Case Law[2024] ZASCA 161South Africa
Fono and Another v Port St Johns Municipality (1271/2022) [2024] ZASCA 161 (22 November 2024)
Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa
22 November 2024
Headnotes
Summary: Constitutional and Administrative Law – constitutionality of legislation – the Minister responsible for the administration of the National Building Regulations and Standards Act 103 of 1977 not cited – finding of the full court regarding the constitutionality of the Justice Laws Rationalisation Act 18 of 1996 ineffectual – non-compliance with Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013 (the SPLUMA) – courts have a discretion whether to grant demolition orders – courts may issue directives for preventative or remedial steps in terms of s 32 of the SPLUMA – the discretion must be exercised judiciously.
Judgment
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## Fono and Another v Port St Johns Municipality (1271/2022) [2024] ZASCA 161 (22 November 2024)
Fono and Another v Port St Johns Municipality (1271/2022) [2024] ZASCA 161 (22 November 2024)
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sino date 22 November 2024
SAFLII
Note:
Certain
personal/private details of parties or witnesses have been
redacted from this document in compliance with the law
and
SAFLII
Policy
FLYNOTES:
MUNICIPALITY – Building
plans –
Non-compliance
–
Courts
have a discretion whether to grant demolition orders –
Courts may issue directives for preventative or remedial
steps in
terms of section 32 of SPLUMA – Discretion must be exercised
judiciously – Fundamental problems with
manner full court
dealt with applicability of Act – Appeal upheld in part –
Mr Fono must be afforded an opportunity
to remedy the breach –
National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act 103 of
1977 –
Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act 16 of
2013
.
THE SUPREME COURT OF
APPEAL OF SOUTH AFRICA
JUDGMENT
Reportable
Case
no: 1271/2022
In the matter between:
LUXOLO
FONO
FIRST APPELLANT
CAGUBA TRIBAL
AUTHORITY
SECOND APPELLANT
and
PORT ST JOHNS
MUNICIPALITY
RESPONDENT
Neutral
Citation:
Fono and Another v Port St
Johns Municipality
(1271/2022)
[2024]
ZASCA 161
(22 November 2024)
Coram:
MOCUMIE, MABINDLA-BOQWANA and SMITH JJA
and MJALI and MANTAME AJJA
Heard:
5 September 2024
Delivered:
22 November 2024
Summary:
Constitutional and Administrative Law –
constitutionality of legislation – the Minister responsible for
the administration
of the National Building Regulations and Standards
Act 103 of 1977 not cited – finding of the full court regarding
the constitutionality
of the
Justice Laws Rationalisation Act 18
of 1996
ineffectual – non-compliance with Spatial Planning and
Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013 (the SPLUMA) – courts have
a
discretion whether to grant demolition orders – courts may
issue directives for preventative or remedial steps in terms
of s 32
of the SPLUMA – the discretion must be exercised judiciously.
### ORDER
ORDER
On
appeal from
: Eastern Cape Division of
the High Court, Mthatha (Pakati, Stretch JJ and Qitsi AJ, sitting as
court of appeal):
1
The appeal is upheld in part.
2
The order of the full court is set aside and
substituted with the following order:
‘
(a)
The appeal is upheld with each party to pay their own costs.
(b)
The order
of
the court of first instance under case number 4056/2018 is set aside
and replaced by the following order:
‘‘
(i)
The conduct of the first respondent in continuing with the
construction of buildings and/or commencing with the erection of
new
structures on Erf 7[...], Port St Johns, without the applicant’s
required approval, is declared unlawful.
(ii) The first respondent
is interdicted from continuing with the construction of buildings
and/or commencing with the erection
of new structures on the
property, without complying with
s 33(1)
of the
Spatial Planning and
Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013
.
(iii) The applicant is
ordered to provide the first respondent with the requirements for the
submission of building plans (and subsequent
approval thereof), in
writing, within 30 (thirty) days of this order.
(iv) The first respondent
is ordered to comply with such requirements within three (3) months
of the provision thereof.”
3
Save as aforesaid, the appeal is dismissed.
