Case Law[2025] ZACC 25South Africa
South African Riding for the Disabled Association v Regional Land Claims Commission, Western Cape and Others (CCT 379/24) [2025] ZACC 25; 2026 (1) BCLR 31 (CC) (13 November 2025)
Constitutional Court of South Africa
13 November 2025
Headnotes
Summary: Land — land reform — restitution — claim — right to intervene of lawful occupier — may intervene only for purpose of determining compensation — Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994 — section 35(9)
Judgment
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## South African Riding for the Disabled Association v Regional Land Claims Commission, Western Cape and Others (CCT 379/24) [2025] ZACC 25; 2026 (1) BCLR 31 (CC) (13 November 2025)
South African Riding for the Disabled Association v Regional Land Claims Commission, Western Cape and Others (CCT 379/24) [2025] ZACC 25; 2026 (1) BCLR 31 (CC) (13 November 2025)
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sino date 13 November 2025
FLYNOTES:
LAND TENURE – Restitution of rights –
Compensation
–
Standing
to bring appeal – Order was final and definitive in effect –
Limited standing to compensation and precluded
any other relief –
Confirmed that lawful occupiers have no interest in transfer of
land beyond entitlement to just
and equitable compensation –
Attempt to revisit finding without a rescission application was
impermissible –
Deviation from previous decisions requires
coherent and compelling reasons which were absent – Leave to
appeal refused.
CONSTITUTIONAL
COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
Case CCT 379/24
In
the matter between:
SOUTH
AFRICAN RIDING FOR THE
DISABLED
ASSOCIATION
Applicant
and
REGIONAL
LAND CLAIMS COMMISSION,
WESTERN
CAPE
First Respondent
MAGHERDIEN
SADIEN N.O.
(on
behalf of the Imam Dout Sadien Family
Trust)
Second Respondent
ABDURAGHMAAN
SADIEN
FAMILY
TRUST
Third Respondent
MOHAMED
ALLIE EBRAHIM N.O.
(on
behalf of the Bapa Sadien Family
Trust)
Fourth Respondent
MAGHERDIEN
SADIEN N.O.
(on
behalf of the Boeta Toyer Sadien Family
Trust)
Fifth Respondent
BOETA
OMAR FAMILY
TRUST
Sixth Respondent
SEDIEK
SADIEN
Seventh Respondent
Neutral
citation:
South African Riding for the
Disabled Association v Regional Land Claims Commission, Western Cape
and Others
[2025] ZACC 25
Coram:
Mlambo DCJ, Kollapen J,
Majiedt J, Mathopo J,
Rogers J, Savage AJ, Theron J and Tshiqi J
Judgment:
Kollapen
J
(unanimous)
Heard
on:
2 September 2025
Decided
on:
13 November 2025
Summary:
Land — land reform — restitution — claim —
right to intervene of lawful occupier — may intervene only
for
purpose of determining compensation —
Restitution of Land
Rights Act 22 of 1994
—
section 35(9)
Practice
— judgments and orders — whether previous order was
interlocutory — order final in effect —
previous order
finally determined standing
Rescission
— absence of application for rescission —
functus
officio
Parties
—
locus standi
— what constitutes — standing
previously determined — applicant lacking legal standing
ORDER
On
application for direct leave to appeal from the Land Court of South
Africa, Randburg:
1.
Leave to appeal directly to this Court is refused with costs.
JUDGMENT
KOLLAPEN J
(Mlambo DCJ, Majiedt J, Mathopo J, Rogers J,
Savage AJ, Theron J and Tshiqi J
concurring):
Introduction
[1]
This is an application for direct leave to appeal brought by
the
South African Riding for the Disabled Association (SARDA) against a
November 2024 judgment and order from the Land Court.
This application forms part of a fifteen-year litigation saga
concerning a land restitution claim. The matter is opposed
by
the first respondent, the Regional Land Claims Commission, Western
Cape (Commission); the second to sixth respondents, who represent
several trusts composed of members of the Sadien family (Sadien
family); and the seventh respondent, Mr Sediek Sadien.
