Case Law[2024] ZAGPJHC 1254South Africa
Occupiers of 2[...] O[...] D[...] B[...] Street v Emikon Auctioneering Service and Import and Export (Pty) Ltd and Another (A2023/105517) [2024] ZAGPJHC 1254 (2 December 2024)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg)
2 December 2024
Headnotes
Summary: Appeal against dismissal of rescission application – order granted in absence of appellants - eviction application not properly served - principles pertaining to proper service restated – inaction of Municipality deprecated – proper case for rescission under Rule 42(1)(a) made out .
Judgment
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## Occupiers of 2[...] O[...] D[...] B[...] Street v Emikon Auctioneering Service and Import and Export (Pty) Ltd and Another (A2023/105517) [2024] ZAGPJHC 1254 (2 December 2024)
Occupiers of 2[...] O[...] D[...] B[...] Street v Emikon Auctioneering Service and Import and Export (Pty) Ltd and Another (A2023/105517) [2024] ZAGPJHC 1254 (2 December 2024)
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REPUBLIC
OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG
DIVISION, JOHANNESBURG
GJ APPEAL CASE NO.:
A2023/105517
GJ CASE NO.: 12423/2021
(1)
REPORTABLE: YES
(2)
OF INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: YES
(3)
REVISED: YES
2
December2024
In
the matter between:
THE
OCCUPIERS OF 2[…] O[…] D[…]
B[…]
STREET,
F[…]
T[…], JOHANNESBURG
Appellants
and
EMIKON
AUCTIONEERING SERVICE
AND
IMPORT AND EXPORT
(PTY) LTD
First
Respondent
CITY
OF JOHANNESBURG METROPOLITAN
MUNICIPALITY
Second
Respondent
Delivery:
This judgment was handed down electronically by
uploading judgment on the electronic platform, by circulation to the
parties’
legal representatives by e-mail and release to SAFLII.
The date and time for hand-down is deemed to be 10h00 on 29 NOVEMBER
2024.
Summary:
Appeal against dismissal of rescission
application – order granted in absence of appellants - eviction
application not properly
served - principles pertaining to proper
service restated – inaction of Municipality deprecated –
proper case for rescission
under Rule 42(1)(a) made out .
JUDGMENT
FARBER AJ (MUDAU AND
DIPPENAAR JJ CONCURRING)
Introduction
[1]
The appellants are the unlawful occupiers
of an immovable property situate at 2[…] O[…] D[…]
B[…]
Street, F[…] Township, Johannesburg (“the
property”). The property houses approximately 45 people,
comprising
17 independent family units. One such unit is housed in a
room of a residential dwelling erected on the property. The remaining
units are housed on separately constructed makeshift shacks.
[2]
The first respondent is the registered
owner of the property. It sought and obtained an order from Senyatsi
J on 19 July 2021 evicting
the appellants from it. This order was
granted in the absence of the appellants who, when it came to their
knowledge, took a number
of steps to redress the situation in which
they then found themselves. One such step was an application for the
rescission of the
judgment for their eviction. This was opposed by
the first respondent and ultimately dismissed by the order and
judgment of Makume
J (“the court
a
quo”)
on 11 and 18 July 2023
respectively
.
However,
and with its leave, the appellants now appeal against the whole of
that judgment and order.
The facts
[3]
The first respondent purchased the property
on 3 March 2020 and on 2 October 2020 it was registered in its
name. Mr Emmanuel
Oradiegwu, a director of the first respondent
endeavoured to contact the appellants in order to address their
continued occupation
of the property, seemingly with little success.
[4]
On 11 February 2021 the first respondent’s
attorney Mr K Bam addressed a letter to the appellants demanding that
they vacate
the property within 30 days, failing which the first
respondent would institute proceedings for their eviction from it.
Although
the letter was sent by registered post there is no evidence
on record which suggests that the appellants received it. They
certainly
did not vacate the property as demanded of them.