4
Each party is ordered to pay their own costs of this appeal.
JUDGMENT
Mantame
AJA (Mocumie, Mabindla-Boqwana and Smith JJA and Mjali AJA
concurring):
Introduction
[1]
This is an appeal against the whole judgment and
order of the full court of the Eastern Cape Division of the High
Court, Mthatha
(the full court). The full court, sitting as
a court of appeal, upheld the appeal against the whole judgment and
order of
the high court, per Coltman J, sitting as a court of first
instance, and,
inter alia
,
declared unlawful and set aside the conduct of the first appellant,
Mr Luxolo Fono (Mr Fono), in constructing a building
without
approved building plans, and ordered him to demolish the building.
The appellants appeal against that order with the special
leave of
this Court.
[2]
The second appellant is the Caguba Tribal
Authority (the tribal authority). The respondent is the Port St Johns
Local Municipality
(the municipality). The Caguba Community Property
Association (the Caguba Community) and Minister of Cooperative
Governance and
Traditional Affairs, who were cited in the high
court
as the second and fourth respondents,
respectively, did not participate in the appeal.
[3]
Before getting into the merits of the appeal, I
must first deal with the preliminary jurisdictional issue of the
appeal having lapsed,
because it was prosecuted out of time. For this
reason, Mr Fono sought condonation for the late lodging of the
appeal record
and the reinstatement of the appeal.
Condonation
[4]
It is trite that an applicant who seeks
condonation for the late prosecution of his or her appeal must
satisfy the court of:
(a)
The nature of the relief sought – which is condonation
for the
late filing of the appeal record and reinstatement of the appeal;
(b)
The extent and cause of the delay;
(c)
The effect of the delay;
(d)
The reasonableness of the explanation;
(e)
The importance of the issue; and
(f)
The prospects of success.
[5]
It is common cause that the appeal was not lodged
timeously. Mr Fono
made
an application for the late prosecution and re-instatement of the
appeal. In their heads of argument, and before this Court,
counsel
for Mr Fono stated that the delay was as a result of, among others,
problems with the transcription of the record, the
late discovery of
missing pages, and having to change counsel. He highlighted the
reasonable prospects of success. These applications
were not opposed
by the municipality. Consequently, an order re-instating the appeal
was granted. This was the case with the municipality
as well, which
had filed its heads of argument out of time. Mr Fono had no objection
with this Court granting the municipality
the condonation sought.
Consequently, an order condoning the late filing of the heads of
arguments was granted in their favour. The
appeal proceeded on
that basis.
Factual matrix
[6]
Port St Johns is a small rural, tourist town
nestled in the Wild Coast, Eastern Cape. The Caguba Community
Property Association
acquired land in this picturesque coastal strip
of land, pursuant to a land claim lodged by it in accordance with the
relevant
provisions of the
Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994
.
On 3 February 2008, the Regional Land Claims Commission, the Port St
Johns Municipality and the Caguba Community entered into
a written
settlement agreement which transferred a portion of land to various
stakeholders. The Caguba Community benefitted from
this award. Even
though there was no formal transfer of the land from the Minister of
Rural Development and Land Reform to the
Caguba Community, it is not
disputed that the land on which Mr Fono commenced with the
construction of a tourist facility,
being Erf 7[...] Port St Johns,
Eastern Cape (the property), belongs to that community.
[7]
It was common cause that Mr Fono commenced
building operations without any approved building plans. According to
a municipal official,
Ms Lonwabo Zide (Ms Zide), she and other
municipal functionaries visited the property on 20 August 2018 and
established that
a building was being erected without approved
building plans. She thereafter issued Mr Fono with a letter informing
him that he
was in breach of municipal town planning and building
by-laws, the provisions of the National Building Regulations and
Building
Standards Act 103 of 1977 (the Building Standards Act) and
the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013 (the
SPLUMA).
She consequently demanded that he cease building operations
immediately. Although Mr Fono had undertaken to comply with the
demand,
she subsequently discovered (on 22 August 2018) that he had
nevertheless proceeded with the construction. The municipality was
accordingly forced to launch an urgent application in the high court
for appropriate relief.