Factual
background
[2]
The history of this matter centres around the dispossession
of a
piece of land in Constantia, Erf 2274. The land was
acquired by a forebear of the Sadiens in 1902. His sons
(Imam
Dout, Toyer, Omar, Ismail, and Abduraghmaan) bought the land from
their late mother’s deceased estate at an auction
in 1956.
The land was then transferred in 1958 to Imam Dout, Toyer, Omar,
Abduraghmaan and the estate of Ismail, who died
after the purchase
but before the land was transferred. The brothers and their
families lived together on the land, using
it to grow and sell fruits
and vegetables.
[3]
In 1961, as a result of
the Group Areas Act
[1]
and
Proclamation 34 of 1961
[2]
issued pursuant thereto, Erf 2274 fell within a “white
group area”. Consequently, the Sadien brothers were
dispossessed of their land and were forced to sell it in 1963 for
roughly half the value they had paid.
[4]
Post-1994, various members of the Sadien family filed land
claims in
respect of the dispossessed land before the Commission on Restitution
of Land Rights between 1995 and 1998. Four
of these claims were
consolidated into one family claim on behalf of the family claimants
by the Commission between 2001 and 2003.
In relevant
proceedings starting in 2010, Sediek and Ebrahim, two direct
descendants of the original claimants and grandchildren
of two of the
Sadien brothers, were acting in a representative capacity for members
of the Sadien family.
[5]
SARDA is a non-profit
organisation which provides equine therapy to children with
disabilities, including scheduled programming
for learners from
special needs schools in and around Cape Town. SARDA has
occupied four erven in Constantia, including Erf 142
which is
owned by the State, since 1980.
[3]
During its occupation, SARDA made a number of improvements to Erf 142
as were required for its work.
Litigation
history
[6]
On 7 December 2012, the Land Claims Court
concluded that the Sadien brothers were dispossessed of the land as a
result of racially discriminatory laws and practices. The
Land
Claims Court ordered that a portion of state-owned land, Erf 1783
Constantia, be transferred to Sediek Sadien in response
to the Sadien
family restitution claim, as the original dispossessed land could not
be restored to its original status. This
order was varied on
8 February 2013, replacing Erf 1783 with Erf 142
to better align with the size of the original
dispossessed land.
[7]
SARDA, which was occupying the land under a lease, was not
notified
of the proceedings that led to the substitution of Erf 1783 with
Erf 142. In September 2014, SARDA
applied for leave
to intervene before the Land Claims Court to challenge this
varied order and sought to have the varied
order set aside. The
Land Claims Court concluded that the right to compensation
did not constitute a direct and
substantial interest and refused
SARDA’s intervention. On 31 March 2016, the
Land Claims Court
refused leave to appeal and a petition to
the Supreme Court of Appeal was also unsuccessful.
SARDA then filed
an application for leave to appeal to this Court in
2016.
[8]
On 23 February 2017,
this Court delivered judgment in the matter after calling for written
argument but without an oral
hearing.
[4]
It granted leave to appeal and upheld SARDA’s appeal to a
limited extent. It held that SARDA’s interest
as a lawful
occupier of state-owned land (Erf 142) gave it a direct and
substantial interest to intervene in the restitution
proceedings on
the basis of its right to just and equitable compensation under
section
35(9)
of the Restitution of Land Rights Act
[5]
(the Act). However, this Court went on to find that SARDA’s
interest was limited to compensation and that it did not
have an
interest in the transfer of Erf 142 to the Sadien family.
This Court, therefore, found it unnecessary to rescind
the varied
order of the Land Claims Court but held that SARDA’s
intervention for the purpose of determining compensation
was
necessary. This Court remitted the matter to the
Land Claims Court for the determination of compensation
payable
to SARDA.