[5]
Not unexpectedly, the first respondent on
15 March 2021 instituted motion proceedings against the appellants
for their eviction
from the property and for relief ancillary
thereto. It is alleged by the first respondent that service of the
notice of motion,
the founding affidavit and the annexures thereto
was effected on the appellants. As to how that supposedly happened,
the deputy
sheriff recorded the following in his return of service:-
“
THIS
IS TO CERTIFY THAT ON THE 21ST MAY 221 (sic) AT 10H57 AT 2[…]
O[…] D[…] B[…] STRET (sic) F[…]
A COPY OF
THE ANNEXED NOTICE OF MOTION, FOUNDING AFFIDAVIT AND ANNEXURE THERETO
WAS DULY SERVED UPON MRS SUE MUKOKA OCCUPIER A
RESPONSIBLE PERSON
APPARENTLY NOT LESS THAN SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE WHO ACCEPTED THE
DOCUMENT ON BEHALF OF THE FIRST RESPONDENT AND
UNLAWFUL OCCUPIERS
OCCUPYING 2[…] O[…] D[…] B[…] STREET F[…]
JOHANNESBURG (AND ALL THOSE OCCUPYING
UNDER THE FIRST RESPONDENT)
AFTER THE DOCUMENT HAD BEEN SHOWN AND THE NATURE AND CONTENTS THEREOF
EXPLAINED TO THE SAID MRS SUE
MUKOKA
”
[6]
On 25 May 2021 the first respondent issued
the notice required of it in terms of section 4(2) of The Prevention
of Illegal Eviction
and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act No 19 of 1998
(PIE). This notice,
inter alia,
recorded that the first respondent intended to make application to
the High Court in Johannesburg on 19 July 2021 for the eviction
of
the appellants from the property. The forms and contents of the
notice were in terms of section 4(2) of PIE authorised by the
High
Court, which,
inter alia,
directed
that it be served “
ON ALL UNLAWFUL
OCCUPIERS OCCUPYING 2[…] O[…] B[…] STREET, F[…],
JOHANNESBURG (And all those occupying
under the First Respondent)
(the First Respondent) being adult persons whose full and further
particulars are to the Applicant
unknown, by the Sheriff within whose
area of jurisdiction the property situation 2[…] O[…]
B[…] STREET, F[…]
JOHANNESBURG in terms of Rule 4 of
the Uniform Rules of the above Honourable Court;”
[7]
On 21 June 2021 the deputy sheriff sought
to serve the notice on the appellants. As to what he actually did
appears more fully from
his return of service which reads as
follows:-
“
THIS
IS TO CERIFY THAT ON THE 21ST JUNE 2021 AT 09H58 AT 2[…] O[…]
D[…] B[…] STREET F[…] A COPY
OF THE ANNEXED
DRAFT ORDER MARKED “X” DATED 7TH JUNE 2021 AND NOTICE IN
TERMS OF
SECTION 4(2)
OF THE
PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL EVICTION FROM AND
UNLAWFUL OCCUPATION OF LAND ACT 19 OF 1998
WAS DULY SERVED UPON MRS
FIKILE MBATHA OCCUPIER A RESPONSIBLE PERSON APPARENTLY NOT LESS THAN
SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE WHO ACCEPTED
THE DOCUMENT ON BEHALF OF THE FIRST
RESPONDENT ALL UNLAWFUL OCCUPIERS OCCUPYING 2[…] O[…]
D[…] B[…]
STREET F[…] (AND ALL THOSE OCCUPYING
UNDER THE FIRST RESPONDENT) AFTER THE DOCUMENT HAD BEEN SHOWN AND THE
NATURE AND CONTENTS
THEREOF EXPLAINED TO THE SAID FIKILE MBATHA”
[8]
On 7 July 2021 the first respondent issued
the notice of set-down reflecting that the matter would be heard on
19 July 2021. The
notice was addressed to the Registrar. It was not
served on the appellants.