[8]
Mr Fono denied that he undertook to stop the
building project, as alleged by Ms Zide. He claimed that he was not
on site either
on 20 or 22 August 2018 but was in Mthatha. He had no
idea who Ms Zide communicated with, but was certain it could not have
been
with him. However, nothing really turns on this issue since Mr
Fono confirmed that after the urgent application was served on him
and having obtained legal advice, he gave instructions for the
construction to cease.
[9]
In his answering affidavit, Mr Fono gave an
undertaking to ‘instruct an architect or draughtsman to draw up
plans for the
structures that are under construction’, for
submission to the relevant authorities, should that be required. He
contended
that he was unaware that he had to comply with municipal
town planning requirements. He said that he had proceeded with the
building
operations on the assumption that he complied with the
requirements of the traditional authority, which did not ask for
building
plans.
In the court of first
instance
[10]
On 24 August 2018, the municipality applied on an urgent basis to the
Eastern Cape Division
of the High Court, Mthatha for an order:
(a)
declaring Mr Fono’s construction of a building on Erf 7[...]
Port St Johns, without the
required approval by the municipality to
be unlawful;
(b)
interdicting Mr Fono from carrying on with the construction of the
building until he has complied with
the applicable municipal laws and
regulations;
(c)
compelling Mr Fono to demolish the building; and
(d)
In the event of Mr Fono failing to demolish the building, that the
municipality, be authorised to demolish
it.
[11]
The municipality contended that:
(a
)
Mr Fono constructed the building on land falling within the
jurisdiction of the municipality without
approved building plans by
the municipality;
(b)
Mr Fono’s conduct was in contravention of the Building
Standards Act; and
(c)
Mr Fono’s conduct contravened the SPLUMA and the municipality’s
building control and
land use by-laws.
[12]
In his answering
affidavit, Mr Fono raised several points
in
limine
.
First, he contended that the Building Standards Act is not applicable
in the area that used to fall within the territory of the
erstwhile
Republic of Transkei. Second, that despite the former Transkei’s
incorporation into the Republic of South Africa,
pursuant to the
repeal
of
the Transkei Act 100 of 1976,
[1]
the Building Standards Act was not included in the schedule of
statutes that were made applicable in the territory of the former
Transkei in terms of the Justice Laws Rationalisation Act 18 of 1996
(the Rationalisation Act). The Rationalisation Act was enacted
to
streamline, rationalise or consolidate certain statutes mentioned in
Schedule I of that Act. The fact that the Building Standards
Act was
not included within the scope of the Schedule means that it does not
apply in the territory of the former Transkei, or
so the argument
went.
[13]
Third
,
the municipality’s contention that he was in
contravention of SPLUMA is unsustainable, since the Municipality
failed to provide
any detail regarding how that statute had been
contravened. In this regard, Mr Fono contended that the municipality,
both in its
compliance notice and court papers, failed to state on
which provisions of the SPLUMA it relied.
[14]
Fourth, Mr Fono asserted that he had obtained the permission of the
tribal authority to
occupy the property and to build a guest house
and tourist accommodation on it. This authority was granted by way of
lease, which
he had concluded with the tribal authority. The agreed
rental was R500 per annum, for a period of 75 years. In view of the
above,
Mr Fono argued that the municipality had no right to
impose and enforce the municipal laws in relation to the property in
question.
[15]
Fifth, the municipality alleged that Mr Fono had contravened its
by-laws, without providing
any detail regarding the relevant
provisions that he was alleged to have contravened. He had perused
numerous by-laws on the municipality’s
website
and none related to the regulation of building plans or
approval of developments. It must therefore be assumed that the
municipality
never promulgated such by-laws.
[16]
Sixth, Mr Fono contended that, in any event, such by-laws, if any,
would
not apply to the property, since
it did not fall within the jurisdiction of the municipality, but
rather under the traditional authority.
He contended that in the
former Transkei, traditional legal systems have been in existence
since time immemorial. The property
falls directly within the
jurisdiction of a tribal authority and would therefore be subject to
the traditional legal system. The
approval for the construction,
which he obtained from the tribal authority, consequently sufficed to
legitimise the construction
of the buildings.