[9]
What followed was a failed mediation process to
determine SARDA’s compensation and a dispute between the Sadien
family and
Sediek Sadien surrounding the handling of the awarded
land. Various trusts representing the Sadien family filed a
notice
to intervene in the Land Claims Court on 5 February 2024
to substitute themselves as the parties who were entitled to
the
substantive relief under the 2012 and 2013 orders.
SARDA
opposed the family’s intervention application and filed a
counter-application, seeking that the 2012 order and varied
2013
order be amended to remove Erf 142 from the remit of those
orders, or alternatively that those orders be rescinded.
[10]
On 1 November 2024, the
Land Court, which has replaced the Land Claims Court,
[6]
granted the leave to intervene and substitution request by the Sadien
family trusts but dismissed SARDA’s counter-application.
This
was on the basis that the Land Court was bound by this Court’s
2017 judgment, which determined that SARDA’s
interest is
limited to compensation in the matter. It is this decision of
the Land Court which is the subject of SARDA’s
application
for leave to appeal before this Court.
Leave
to appeal
[11]
SARDA seeks leave to appeal for two purposes. First, SARDA asks
this Court
to set aside the Land Court’s 2024 substitution
order on the grounds that it is incapable of execution, is incoherent
and is bad in law. Second, it asks this Court to grant an order
rescinding the Land Claims Court’s 2013 varied
order. The basis for both legs of SARDA’s challenge
relies on its contention that it had a direct and substantial
interest in the 2013 order and the 2024 substitution order, going
beyond mere compensation.
[12]
SARDA contends that it had standing to apply to the Land Court
to reconsider
the terms of this Court’s 2017 order which
limited its interest to compensation. It argues that this
Court’s
order was interlocutory and capable of variation by the
Land Court. In the event that it was final, SARDA asks
this
Court to depart from its 2017 order on the ground that it was
made
per incuriam
(through lack of care). In SARDA’s
view, the interests of justice favour granting direct leave to appeal
because it
maintains the matter can only come to finality through the
consideration of whether this Court’s 2017 order was
wrongly
decided.
[13]
The Commission disputes SARDA’s claim to standing and submits
that there is
no basis for granting SARDA direct leave to appeal.
SARDA, says the Commission, impermissibly asks this Court to depart
from
its earlier decision and seeks a complete rehearing of the 2017
matter. Similarly, according to the Sadien family, SARDA is
requesting a rehearing of this Court’s 2017 judgment which
definitively ruled on SARDA’s interest in respect of the
land
claim without finding a need to rescind the 2013 order.
The Sadien family contends that there is no coherent or
compelling
reason for this Court to depart from its 2017 order, and public
policy considerations and the interests of justice
emphasise the need
for finality.
Condonation
[14]
SARDA requests condonation for the late filing of its application for
direct leave
to appeal against the judgment and order of the
Land Court dated 1 November 2024 but only mailed to,
and received
by, SARDA on 28 November 2024. SARDA
submits that an electronic copy of its application for direct leave
to appeal
was served on the respondents and filed in this Court on
20 December 2024. If the date is reckoned from
28 November 2024,
as it should be, the application was
filed timeously and therefore no condonation is required.
[15]
The Commission requests condonation for the late filing of its notice
of intention
to oppose together with its answering affidavit.
The Commission submits that its attorneys of record only received the
application
on 20 January 2025 after which it immediately
sought counsel to prepare the answering affidavit, which was filed on
4 February 2025.
If the date is reckoned from
20 January 2025, the answering affidavit was filed a day
late. The Commission submits
that SARDA will not suffer
prejudice if condonation is granted. Although the answering
affidavit was filed late, there is
a reasonable and acceptable
explanation and SARDA will not suffer any prejudice as a result of
the late filing. While SARDA
will suffer no prejudice if
condonation is granted, the Commission would, if condonation were
refused, especially considering the
nature of the case and the role
played by the Commission in restitution cases. Therefore,
condonation is granted.