[9]
The matter was heard in the absence of the
appellants on 19 July 2021, on which occasion Senyatsi J in the
unopposed motion court
granted an order evicting them and all persons
claiming occupation through and under them from the property. This
order is said
to have been served on 16 August 2021. The deputy
sheriff’s return in this regard records the following:-
“
THIS
IS TO CERIFY THAT ON THE 16TH AUGUST 2021 AT 11H18 AT 20 OP DE BERGEN
STREET FAIRVIEW BEING THE CHOSEN DOMICILIUM CITANDI ET
EXECUTANDI OF
THE FIRST RESPONDENT A COPY OF THE ANNEXED FILING SHEET: COURT ORDER
MARKED “X” DATED 19TH JULY 2021
WAS DULY SERVED UPON MR
NELSON LUWALURA OCCUPIER A RESPONSIBLE PERSON APPARENTLY NOT LESS
THEN 16 YEARS OF AGE WHO ACCEPTED THE
DOCUMENT ON BEHALF OF THE FIRST
RESPONDENT ALL UNLAWFUL OCCUPIERS OCCUPYING 2[…] O[…]
D[…] B[…] STREET
F[…] JOHANNESBURG (AND ALL
THOSE OCCUPYING UNDER THE FIRST RESPONDENT) AFTER THE DOCUMENT HAD
BEEN SHOWN AND THE NATURE
AND CONTENTS THEREOF EXPLAINED TO THE SAID
MR NELSON LUWALURA”
[10]
A writ of execution was issued on 25
January 2022 and more than one and a half years later on 7 June 2023
the appellants were pursuant
to it evicted from the property by
members of the South African Police Services and “
other
persons clothed in red overalls, the red ants …
”.
They were accompanied by the sheriff. The appellants were on that
occasion furnished with the order of court authorising
their eviction
from the property.
[11]
The appellants on that day reported what
had happened to the attorneys who had represented them in prior
related litigation. They
immediately went to the property, apparently
to attempt to restore the appellants’ prior occupation of it.
This was to no
avail. The appellants nonetheless again took
occupation of the property.
A number of procedures
were thereafter instituted to preserve the appellants’
continued occupation of the property. This included
an urgent
application launched on 8 June 2023 for an order restoring them to
occupation of the property. The matter was struck
from the roll for
want of urgency. The appellants were not daunted for on 10 June 2023
they launched a further urgent application
to stay the writ of
execution and to restore their occupation of the property pending the
determination of an application to rescind
the judgment evicting them
from it. Shepstone AJ on 12 June 2023, dismissed the application on
the basis that the appellants had
not sought to set aside the writ of
execution which had underpinned their ejectment and consequently what
they now sought was not
within his competence to grant. The writ had
by then already been executed. The appellants thereafter instituted
an urgent application
for the rescission and the setting aside of the
eviction order of 19 July 2021, alternatively for the variation of
that order by
staying the eviction pending the finalisation of a
process designed to secure temporary alternative accommodation for
them. The
matter was opposed, and was ultimately heard by the court a
quo which on 11 July 2023 dismissed it with costs. The court
a quo
furnished reasons for so doing on 18 July 2023.
The appellants then
lodged an application for leave to appeal. Shortly thereafter the
appellants launched an urgent application
seeking a suspension of the
eviction order pending the determination of their application for
leave to appeal or the determination
of any subsequent applications
for leave to appeal. The first respondent on that occasion furnished
an undertaking that it would
not attempt to evict the appellants from
the property until the rescission application had been finally
determined.
[12]
As I have already indicated leave to appeal
to this court was granted by the court
a
quo
on 4 October 2023.
The issues
[13]
The appellants in the court
a
quo
contended that the application for
their eviction and the notice in terms of Section 4(2) was not served
on them and that they
were quite unaware of the institution of the
proceedings and its enrolment for hearing on 19 July 2021. They
further contended
that had they been aware of the proceedings they
would have been opposed. They in this regard assert that the eviction
sought by
the first respondent, if granted, would render them
homeless and that their personal circumstances were such that their
eviction
from the property would not be equitable as required under
PIE, unless some satisfactory arrangement was made in relation to the
grant to them of alternative accommodation. The appellants consist of
approximately 45 persons, comprising 17 households of
which 16
are women, 16 are men and 13 are children. The children attend nearby
schools and the residents perform their informal
jobs in the
vicinity.
[14]
The thrust of the appellants’ case
for the recission of the impugned judgment was founded on the
contention that it had been
erroneously sought and granted in their
absence and thus fell to be set aside under the provisions of Rule
42(1)(a) of the Uniform
Rules of Court, alternatively under the
common law. It was contended that the service which was effected by
the Sheriff was not
effected on persons who were occupying the
property, but on other unknown individuals. It was further argued
that the issue was
not
res iudicata
and
the appellants were entitled to rescission of the judgment. In the
alternative it was argued that the eviction order should
be varied to
link the order to the provision of emergency temporary accommodation
by the Municipality.
