Case Law[2025] ZAGPJHC 807South Africa
Govindsamy and Another v Kganakga and Others (2025/088917) [2025] ZAGPJHC 807 (14 August 2025)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg)
14 August 2025
Judgment
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# South Africa: South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg
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## Govindsamy and Another v Kganakga and Others (2025/088917) [2025] ZAGPJHC 807 (14 August 2025)
Govindsamy and Another v Kganakga and Others (2025/088917) [2025] ZAGPJHC 807 (14 August 2025)
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sino date 14 August 2025
REPUBLIC
OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG
DIVISION, JOHANNESBURG
CASE
NUMBER: 2025-088917
1.REPORTABLE:
NO
2.OF
INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: NO
3.REVISED:
NO
14
AUGUST 2025
In
the matter between:
CHRISTINE
VEENA GOVINDSAMY
FIRST APPLICANT
KREETIV
COMMUNICATIONS CC
SECOND APPLICANT
and
MS.
MOLOGADI GERALDINE KGANAKGA
FIRST RESPONDENT
MR.
ERNEST PHEEHA KGANAKGA
SECOND RESPONDENT
BOB
CUTS HAIR SALON (PTY) LTD
THIRD RESPONDENT
JUDGMENT
Delivered:
This judgment was handed down electronically by circulation to
the parties’ legal representatives by e-mail and uploading it
onto the electronic platform. The date and time for hand-down is
deemed to be 10h00 on the 14th of AUGUST 2025.
DIPPENAAR
J
:
[1]
The facts in this urgent application
constitute a cautionary tale of abuse of process.
[2]
The first applicant, Ms Govindsamy is the
sole member of the second applicant, Kreetiv Communications CC
(‘Kreetiv’).
The first respondent is Mrs Kganakga, who is
the sole director of the third respondent, Bob Cuts Hair Salon (Pty)
Ltd (‘Bob
Cuts’). She is married in community of property
to the second respondent, Mr Kganakga.
[3]
This is the return day of an order granted
by an Acting Judge in the urgent court on 19 June 2025. Why the
application was entertained
in the urgent court and a
rule
nisi
was granted remains unclear. From
the record it does not appear that any reasons for the granting of
the order were provided. At
the time the
rule
nisi
was granted, the parties were
self-represented. The applicant is again self-represented on the
return date. The respondents obtained
legal representation on 14 July
2025 and are represented by an attorney and counsel.
[4]
It
is further unclear why the matter was again enrolled on an urgent
court roll.
[1]
The applicants
advanced no cogent reasons for the application to be heard on an
urgent basis and I would have been entitled to
strike the matter from
the roll for this reason. However, I was urged by the respondents to
entertain the matter. Considering the
facts, I am satisfied that the
application is urgent from the perspective of the respondents.
[5]
In relevant part, the order granted on 19
June 2025 provides as follows:
‘
A.
URGENCY AND PROCEDURE
1.
The application is heard as
urgent under Rule 6(12) of the Uniform Rules of Court.
2.
Non-compliance with ordinary time
periods, forms, and service rules is condoned.
B.
INTERIM RELIEF (IMMEDIATE EFFECT)
3.
Pending the return date in Prayer
D.1:
1.
Preservation Interdict (Rule 45):
Respondents
are restrained from selling, transferring, disposing of,
encumbering, or dealing with any assets in their
joint estate
(movable or secondary immovable property).
2.
Attachment Authority:
The
Sheriff is authorised to:
Attach
and take custody of all movable assets and secondary immovable
property of the Respondents;
Safeguard assets as
security for the judgment debt.
3.
Rule Nisi Operates as Interim
Order:
The rule nisi
in Prayer C.1 is interimly [sic] effective pending
the return date.
C.
RULE NISI (RETURNABLE ON 5 AUGUST 2025)
4.
Respondents
to show cause on 5 AUGUST 2025 at 10:00 why final orders should
not be granted:
1.
Execution Order (Rule 46):
Immediate
execution of the judgment debt (R1,856,362.94 + interest
of R866,220.49 + costs, Case No. 5772/2020) against:
Movable
assets and secondary immovable property of the Respondents;
Joint
estate of the First and Second Respondents
2.
Final Preservation Interdict
(Rule 45):
Finalisation
of the restraint in Prayer B.3.1 until full debt
settlement.