[17]
Mr Fono also asserted that the balance of convenience was in his
favour. He had spent R80 000
on the construction project and,
should demolition be ordered, he would
suffer
catastrophic loss. He maintained that the structure was, in any
event
,
sound and complied with relevant
building standards, as far as they may be applicable. He was
confident that this assertion would
be confirmed by a building
inspector or engineer, who he agreed may be dispatched to ‘inspect
the property and render an
account on a professional level as to the
standard of the building work’. The order sought by the
municipality would be unfair
and prejudicial to him. Instead, he
should be allowed an opportunity to engage the relevant professionals
and thereafter to submit
the required building plans to the relevant
authorities for approval.
[18]
The court of first instance dismissed the application, upholding the
contention that the
Building Standards Act was not applicable in the
territory of the former Transkei. It also found that the municipality
was unable
to prove that Mr Fono had contravened the provisions of
either its by-laws or the SPLUMA.
In the full court
[19]
In upholding the municipality’s appeal, the full court
concluded that the court
of first
instance
made two fundamental errors in
dismissing the municipality’s application for an interdict.
First, in finding that the Building
Standards Act did not apply to
the property and second, in finding that Mr Fono did not contravene
the provisions of the SPLUMA.
[20]
According to the full
court, the court of first instance erred in finding that since the
Building Standards Act came into effect
on 1 September 1985, after
the formation of the ‘independent’ homeland of Transkei,
it did not apply to property situated
in the territory of the former
Transkei homeland. The full court was of the view that this finding
is inconsistent with the ratio
expressed by this Court in
Lester
v Ndlambe Municipality
(
Lester
)
[2]
and in
Walele
v The City of Cape Town
,
[3]
where the Constitutional Court emphasised that the Building Standards
Act must be interpreted to promote the spirit and purport
of the Bill
of Rights in order to protect the property rights of landowners and
occupiers of neighbouring properties.
[4]
The full court referred to
Herbert
N.O. and Others v Senqu Municipality and Others
(
Herbert
),
[5]
where the Constitutional Court commented that:
‘
Evidently
the partial extension of the Upgrading Act perpetuated the unequal
protection and benefit of the Act on victims of discriminatory
laws
of the apartheid era. This unequal treatment [not only] applied
between people who . . . were forced to live in the homelands
. . .
[b]ut all those who held rights governed [by different sections of
the Upgrading Act].’
[6]
[21]
In essence, in upholding the appeal, the full court equated the
impermissible differentiation
caused by the statute under
consideration in
Herbert,
namely, the
Land Affairs General
Amendment Act 61 of 1998
, to the consequences which would result from
a finding that the Building Standards Act does not apply in the
territory of the former
Transkei. It reasoned that ‘in both
instances, people who resided in the territory of the former Transkei
homelands were
denied the equal protection and benefit of the law for
no reason other than the fact that they were living in these former
homelands’.
As a result, it found that ‘[t]he principle
in
Herbert
, that this type of differentiation is irrational
and unconstitutional’, was equally applicable in this matter.
[22]
In addition, the full court reasoned that the finding of the court of
first instance ‘renders
the Rationalisation Act
unconstitutional, in that it results in the [Building] Standards Act
discriminating against persons who
reside in areas such as the former
Transkei, by denying them the protection and the benefits [ordinarily
afforded] by the [Building]
Standards Act’. It consequently
found that the Building Standards Act applies to the property even
though it is within the
territory of the former Transkei.
[23]
Finally, the full court found that there was no dispute that s 33(1)
of the SPLUMA
applied to Mr Fono, since he did not deny that he
failed to apply for permission for the erection of structures or
buildings as
required in terms of s 33(1) of the SPLUMA. It
therefore found that the court of first instance erred in finding to
the contrary.
The full court consequently upheld the appeal and set
aside the order of the court of first instance.