Replying
affidavit
[16]
SARDA seeks leave to file a replying affidavit in this Court to
respond to contentions
made in the respondents’ answering
affidavits. This replying affidavit does not present any new
information which would
assist this Court in its disposition of the
matter. It is not in the interests of justice to admit the
replying affidavit
and leave to file the replying affidavit is
refused.
Standing
[17]
The submissions of the
parties to which I have referred raise in the sharpest terms the
question of SARDA’s standing in this
matter. Standing is
a “matter of procedural justiciability”.
[7]
Standing, while procedural, “goes to the substance of the
applicant’s entitlement to come to court”.
[8]
It has been described by this Court as “an important element in
determining whether a matter is properly before a court”
[9]
and “a tool a court employs to determine whether a litigant is
entitled to claim its time, and to put the opposing litigant
to
trouble”.
[10]
Standing is an issue that must be dealt with
in limine
(at the
outset). In general, it is both separate from, and antecedent
to, the merits of a dispute.
[11]
[18]
The onus rests on the
party instituting proceedings to allege and prove that it has
standing.
[12]
Standing
may be arrived at in our law via two routes – under the
Constitution and at common law.
[13]
Under the Constitution, section 38 affords standing to different
categories of litigants seeking to vindicate rights
in the Bill of
Rights. At common law, litigants must be able to show a
sufficient, personal and direct interest for standing.
[14]
In this matter, we are concerned with standing at common law in light
of the fact that SARDA is not seeking to vindicate
a right in the
Bill of Rights. In establishing its standing, the obstacle
SARDA faces is that in 2017 this Court decided
that SARDA’s
interest in relation to the restitution proceedings is limited to
compensation.
Did this Court’s
2017 order finally determine SARDA’s standing?
[19]
In bringing this application, SARDA initially attempted to side-step
this Court’s
2017 finding by arguing that this Court’s
order in relation to the scope of its limited standing was
interlocutory. Although
this Court limited the right of
intervention to the question of compensation, SARDA contended that
the limitation did not elevate
the status of the order granting leave
to intervene to that of a final order. It contended that once
the matter had been
remitted to the Land Court, it was open to
that Court to reconsider this Court’s order on good cause
shown. This
argument cannot be sustained.
[20]
In
South
Cape Corporation
,
[15]
the Court identified the features of the two different types of
interlocutory orders. It said:
“
In
a wide and general sense the term ‘interlocutory’ refers
to all orders pronounced by the Court, upon matters incidental
to the
main dispute, preparatory to, or during the progress of, the
litigation. But orders of this kind are divided into
two
classes: (i) those which have a final and definitive effect on the
main action; and (ii) those, known as ‘simple (or
purely)
interlocutory orders’ or ‘interlocutory orders proper’,
which do not.”
[16]
[21]
The approach in
determining whether a procedural order is purely interlocutory or
final in effect was also considered in
Pretoria
Garrison
.
[17]
There, the Court opined that an order is not a simple or purely
interlocutory order if it is such as to “dispose of
any issue
or any portion of the issue in the main action or suit” or if
it is such that it “irreparably anticipates
or precludes some
of the relief which would or might be given at the hearing”.
[18]
Our courts have held that in determining whether an order is final,
it is important to bear in mind that “not merely
the form of
the order must be considered but also, and predominantly, its
effect”.
[19]
[22]
If regard is had to the issue before this Court in 2017 and the
reasoning of this
Court in disposing of the case, it is clear that
the 2017 order was final and definitive in effect. This Court
was required
to consider whether SARDA had a direct and substantial
interest in the 2013 varied order of the Land Claims Court
that
would have entitled it to challenge the order. This Court
found that SARDA’s direct and substantial interest in the
litigation was confined to intervening for the purposes of
determining its right to compensation and for this purpose only.