3.
Payment and Liability
Declarations:
The First
Applicant is entitled to R700,000 by virtue of the
cession (Annexure FA4);
The Second
Applicant is entitled to the balance of the debt;
Respondents
are jointly and severally liable for:
R700,000
(to First Applicant);
Balance
(to Second Applicant).
4.
Execution Pending Appeal (Section
18(3)):
Orders
in Prayer C.4.1 shall not be stayed by any appeal or
leave to appeal.
D.
DIRECTIONS AND RETURN DATE
5.
Return Date:
The
rule nisi is returnable on 5 August 2025 at 10:00.
6.
Filing Deadlines:
[2]
7.
Rule 46A Compliance:
The
Sheriff must submit a Rule 46A(2)(a) report on
executability of property by 30 JUNE 2025
.
E.
COSTS
8.
The cost for disbursements of this application (including reserved
disbursement costs) are reserved.’
[6]
The applicants presently seek the following
order:
‘
A.
CONFIRMATION OF RULE NISI & FINAL EXECUTION
1.
The
rule nisi issued on 18 June 2025 is confirmed to the extent set out
below.
2.
The
Applicants are authorised to execute the judgment under Case No.
2020/5772 (Johannesburg), including accrued interest and costs,
against the property of the First Respondent and against the joint
estate of the First and Second Respondents, jointly and severally,
the one paying the other to be absolved, subject to paragraphs 4–6
below.
B.
CESSION: PAYMENT DIRECTION
3.
The
cession of a portion of the judgment debt is noted and given effect
to:
5.1 The first R700,000.00 (seven hundred thousand rand) shall
be paid to the First Applicant;
5.2 All amounts recovered
thereafter shall be paid to the Second Applicant (Kreetiv
Communications CC);
C.
MODE OF EXECUTION & SAFEGUARDS (RULES 45/46/46A)
4.
The
Sheriff shall first execute against movable property, and may employ
Rule 45(12) procedures for attachment of debts.
5.
If
movable property is insufficient, the Sheriff may proceed against
immovable property other than the primary residence, subject
to Rule
46.
6.
The
primary residence of the Respondents is excluded from execution under
this order unless and until a further order is obtained
under Rule
46A.
D.
STAY PENDING RESCISSION / APPEAL
7.
The
operation and execution of this order shall not be suspended by any
application for leave to appeal or appeal in terms of
section 18(3)
of the
Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013
.
E.
COSTS
8.
The First and Second Respondents shall pay all disbursements relating
to this application, jointly and severally’
[7]
It
is immediately apparent that the relief, both as granted on 19 June
2025 and as sought in these proceedings is extensive and
far
reaching, lacks urgency and should not be determined in an urgent
court. In various respects the relief is unsubstantiated
on the
papers, either in law or in fact or both. Considering that the
applicants seek final relief, the
Plascon
Evans
[3]
principles must be applied. The respondents’ version must be
accepted. It is not palpably false or untenable. As illustrated
later, the applicants’ affidavits and the oral submissions made
at the hearing lack candour and in material respects do not
disclose
all the true facts.
[8]
The respondents contended that the
rule
nisi
should be discharged and the
application dismissed. They further sought the setting aside of the
attachments made by the Sheriff
pursuant to various writs of
execution issued by the applicants against the respondents’
movable and immovable assets and
a stay of execution pending the
finalisation of their intended rescission application against the
default judgment obtained by
the applicant.
[9]
The respondents advanced three points
in
limine
: First; that the applicants lack
locus standi
and that the default judgment underpinning the default judgment is a
nullity as Kreetiv is and was at the time deregistered.
Second;
that the addition of the first applicant as judgment creditor,
together with the joinder of the first and second respondents
as
judgment debtors is impermissible. Third;
lis
alibi pendens,
given that an earlier
urgent application launched by the applicant remains pending.