Discussion
[24]
In argument before us, Mr Fono abandoned most of the points
in
limine
raised in his answering affidavit. His counsel correctly
accepted that since the property is in the municipality’s area
of
jurisdiction, Mr Fono was required to apply for the approval of
the building plans, either in terms of the Building Standards Act
(provided it is found to apply to the property), the municipality’s
by-laws, if any, or the SPLUMA. He, however, persisted
with his
arguments that the Building Standards Act does not apply in the
territory that used to fall under the former Transkei
and that the
municipality failed to establish that it adopted the necessary
by-laws to regulate the approval of building plans
and related
matters. The municipality conceded that it failed to promulgate the
by-laws and nothing more needs to be said about
it.
[25]
There are fundamental problems with the manner in which the full
court dealt with the issue
of the applicability of the Building
Standards Act in the area where the property is situated. First, the
full court’s reliance
on
Lester
was misplaced. The
property in that case was not situated in the former Ciskei homeland,
as the court erroneously assumed, but
in Kenton-On-Sea, a town
situated in the Republic of South Africa. It was therefore common
cause that the Building Standards Act
applied to that property. The
judgment also only concerned the issue of the peremptory wording of s
21 of the Building Standards
Act in respect of demolition orders.
[26]
Second, while not
determining this issue, it is important to point out that there is a
general presumption that the omission of
a statute from a schedule of
laws that were made applicable in a particular territory or
jurisdiction is deliberate and not merely
as a result of a mistake on
the part of the legislature. In
Kaknis
v Absa Bank and Another
,
[7]
this Court held that ‘[i]t is a well-established principle of
statutory interpretation that the legislature must be taken
to be
aware of the nature and state of the law existing at the time when
legislation is passed’.
[8]
The effect of the full court’s judgment is to declare the
provisions of the Rationalisation Act unconstitutional, insofar
as
they fail to make the Building Standards Act applicable in the
territory of the former Transkei.
[27]
It is common cause that
the Minister of Economic Affairs, who is the Minister responsible for
the administration of the Building
Standards Act, was not given
notice that such relief would be sought.
[9]
In my view, the full court erred in deciding that issue without
affording the responsible Minister the opportunity to express his
or
her views. For all we know, there may well be good reasons why the
legislature has decided not to make the statute applicable
in the
area that used to fall under the Transkei homeland. The full court
was therefore not entitled to pronounce on the constitutionality
of
the Rationalisation Act.
[28]
Third, the full court erroneously assumed that the municipality had
promulgated by-laws
which regulate building plans and constructions.
It consequently interdicted Mr Fono from proceeding with the
construction of the
building, until such time as he had complied with
the applicable municipal by-laws and regulations. In the absence of
municipal
by-laws, it is obviously not possible for Mr Fono to comply
with the order.
[29]
Mr Fono’s counsel has correctly conceded that the municipality
was entitled to rely
on his non-compliance with the provisions of
s 33(1) of the SPLUMA. The building is intended for tourism
accommodation and,
accordingly, falls within the municipality’s
Spatial Development Framework Policy, which has been approved in
terms of the
SPLUMA.
[30]
His counsel, however, submitted that while the provisions of the
Building Standards Act
in relation to demolition orders are
peremptory, the court has greater discretion in terms of the SPLUMA
to consider other less
drastic remedies. He argued further that a
demolition order would be unduly harsh and draconian in the
circumstances of this case.
According to him, it would be fair to all
parties – and would adequately address the municipality’s
concern about safety
issues if Mr Fono were ordered to comply with s
33 of the SPLUMA.
[31]
The issue that falls for consideration in this appeal has therefore
resolved itself into
the narrow and discrete question as to whether
this Court should order the demolition of the building or,
alternatively, allow
Mr Fono an opportunity to comply with s 33 of
the SPLUMA, by directing appropriate preventative or remedial
measures in terms of
s 32(2)
(c)
.
[32]
The SPLUMA preamble recognises the fact that ‘many people in
South Africa continue
to live and work in places defined and
influenced by past spatial planning and land use laws and practices
which were based on
racial inequality, segregation and unsustainable
settlement patterns’. Section 24(2)
(c)
of the SPLUMA
provides that a land use scheme adopted in terms of subsection (1)
must:
‘
(c)
include
provisions that permit the incremental introduction of land use
management and regulation in areas under traditional leadership,
rural areas, informal settlements, slums and areas not previously
subject to a land scheme.’