This
Court said:
“
It
is in this limited sense that it had a direct and substantial
interest in the proceedings. This interest does not include
the
question whether Erf 142 must be transferred to the Sadiens.
Its interest is restricted to the entitlement to just
and equitable
compensation which must be determined by agreement or by the
Land Claims Court.”
[20]
[23]
Although this Court’s
2017 judgment related to what may be described as a procedural issue
on SARDA’s right to intervene,
the order made by this Court
rested on a substantive interpretation of the Act. This Court
reaffirmed the nuanced framework
the Act establishes to balance the
rights of those who are dispossessed with the interests of lawful
occupiers. At the same
time, this Court made clear that the
rights of lawful occupiers who reside on land do not trump the rights
of claimants to have
their land restored. This Court
interpreted section 35(9) of the Act and held that it
“authorises transfer of
the state land to a claimant without
the involvement of the lawful occupier of the land in question”;
however, it “safeguards
the occupier’s interest by
conferring on it an entitlement to just and equitable
compensation”.
[21]
This Court’s determination of SARDA’s interest in the
proceedings flowed from this interpretation. Despite
being
housed in an intervention application, this Court’s finding
concerned the substance of SARDA’s interest in the
context of
the Act.
[24]
There is no doubt that the order was final in effect and definitive
of SARDA’s
interest. The effect of that order was to
limit SARDA’s standing in the proceedings to compensation and
in this way,
the order irreparably precluded any other relief SARDA
would be minded to seek in the restitution proceedings. It
could never
be suggested that another court, seized with the question
of SARDA’s standing, could alter this Court’s finding
after
it had pronounced on it.
[25]
During the hearing of this matter, SARDA’s legal representative
rightly accepted
the final nature of this Court’s 2017 order.
In light of this concession, and in the face of a final order which
limited
its standing to compensation, how then does SARDA claim to be
entitled to stand before this Court? SARDA takes the position
that this Court’s 2017 order in relation to its standing
was wrongly decided and ought to be rescinded.
Is rescission of this
Court’s 2017 order properly before this Court?
[26]
To understand whether SARDA has properly sought rescission, it is
necessary to outline
the nature of the application before us.
In this Court, SARDA seeks direct leave to appeal against the
Land Court’s
2024 order. At no point has SARDA
brought an application for rescission of this Court’s 2017
order. At the hearing
of this matter, SARDA’s legal
representative accepted that no rescission application in respect of
the 2017 order had
been brought and that SARDA ought to have
brought such an application for this Court to be in a position to
properly consider rescission.
What SARDA effectively asks of
this Court is to rescind its previous order without seeking any
relief to that effect.
This simply cannot be countenanced.
[27]
Legal certainty and
finality are fundamental to the protection of the rule of law.
[22]
This Court has emphasised that it “has to be especially
cautious as far as adherence to or deviation from its own previous
decisions is concerned” and that it “must not easily and
without coherent and compelling reason deviate from its own
previous
decisions, or be seen to have done so”.
[23]
In
Zuma
,
[24]
this Court held:
“
Like
all things in life, like the best of times and the worst of times,
litigation must, at some point, come to an end. The
Constitutional Court, as the highest court in the Republic, is
constitutionally enjoined to act as the final arbiter in litigation.
This role must not be misunderstood, mischaracterised, nor taken
lightly, for the principles of legal certainty and finality of
judgments are the oxygen without which the rule of law languishes,
suffocates and perishes.”
[25]
Does SARDA have
standing in the appeal?
[28]
Given the final nature of
this Court’s 2017 order and given that no proper application
for rescission serves before this Court,
I share the sentiments of
the lower court that it is both “puzzling and somewhat
troubling”
[26]
that
SARDA considered itself entitled to bring these proceedings. In
2017, this Court found that SARDA “misconceived
the extent of
its interest” by seeking to involve itself in the Sadien
family’s land claim.