[10]
The respondents further seek condonation
for the late delivery of their answering affidavits. The present
application was launched
on 11 June 2025. According to the
respondents, the application was not served on them. However, it
appears that an email was sent
to the first and third respondents on
11 June 2025. They must have had notice of the application as the
first applicant appeared
in person at the hearing in the urgent
court. According to the respondents their answering papers were
delivered on 15 July 2025
but were erroneously filed under an earlier
urgent application launched by the applicants. The applicants did not
alert them to
the fact that those papers were delivered in the wrong
application. Answering papers were filed in the present application
on 29
July 2025, after the respondents discovered their error. It is
in the interests of justice to grant the condonation sought and to
hear the application on its full facts. The applicants are not
prejudiced in any way.
[11]
It is necessary to set out the relevant
facts in some detail. Underpinning the present legal proceedings is a
default judgment granted
by the registrar of this court under case
number 5771/2020 on 8 May 2025 in terms of r 31(5) in an amount of
R1 856 362,
94, together with interests and costs on an
attorney and client scale. The judgment was granted in favour of
Kreetiv against Bob
Cuts. At the time, Kreetiv was legally
represented. It was undisputed that Kreetiv’s claim was based
on a breach of contract
alternatively damages. Default judgment was
granted after the striking of Bob Cuts’ defence. Its
counterclaim in the action
remains pending. Significantly the
Kganakgas were not parties to the action. Neither was Ms Govindsamy.
[12]
That notwithstanding, the applicants have
embarked on no less than two urgent applications in order to levy
execution against not
only Bob Cuts, but also against the Kganakgas.
In these proceedings, Ms Govindsamy purports to represent both
applicants. She did
not seek legal representation. In her founding
affidavit, Ms Govindsamy baldly and falsely alleges that judgment was
granted jointly
and severally against Bob Cuts and Mrs Kganakga.
[13]
The first applicant, Ms Govindsamy, has
simply informally joined herself to proceedings aimed at execution of
a default judgment
in proceedings to which she was not a party,
whilst no formal order for her joinder was ever sought or granted. To
do so, she relies
on a ‘cession’ agreement, allegedly
concluded between herself and Kreetiv on 22 May 2025 in terms of
which R 700 000
of Kreetiv’s claim was ceded to Ms
Govindsamy in consideration for funding provided to Kreetiv. The
cession is underpinned
by a loan agreement concluded between Ms
Govindsamy and Kreetiv. Both agreements are signed by Ms Govindsamy
on behalf of the respective
parties.
[14]
On
5 June 2025, the applicants launched an urgent application under case
number 2025-084572, which was removed from the roll by
Raubenheimer
AJ to afford the applicants an opportunity to seek legal advice on
the issue of champerty
[4]
in
relation to the loan agreement and cession concluded between Ms
Govindsamy and Kreetiv, upon which she relies for her
locus
standi
.
It appears that the court thus had concerns regarding the validity of
the cession agreement and Ms Govindsamy’s
locus
standi
.
(It bears mentioning that those concerns remain in the present
application.) The respondents’ version was not gainsaid by
the
applicants under oath. The respondents invoked the
lis
pendens
doctrine and contend that this first urgent application remains
pending and that the current application deals with the selfsame
issues between the same parties based on the same cause of action
.
[15]
During argument, whilst not disputing that
the first urgent application was removed from the roll, the applicant
contended that
she had withdrawn that application. Thereafter, she
contended that she ‘abandoned’ it. No proof of such
withdrawal
was ever provided. The respondents had opposed that
application and delivered opposing papers. It is highly unlikely that
they
would have done so if the application had indeed been formally
withdrawn. Had the application been formally withdrawn in court,
this
would have been recorded in the court’s order. It was not.
There is thus no corroboration for Ms Govindsamy’s
version.
That version is inconsistent with the available facts.
[16]
Having
regard to the trite requirements of the doctrine of
lis
pendens,
they have been met as the parties and cause of action are the same
and the same remedy is being pursued.
[5]
It is thus open to this court to stay or dismiss the present
proceedings on this basis.
[6]
Once the necessary requirements have been established, it is presumed
that the second application is vexatious. Here, the applicants
have
not established any facts that disturb such presumption. It is within
a court’s powers to regulate its own procedures
and in the
course of doing so, to stay or dismiss proceedings in appropriate
circumstances.
[7]
In the present
circumstances, dismissal would be appropriate.