[33]
Mr Fono’s counsel, while accepting that Mr Fono contravened the
SPLUMA, submitted
that the interest of justice demand that this Court
should allow for the incremental introduction of land use management
and regulations,
and should therefore be loath to order the
demolition of the property. At worst, the development should be
stopped until the land
development application has been submitted. In
any event, Mr Fono, in his answering affidavit, undertook not to
develop the
property further pending the finalisation of this matter
and further appealed to the Court for an opportunity to submit
building
plans or documents that were required in terms of any law,
since he had laboured under the impression that the property is under
traditional authority. In addition, s 33 of the SPLUMA does not
expressly provide for a demolition order in the event of
land being
developed without a ‘land development application’. An
administrative penalty would consequently be more
appropriate, so he
argued.
[34]
Mr Fono appeared to have been under the erroneous impression that,
regard being had to
the traditional legal system, he had
substantially complied with applicable laws relating to the use of
land, construction and
management of buildings in the territory of
the former Transkei. In this regard he relied on the affidavit filed
by Chief Afrika
Mandla Fono, confirming that Mr Fono has acted in
accordance with customary law. In the circumstances, it was submitted
that it
would be ‘unreasonable, unfair and disproportionate’
to order demolition of the structures.
[35]
Constitutional proportionality, according to Mr Fono, was said to be
an issue that should
have been considered by the full court. This
approach was said to be important, more especially that there appears
to be a conflict
between the traditional and municipal legal systems.
It was contended that the reality of land use in rural areas of the
former
Transkei has always been left to be administered by the tribal
authority. This Court was implored to take into consideration this
constitutional imperative.
[36]
As to the issue of an appropriate remedy, Mr Fono submitted that
immediately after the
urgent application was served on him, he
stopped with the construction. The construction is currently at an
advanced stage. If
demolition were to be ordered, he stands to lose a
considerable amount of money as the construction is currently at roof
level.
Mr Fono has tendered to instruct an architect or draughtsman
to draw up building plans for submission to the municipality. That
tender remains. In any event, the building is structurally sound and
there can be little doubt that it complies with whatever building
standards that may be applicable, so he said.
[37]
I agree with these submissions. The municipality’s reliance on
several judgments
of this Court regarding the extent of the court’s
discretion, if any, not to order the demolition of buildings in terms
of
s 21 of the Building Standards Act, is misplaced. The
jurisprudence relied upon by the municipality was developed in the
context
of the peremptory wording of s 21 of that Act. Section
32(2)
(c)
of the SPLUMA, on the other hand, grants this Court a
broader discretion. It allows a municipality, in the event of a
contravention
of its land use scheme, to apply for an interdict, a
demolition order or an order, ‘directing any other appropriate
preventative
or remedial measure’. There can accordingly be
little doubt that courts have wider discretion in respect of the type
of relief
they may grant in the event of non-compliance with s 33 of
the SPLUMA. That discretion, must of course, be exercised judiciously
and will depend on the facts of each case.
[38]
An important factor in considering whether a demolition order would
be appropriate in this
case is the fact that the municipality did not
exactly cover itself in glory in the manner in which it handled the
situation. First,
it purported to enforce non existing by-laws.
Second, it was unacceptably vague regarding the provisions of the
SPLUMA and it incorrectly
cited the Building Standards Act on which
it purportedly relied. And third, it failed to cite the Minister
responsible for the
administration of the Building Standards Act,
when he or she clearly had a substantial and direct interest in the
relief sought.
Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, Mr Fono has
offered to engage the relevant experts to enable him to prepare the
necessary
application and draw building plans for submission to the
municipality in compliance with the provisions of the SPLUMA. Mr
Fono’s
assertion that the building is structurally sound and
does not pose any safety risks can be verified by the municipality.
It is
therefore only fair that Mr Fono must be afforded an
opportunity to remedy the breach.
