rhodesia v Rhodesia Railways
1966
(3) SA 656
(SR) at 658E-H.
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