[17]
The applicants have even more fundamental
issues. I agree with the respondents’ complaints regarding how
Ms Govindsamy simply
informally added not only herself, but also the
first and second respondents as parties to the proceedings aimed at
execution of
the default judgment. The applicant made out no case for
the validity of the cession and loan agreements relied on for Ms
Govindsamy’s
locus standi
nor that they were concluded for a lawful and
bona
fide
purpose. The facts indicate the
opposite. Similarly, it was improper to simply add the first and
second respondents as parties to
the processes aimed at execution of
the default judgment. The process employed by Ms Govindsamy is
impermissible and unsustainable
at law. It smacks of
mala
fides.
The applicants cannot simply
circumvent relevant procedures for their own convenience. To do so
would constitute an abuse of process.
[18]
The challenge to the
locus
standi
of the applicants also has
merit. In their opposing papers, the respondents provided
documentary evidence in the form of a
Bizportal report dated 14 July
2025, emanating from a platform developed by CIPC. The document
reflects that Kreetiv was in the
process of deregistration on 29
August 2014 due to annual return non- compliance. The document
further reflects no further entry
of importance other than that on 16
November 2024, the status of a reinstatement application was reversed
to deregistration. According
to the report, Kreetiv’s current
status is ‘Deregistration final’.
[19]
In
argument, the respondents further relied on a judgment of Senyatsi J
in proceedings in this court in
Kreetiv
Communications CC v Harrington NO and Others
[8]
wherein it was held that Kreetiv had ceased operations in August 2020
and by February 2021, its net asset value was nil.
An
application for security for costs was granted on the basis that
Kreetiv’s claims were
mala
fide
,
vexatious and frivolous. This bolsters the respondents’ case
that the present application similarly, is vexatious and an
abuse.
[20]
From the available undisputed facts, the
following is relevant. The alleged loan agreement concluded between
Kreetiv and the Bob
Cuts which underpins the default judgment, was
concluded on 01 July 2019, at a time Kreetiv was deregistered. The
same position
endured during the litigation and when default judgment
was granted in Kreetiv’s favour. The same position pertains to
the
time the alleged loan and cession agreements in terms of which Ms
Govindsamy allegedly took cession of part of Kreetiv’s claim
against Bob Cuts, which was concluded on 22 May 2025. It was also the
position when the present application was launched and the
rule
nisi
was granted. The
locus
standi
of Kreetiv was thus properly
challenged.
[21]
The challenge to the first applicant’s
locus standi
similarly has merit. She is not a creditor of Bob Cuts in her own
right. Insofar as Kreetiv sought to transfer certain of its rights
in
the default judgment to Ms Govindsamy, Kreetiv, at the time a
deregistered entity, had no rights to transfer. The applicants
further made out no proper case for the validity of the cession or
loan agreement relied on which allegedly underpin Ms Govindsamy’s
locus standi
.
She could thus not validly be substituted or added as judgment
creditor in any enforcement proceedings of the default judgment
granted against the third respondent, leaving aside for the moment
the procedural irregularities in that approach and the fact
that no
court order was sought or granted to join her.
[22]
No evidence was placed before the court
that Kreetiv was in fact in existence at the time these contracts
were allegedly concluded.
It is trite that an applicant must make out
its case in its founding affidavit and cannot do so in reply.
Disturbingly, Ms Govindsamy
did not disclose the deregistration of
Kreetiv in any of the legal proceedings, a material non disclosure
which taints her veracity
and the validity of the legal proceedings
themselves.
[23]
The respondents’ challenge called for
a comprehensive reply by the applicants, requiring that the full
facts be put up pertaining
to Kreetiv and its status at all times
material to the events canvassed in the papers and in the legal
proceedings. That was not
forthcoming. Instead, in reply a one page
certificate from CIPC dated 23 July 2025 was provided, titled
‘Abridged certificate
for annual returns’ as constituting
‘proof that Kreetiv is in business’. The document simply
reflects Kreetiv‘s
status as ‘in business’. The
applicants elected not to put the full facts before the court but
baldly made the averment
‘
any
issue regarding Keetiv’s status has been cured and does not
prejudice the substance of this application’.
[24]
It is unclear whether the document provided
in reply is the complete document, nor was a comprehensive report
from CIPC placed before
the court. The applicants’ version
pertaining to the circumstances pertaining to Kreetiv’s
deregistration and what
transpired thereafter remains opaque and the
full facts are not addressed. No proper evidence was presented that
the deregistered
corporation Kreetiv, was indeed properly reinstated
and its deregistration voided. For purposes of the present
application, the
respondents’ version must be accepted.