[39]
In terms of s 32 of the SPLUMA, a municipality is empowered to
appoint a municipal official
or any other person as an inspector to
investigate any non-compliance with its land use scheme. Section
32(5) vests extensive powers
in the duly appointed municipal official
or inspector. And in terms of s 32(11), such functionary may issue a
compliance notice,
in the prescribed form, to the person in charge of
the property. In my view, an order in these terms must be preferable
to a demolition
order. It will ensure that Mr Fono will only be
allowed to proceed with the construction after a duly appointed
official has inspected
the property, he has submitted the necessary
building plans for approval and has complied with any compliance
notice issued by
that official. Should he fail to comply, the
municipality will have the option of applying to a competent court
for a demolition
order, on the same papers, duly supplemented, if
necessary.
[40]
Regarding the issue of costs, I am of the view that it will only be
fair for the parties
to bear their own legal costs, both in the court
of first instance and on appeal. As I have explained above, the legal
position
regarding the applicable town planning and land use
legislation in the area where the building was being constructed was
by no
means clear. And the municipality has added to that confusion
by failing to promulgate the necessary by-laws and by being vague
and
ambivalent regarding which legislative provisions it relied on.
[41]
For these reasons, I make the following order:
1
The appeal is upheld in part.
2
The order of the full court is set aside and
substituted with the following order:
‘
(a)
The appeal is upheld with each party to pay their own costs.
(b)
The order
of
the court of first instance under case number 4056/2018 is set aside
and replaced by the following order:
‘‘
(i)
The conduct of the first respondent in continuing with the
construction of buildings and/or commencing with the erection of
new
structures on Erf 7[...], Port St Johns, without the applicant’s
required approval, is declared unlawful.
(ii) The first respondent
is interdicted from continuing with the construction of buildings
and/or commencing with the erection
of new structures on the
property, without complying with
s 33(1)
of the
Spatial Planning and
Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013
.
(iii) The applicant is
ordered to provide the first respondent with the requirements for the
submission of building plans (and subsequent
approval thereof), in
writing, within 30 (thirty) days of this order.
- The first respondent is
ordered to comply with such requirements within three (3) months of
the provision thereof.”
The first respondent is
ordered to comply with such requirements within three (3) months of
the provision thereof.”
3
Save as aforesaid, the appeal is dismissed.
4
Each party is ordered to pay their own costs of this appeal.
B P MANTAME
ACTING JUDGE OF APPEAL
Appearances
For
the appellants:
A R
Duminy
Instructed
by:
Khaya
Nondabula Attorneys, Mthatha
Rampai
Attorneys, Bloemfontein
For
the respondent:
L
Haskins
Instructed
by:
Mvuzo
Notyesi Inc, Mthatha
N.W.
Phalatsi & Partners, Bloemfontein
[1]
In
terms of
s 230(1)
of t
he
Interim
Constitution.
[2]
Lester v Ndlambe
Municipality
and
Another
[2013] ZASCA 95
;
[2014] 1 All SA 402
(SCA);
2015 (6) SA 283
(SCA).
[3]
Walele
v City of Cape Town Others
[2008]
ZACC 11
;
2008
(6)
SA 129 (CC);
2008 (11) BCLR 1067
(CC) (
Walele
).
See also:
Turnbull-Jackson
v Hibiscus Court Municipality and Others
[2014]
ZACC 24
;
2014 (6) SA 592
(CC);
2014 (11) BCLR 1310
(CC) para 73.
[4]
Walele
para 55.
[5]
Herbert
N.O. and Others v Senqu Municipality and Others
[2019]
ZACC 31; 2019 (11) BCLR 1343 (CC); 2019 (6) SA 231 (CC).
[6]
Ibid
paras 28 and 30.
[7]
Kaknis
v Absa Bank Limited, Kaknis v Man Financial Services SA (Pty) Ltd
and Another
[2016] ZASCA
206; [2017] 2 All SA 1 (SCA); 2017 (4) SA 17 (SCA).
[8]
Ibid
para
26.
[9]
The Minister of Rural
Development and Land Reform was cited as the fourth respondent.
sino noindex
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