[27]
The application before us today extends beyond a mere misconception
on the part of SARDA; it extends to what can only be
viewed as a
refusal to accept the extent of its interest and a disregard of this
Court’s 2017 order.
[29]
In terms of this Court’s 2017 judgment, SARDA has no interest
in the Sadien
family’s land claim and transfer of the land
other than to secure just and equitable compensation. Not only
was the
lower court bound by this Court’s 2017 finding, so was
SARDA. I find that SARDA lacked standing to oppose the
intervention
application in the Land Court, lacked standing to
bring a counter-application and, finally, lacks standing to bring
this appeal.
Jurisdiction
[30]
The conclusion I have reached on standing makes it unnecessary to
address whether
this matter engages the jurisdiction of this Court.
SARDA is not entitled to approach a court on this issue. In the
circumstances, the question whether this Court has the power to
adjudicate upon and dispose of the matter does not arise.
Merits
[31]
In the absence of
standing, this Court “should, as a general rule, dispose of the
matter without entering the merits”.
[28]
I am alive to the caution expressed by this Court in
Giant
Concerts
that
“the interests of justice under the Constitution may require
courts to be hesitant to dispose of cases on standing alone
where
broader concerns of accountability and responsiveness may require
investigation and determination of the merits”.
[29]
This is simply not one of those instances. In making the
finding that SARDA lacks standing, I accept that the rules
of
standing should not be used formalistically to avoid fulfilling this
Court’s important function.
[30]
However, I do not understand this caution to mean that there are
never instances where a matter may be disposed of on standing
alone.
In fact, in this matter, the interests of justice cry out for
finality and respect for this Court’s 2017 order
which
already determined SARDA’s standing.
[32]
In conclusion and in
urging a resolution of this long outstanding matter, I raise its
importance in the broader context of restitution
within which this
dispute is located. Restitution is the means for the state, and
society at large, to begin to address and
rectify the injustices of
the past which in many respects are still pervasive more than 30
years into our democracy. The
restitution programme has faced
many challenges and the constitutional promise of restitution remains
unfulfilled for many claimants.
[31]
Against this background, this Court must stand fast in its commitment
to restitution’s potential to transform South
African society.
This Court is obliged “to advance the declared purpose of the
Restitution Act, which is to provide
restitution and equitable
redress to as many victims of racial dispossession of land rights
after 1913 as possible”.
[32]
[33]
Addressing past
injustices and providing equitable redress inherently requires
finality. The importance of finality in restitution
proceedings
is mirrored in section 11(7) of the Act.
[33]
It is not for lawful occupiers of state-owned land to continually
obstruct the restitution process through unending litigation
surrounding restitution claims. Unwarranted delays in the
restitution process are antithetical to both the restitution
programme
and the constitutional right to restitution enshrined in
section 25(7) of the Constitution.
[34]
The Sadien brothers were dispossessed of their land in 1963 and, over
60 years
later and 13 years after the original restitution
award, the Sadien family still has not been able to regain possession
of
that which is owed to them. Through repeated legal
challenges and the disregard for this Court’s 2017 judgment,
SARDA
has furthered the delay in the finalisation of this long
outstanding claim for restitution. The Sadien family has waited
long enough to receive the right in land to which they are legally
entitled. SARDA’s continuous attempts to challenge
the
2013 order, though it has been settled for over eight years,
cannot be overlooked in light of the injustice faced
by the Sadien
family and the significance of restitution.
Costs
[35]
The
awarding of costs remains within the discretion of the Court.
The general rule is that the successful party should be
awarded their
costs.
[34]
The
respondents have requested that, even if the
Biowatch
principle
[35]
were to apply, this Court depart from it and make an appropriate
costs order against SARDA, owing to SARDA’s conduct in delaying
the restitution process through protracted litigation processes.