[25]
Once
a company has been deregistered and removed from the company
register, it is dissolved.
[9]
The deregistration of Kreetiv put an end to the existence of the
entity and its legal personality ceased to exist.
[10]
The legal position pertaining to the reinstatement of deregistered
close corporations and its legal effect is regulated by the
Companies
Act 71 of 2008
.
[11]
It is not
for present purposes necessary to consider that issue in detail. It
may well have significant relevance in the respondents’
proposed rescission application of the default judgment and it is
best left to that court to determine the issue, lest it be prejudged
in the current application. Even if it ultimately transpires that
Kreetiv’s deregistration has been reversed and it has been
reinstated, that does not avail her.
[26]
Ms Govindsamy, as the sole member of
Kreetiv, would have had knowledge of its deregistration, but at no
stage during any of the
legal proceedings between the parties
disclosed this material fact. Ms Govindsamy pertinently did not
disclose the true facts to
the court, either in relation to the
default judgment or the subsequent proceedings which followed and the
various steps taken
by her. As she was legally represented, at least
at the time the default judgment was sought and granted, this fact
should have
been disclosed to her legal representatives. The true
facts were also not disclosed in this application. Such mendacious
conduct
on the part of Ms Govindsamy is destructive of her
bona
fides
in relation to the legal
proceedings between the parties, and specifically in relation to this
application.
[27]
Kreetiv’s deregistration further
means that at the time of launching the present application both the
applicants lacked
locus standi,
a
material fact that was not disclosed to the court
.
That of itself evidences that the
present application is an abuse. The deregistration of Kreetiv would
further be destructive
of the validity of the default judgment
granted in its favour on 8 May 2025 and all the execution steps taken
thereafter. It would
also mean that the ‘cession agreement’
of 22 May 2025 is invalid. Insofar as the loan and cession agreement
are concerned,
the arrangement between the applicants for the funding
of litigation in return for a share of the claim, appears dubious and
prima facie
concluded for an ulterior purpose. It may well be unlawful. It is not
necessary to finally determine that issue in the present
application.
It was not properly addressed by the parties, either in the papers or
in argument. Of relevance in the present context
is that this
supports the respondents’ contention that the present
application is an abuse of process.
[28]
Accepting
that Kreetiv did not exist at the time the default judgment was
granted and any subsequent execution processes were effected,
those
steps would constitute a nullity and cannot be enforced. A
deregistered legal entity does not, in the words of the
Constitutional
Court
[12]
‘enjoy a zombie afterlife’ to thwart the conclusion that
the applicant has not established that Kreetiv existed when
the
default judgment was granted, when execution was levied and when the
present proceedings were launched and the
rule
nisi
was granted.
[29]
The position for the applicants gets worse.
Not only did they impermissibly seek to enforce a judgment that was
patently invalid
at the time it was granted, they impermissibly
sought to add the first and second respondents, against whom no
judgment was obtained,
as judgment debtors for purposes of execution.
The first applicant’s averment that judgment was granted
jointly and severally
against the respondents is a patent falsehood.
[30]
Whether there may be any claim against the
first and second respondents is another matter. The applicants have
not established any
proper case for liability on their papers. The
procedure adopted in the present instance is impermissible. The
liability of a surety
is in any event ancillary to the principal
debt. Where that debt is invalid, no claim arises against the surety.
The ‘suretyship’
on which the applicants rely is in any
event dubious and it is doubtful whether it is in its terms compliant
with
s 6
of the general Law Amendment Act 50 of 1956 and enforceable.
It is not necessary for present purposes to finally determine that
issue. The fact remains that execution cannot be levied against a
party against whom no judgment exists. The applicants’
attempts
to obtain an order against the first and second respondents were
improper.
[31]
The respondents have further illustrated,
at the very least on a
prima facie
basis, prospects of success in the proposed rescission application
against the default judgment. As pointed out by the respondents,
a
registrar may only grant default judgment where the claim is for a
debt or liquidated demand. According to them, the main action
is
premised on an alleged breach of contract based on the impugned 2019
agreement allegedly concluded between Kreetiv and Bob Cuts
and in the
alternative damages is claimed. At the time the default
judgment was sought and granted, the applicant was legally
represented by Du Toit attorneys. Absent a liquidated claim, default
judgment should not have been granted. Those averments were
not
meaningfully disputed by the applicants. The respondent’s have
thus established a
prima facie
right to relief. They have further established a risk of irreparable
harm and that no suitable alternative remedy is available
to them.
Given the facts, the balance of convenience is clearly in their
favour.
[32]
I
am persuaded that the respondents have established the necessary
requirements to stay the warrants of execution issued and/or
executed
pursuant to the default judgment obtained under case number 2020/5772
and have established both grounds for interim interdictory
relief and
that such a stay is in the interests of justice.
[13]
The writs of execution which include the levying of execution against
the first and second respondents are patently improper and
unenforceable. Execution falls to be stayed in the interests of
justice. A court cannot and should not countenance a flagrant abuse
of its processes. On the present facts, the absence of a formal
counter application for a stay of the warrants does not change
that
position.
[33]
In reply, the applicants disclosed that
further attachments were made of three immovable properties of the
respondents pursuant
to writs issued under case number 2025-088917,
i.e. in the present application, in an amount of R 2 722 583.43.
Those
writs were executed against all three of the respondents in
this application and were served on 1 and 2 July 2025 respectively by
way of affixing. The first and second respondents are reflected as
execution debtors, together with the third respondent. For reasons
already provided this is irregular. Moreover, it constitutes a
further abuse of process, given that only a
rule
nisi
existed at the time the writs were
executed. The writs should not have been issued whilst the return
date of the
rule nisi
was pending and whilst the applicants were fully aware that the
application was being opposed by the respondents. Those writs fall
to
be set aside.
[34]
Ultimately, the very fact that the urgent
court was approached for the relief sought by the applicants
constitutes a further abuse
of process. The relief sought was not
urgent in nature and no case for urgency was cogently made out in the
papers as clearly required
by r 6(12). Whether the applicants
approached a congested urgent court in the hope that the application
papers would not be scrutinised
in great detail is a possibility,
although it remains a matter of speculation. Not so, that the
applicants did not take the court
into their confidence and did not
disclose all the relevant facts in their founding papers. That is a
matter of fact.
[35]
For all these reasons, the
rule
nisi
falls to be discharged and the
application should be dismissed. As previously stated, a court would
also have been entitled to
dismiss the proceedings based on the
lis
alibi pendens
doctrine. Given the
totality of the facts, the application must be dismissed for all the
reasons advanced, primarily on the basis
that it constitutes an abuse
of process.
[36]
There is further good cause why the
rule
nisi
should be discharged in its
totality. Much of the relief sought by the applicants is improper,
not legally sustainable and no proper
case for such relief is made
out on the papers, either factually or legally. The applicant’s
reliance on r 46 to execute
the default judgment against the
immovable and immovable property of the respondents is vexatious and
devoid of merit. The same
applies to the improper and unsubstantiated
application for relief in terms of
s 18(3)
of the
Superior Courts Act
10 of 2013
.
[37]
Although
Ms Govindsamy is presently self-represented, she is clearly not a
normal lay litigant. She is a sophisticated and intelligent
individual with substantial legal knowledge. She was able to advance
intricate legal arguments on a variety of issues at the hearing,
including on company law and the effects of deregistration of a close
corporation. On her version, she has a Master’s degree.
Having
previously been legally represented, she appears to have access to
legal representation when she desires it. Litigation
is not a
game where a party may seek tactical advantages by concealing facts
and occasioning unnecessary costs.
[14]
Whilst a matter of latitude must be afforded in relation to a lay
litigant’s pleadings, a litigant cannot hide behind the
status
of being self-represented to seek relief to which she is clearly not
entitled.
[38]
Given the facts, the various instances of
abuse particularised in this judgment and Ms Govindsamy’s
conduct in relation to
the litigation, a punitive costs order against
her is warranted. The application is in various respects vexatious
and the applicant
was not candid with the court in her affidavits or
oral submissions, wherein she distorted the truth on various
occasions. Given
that I must for present purposes accept the
respondents’ version that Kreetiv is deregistered, it would
serve no purpose
to grant any costs order against it.