[36]
The
Biowatch
principle
provides that costs should not be ordered against a party where a
party seeks to enforce fundamental constitutional rights
against the
state. The important reason underpinning this principle is that
“one should be cautious in awarding costs
against litigants who
seek to enforce their constitutional right against the state . . .
lest such orders have an
unduly inhibiting or ‘chilling’
effect on other potential litigants in this category”.
[36]
Thus,
in
constitutional litigation against the state, even an unsuccessful
private litigant is spared costs, unless the application is
frivolous
or vexatious.
[37]
The
application of the
Biowatch
principle is not
unqualified. If the application is frivolous or vexatious, or
in any other way manifestly inappropriate,
it will be treated as an
ordinary civil case.
[37]
In light of this Court’s
finding that SARDA has disregarded its previous order and prolonged
the restitution process by intervening
in processes where it lacks
standing, this Court finds no reason why SARDA falls within a
category protected by the
Biowatch
principle. No
fundamental constitutional right against the state was sought to be
enforced in these proceedings. Even
if SARDA were to fall
within the protective realm of
Biowatch
,
I find that this is a suitable case for departure from the
principle.
[38]
What
SARDA impermissibly seeks to do is to re-litigate an issue which has
been finally disposed of, and even then its attempt
to do so is so
procedurally inept and devoid of merit that it must be removed from
the shield of
Biowatch
protection.
Accordingly, the ordinary principles of costs would apply.
However, this Court recognises that SARDA is
a non-profit
organisation which does important work to assist the disability
community. In light of this, this Court will
exercise its
discretion and direct that the applicant pay the respondents’
costs in this Court, but not the costs of two
counsel as requested by
the first respondent.
Conclusion
[38]
In the circumstances, I conclude that SARDA had no standing to
institute these proceedings.
The result, therefore, is that the
appeal must fail.
Order
[39]
The following order is made:
1.
Leave to appeal directly to this Court is refused with costs.
For the Applicant:
M Wagener,
Attorney with right of appearance
For the First
Respondent:
D J Jacobs SC
and L J Krige instructed by Office of the State
Attorney, Cape Town
For the Second to
Sixth Respondents:
B Joseph SC
and Y Abass instructed by Ighsaan Sadien Attorneys
[1]
77 of 1957.
[2]
Proc R34 GG 6626 of 10 February 1961. This declared many
portions of Cape Town to be “white group areas”.
[3]
SARDA originally had a 20-year lease, followed by many one-year
leases. These erven are the property of the National
Government and were transferred from the Western Cape Government in
2009. SARDA has not had a formal lease with the National
Government since the change in ownership.
[4]
SA
Riding for the Disabled Association v Regional Land Claims
Commissioner
[2017]
ZACC 4
;
2017 (5) SA 1
(CC);
2017 (8) BCLR 1053
(CC) (2017 CC
judgment).
[5]
22 of 1994.
[6]
This was in terms of the Land Court Act 6 of 2023, which came into
operation on 5 April 2024.
[7]
Hoexter
and Penfold
Administrative
Law in South Africa
3
ed (Juta & Co Ltd, Cape Town 2021) at 659.
[8]
Sandton
Civic Precinct (Pty) Ltd v City of Johannesburg
[2008]
ZASCA 104
;
2009
(1) SA 317
(SCA) at para 19. See also
Gross
v Pentz
[1996]
ZASCA 78
;
1996 (4) SA 617
(A) at 632C.
[9]
Tulip
Diamonds FZE v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development
[2013]
ZACC 19
;
2013 (2) SACR 443
(CC);
2013 (10) BCLR 1180
(CC) (
Tulip
)
at para 1.
[10]
Giant
Concerts
CC
v Rinaldo Investments (Pty) Ltd
[2012]
ZACC 28
;
2013 (3) BCLR 251
(CC) (
Giant Concerts
)
at para 41(e).
[11]
Id
at paras 32-3;
Areva
NP Incorporated in France v Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd
[2016]
ZACC 51
;
2017 (6) SA 621
(CC);
2017 (6) BCLR 675
(CC) (
Areva
NP
)
at para 41; and Hoexter and Penfold above n 7
at 659.