[39]
It
would further be unjust for the respondents to be left out of
pocket
[15]
in opposing an
application which ultimately constitutes no more than a vexatious
abuse of process. In the present instance, the
applicant’s
behaviour in relation to the litigation is tainted by such turpitude
that a court should not come to her aid.
[16]
[40]
I grant the following order:
[1] Condonation is
granted for the late delivery of the respondents’ answering
affidavit;
[2] The rule nisi granted
on 19 June 2025 under case number 2025-088917 is discharged and the
application is dismissed;
[3] The writs of
execution issued under case number 2025-088917 against the first to
third respondents and any steps taken pursuant
thereto are set aside;
[4] The writs of
execution issued under case number 5772/2020 and any further
execution pursuant to the default judgment granted
by the Registrar
on 8 May 2025 under case number 5772/2020 are stayed pending the
final determination of a rescission application
to be launched by the
third respondent within 30 days of date of this order.
[5] The first applicant,
Ms Christine Veena Govindsamy, is directed to pay the costs of the
application on the scale as between
attorney and client.
EF
DIPPENAAR
JUDGE
OF THE HIGH COURT
GAUTENG
JOHANNESBURG
HEARING
DATE
OF HEARING
:
06 AUGUST 2025
DATE
OF JUDGMENT
:
14 AUGUST 2025
APPEARANCES
APPLICANT
:
Self represented
RESPONDENTS’
COUNSEL
:
Adv. Z. Matondo
RESPONDENTS’
ATTORNEYS
:
Mokgohloa Attorneys Inc.
[1]
T
he
applicant had also enrolled the application on the unopposed motion
roll but filed a notice of removal shortly before the hearing.
[2]
The dates provided are not relevant to the issues and have been
excluded.
[3]
Plascon
Evans Paints (Pty) Ltd v Van Riebeeck Paints (Pty) Ltd
[1984] ZASCA 51
;
1984 (3) SA 623
(A) at 634H-625C.
[4]
Champerty pertaining to litigation funding where a funder who is not
a party to the dispute or the litigation agrees to finance
the
litigation, in return for which the funder receives a share of the
litigation proceeds from the litigation proceeds if the
funded party
is successful in the litigation.
See
PriceWaterhouseCoopers Inc & Others v National Potato
Co-operative Ltd and Another
[2015] ZASCA 2
(4 March 2015)
para12, referring in fn 8
to PriceWaterhouseCoopers Inc &
Others v National Potato Co-operative Ltd and Another
2004 (6)
SA 66
(SCA).
[5]
A
copy of the founding papers in the first urgent application was
attached to the respondents’ answering papers.
[6]
Legend
Spunbond (Pty) Ltd v Nefdt and Another
[2025]
ZAGPJHC 563 (3 June 2025) para 12.
[7]
Caesarstone
Sdot-Yam Ltd v World of Marble and Granite 2000 CC and Others
2013 (6) SA 499
(SCA) para 49.
[8]
Kreetiv
Communications CC v Harrington NO and Others
[2024] ZAGPJHC 795 paras 6 and 19
[9]
Newlands
Surgical Clinic v Peninsula Eye Clinic
2015 (4) SA 34 (SCA).
[10]
Juliana
and Associates CC v Fikeni NO and Others
[2015] ZAGPPHC 754 para 12.2
[11]
Absa
Bank Ltd v Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and Others
2013 (4) SA 194
(WCC) specifically paras 41and 43-48.
[12]
Aquila
Steel (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Mineral Recourses and
Others
[2019]
ZACC 5
, para 98.
[13]
Gois
t/a Shakespeare’s Pub v Van Zyl and Others
2011
(1) SA 148
(LC) para 37;
Newnet
Properties (Pty) Ltd t/a Sunshine Hospital v Road Accident Fund
[2025] ZASCA 19
, para 26.
[14]
Juliana
and Associates CC v Fikeni NO and Others,
para 19.3 and the authorities referred to in fn9
[15]
Nel
v Waterberg Landbouers Ko-op Vereeniging
1946
AD 597
at 607;
Swartbooi
& Others v Brink
2006 (1) SA 203 (CC)
[16]
Villa
Corp Protection (Pty) Ltd v Bayer Intellectual Property GMBH
2024
(1) SA 331
(CC) para 77.
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