[12]
Mars
Incorporated v Candy World (Pty) Ltd
[1990]
ZASCA 149
;
1991 (1) SA 567
(A) at 575H.
[13]
Tulip
above
n 9
at
para 27.
[14]
Id.
[15]
South
Cape Corporation (Pty) Ltd v Engineering Management Services (Pty)
Ltd
1977
(3) SA 534 (A).
[16]
Id
at 549G.
[17]
Pretoria
Garrison Institutes v Danish Variety Products (Pty) Ltd
1948
(1) SA 839 (A).
[18]
Id
at 870.
[19]
Albutt
v Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
[2010]
ZACC 4
;
2010 (3) SA 293
(CC);
2010 (5) BCLR 391
(CC) at para 25,
quoting
South
African Motor Industry Employers’ Association v South African
Bank of Athens Ltd
[1980]
ZASCA 27
;
1980 (3) SA 91
(A) at 96H.
[20]
2017
CC judgment above n
4
at
para 18.
[21]
Id
at para 17.
[22]
See
Molaudzi
v
S
[2015]
ZACC 20
;
2015 (2) SACR 341
(CC);
2015 (8) BCLR 904
(CC) at para 37.
[23]
Gcaba
v
Minister for Safety and Security
[2009]
ZACC 26
;
2010 (1) BCLR 35
(CC);
2010 (1) SA 238
(CC) at para 62.
[24]
Zuma
v Secretary of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations
of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector
Including Organs of State
[2021]
ZACC 28; 2021 (11) BCLR 1263 (CC).
[25]
Id
at para 1.
[26]
Sadien
N.O. v Sadien
[2024]
ZALCC 38
at para 6.
[27]
2017 CC judgment above n 4 at para 19.
[28]
Areva
NP
above
n 11
at
para 41.
[29]
Giant
Concerts
above
n 10 at para 34.
[30]
Hoexter
and Penfold above n 7
at 662.
[31]
On the nature of these challenges
see
Speaker,
National Assembly v Land Access Movement of South Africa
[2019]
ZACC 10
;
2019 (5) BCLR 619
(CC);
2019 (6) SA 568
(CC) at para 66
and Pienaar
Land
Reform
(Juta
& Co Ltd, Cape Town 2014) at 641-58.
[32]
Salem
Party Club v Salem Community
[2017]
ZACC 46
;
2018 (3) SA 1
(CC);
2018 (3) BCLR 342
(CC) at para 71.
[33]
Section 11(
7)
provides that—
“
[o]nce
a notice has been published [in the
Gazette
]
in respect of any land—
(a)
no person may in an improper manner obstruct the passage of the
claim.”
[34]
Ferreira
v Levin N.O.; Vryenhoek v Powell N.O.
[1995]
ZACC 13
;
1996 (1) BCLR 1
(CC);
1996 (1) SA 984
(CC) at para 155.
[35]
Biowatch
Trust v Registrar, Genetic Resources
[2009]
ZACC 14; 2009 (6) SA 232 (CC); 2009 (10) BCLR 1014 (CC).
[36]
Motsepe
v Commissioner for Inland Revenue
[1997]
ZACC 3
;
1997 (2) SA 898
(CC);
1997 (6) BCLR 692
(CC) at para 30.
[37]
Biowatch
above
n `35 at para 24.
[38]
See
Lawyers
for Human Rights v Minister in the Presidency
[2016] ZACC 45
;
2017 (1)
SA 645
(CC);
2017 (4) BCLR 445
(CC) at para 18:
“
This,
of course, does not mean risk-free constitutional litigation.
The court, in its discretion, might order costs . .
. if the
constitutional grounds of attack are frivolous or vexatious, or if
the litigant has acted from improper motives or there
are other
circumstances that make it in the interests of justice to order
costs.”
sino noindex
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