[15]
The rescission application was strenuously
opposed. The first respondent contended that proper service of the
application for eviction
and the notice in terms of Section 4(2) of
PIE had been effected but despite that the appellants had taken no
steps to defend their
position, which failure endured for a period of
almost two years from 21 June 2021 to 7 June 2023. This failure, so
it was urged,
represented an absolute bar to the relief sought.
[16]
The first respondent moreover contended
that given the judgment of Shepstone AJ the appellants were on the
basis of the doctrine
of
res judicata
precluded from assailing their eviction from the property.
[17]
The first respondent did not deliver heads
of argument and its attorneys of record withdrew prior to the hearing
of the appeal.
Notwithstanding that the notice of set down was served
on the first respondent, it did not remedy its default or give any
indication
that it persisted with opposing the appeal.
The Judgment of the
court a quo
[18]
The court
a
quo
non-suited the appellants on
several grounds.
[19]
Firstly, it found that the appellants had
been aware of the order for their eviction since 2021 and there had
been inordinate delay
on their part in instituting the application
for its rescission. This, so it was found, constituted a bar to the
relief sought
by the appellants.
[20]
Secondly, it held that the appellants’
contention that the papers in the eviction proceedings, and the
notice in terms of
Section 4(2) of PIE had not been served on them
constituted “
a fallacy meant to
mislead the court.”
It in this
regard stated the following in paragraph [15]:-
“
The
persons whom the processes were served identified themselves to the
Sheriff and even confirmed that the lived on the premises.
If the
people did not live there why did they accept service? It does not
make sense. It would have been very easy for all the
three persons to
tell the sheriff that they do not live there and then walk away. The
mere fact that they actually gave their names
to a person they do not
know gives credence to the fact that indeed they lived there.”
[21]
It went on to say the following in
paragraph [17]:-
“…
.
In my view it will be foolhardy to expect such an owner to serve on
each and every illegal occupier. Service on the occupiers
was
sufficient. The Applicants knew about this matter as early as 2021
and decided to ignore it. They can now (not) be heard to
cry foul
that they did not know.”
[22]
Thirdly, it held that as the appellants had
since 2013 known that they had no title to remain on the property it
was not open to
them to now claim that the eviction which had been
decreed at the instance of the first respondent was “
in
any manner faulty”.
[23]
Fourthly, it referred to the judgment of
Shepstone AJ and held “
that the
writ of execution cannot be dealt separately from the application for
rescission the one compliments the other.”
It went on to find the following in paragraph 16 of its judgment:-
“
There
is also in my view a point taken by the Respondent that the matter is
res judicata
because Shepstone AJ has already made a ruling on the facts even
though that matter was about stay of execution. I have already
indicated about that the two are interlinked. The facts in the stay
application are the same as in this application. This is a
typical
case of the application of the English Rule of ‘once and for
all.’ The facts relied upon in the stay application
are the
same in this application. In the result the point that this
application is
res judicata
has a semblance of success and cannot be ignored. The two
applications must be compared in their entirety.”
An appraisal of the
facts determined by the court a quo
[24]
Regrettably, the seminal factual finding
which led to the dismissal of appellants’ application for the
rescission of the judgment
was misplaced.
[25]
It is incorrect to suggest (as the court
a
quo
did) that the appellants had been
aware of the judgment for their eviction from the property. Their
constant refrain under oath
was that they only became aware of the
judgment on 7 June 2023 when they were evicted from the property.
This evidence was not
gainsaid and it is by no means clear why the
court
a quo
rejected it. As will presently emerge, service of the papers in the
eviction application and of the notice in terms of Section
4(2) of
PIE was not properly effected and did not draw the attention of the
appellants that legal steps had been taken to secure
their eviction
from the property. The notice of set-down was moreover not served on
them. It thus follows that the finding of the
court
a
quo
that the appellants had
inordinately delayed in instituting the application for the
rescission of the judgment sanctioning their
eviction from the
property cannot be sustained. On the contrary, the appellants took a
number of procedural steps to redress the
unenviable situation in
which they found themselves. They did so with great promptitude.
[26]
The question of delay simply does not enter
the equation.
The defence of the res
judicata
[27]
The issues which Shepstone AJ had to
determine in relation to the appellants’ application to stay
the writ of execution and
to restore them to the property were not
the same issues which arose for determination in the rescission
application.
[28]
Shepstone AJ was not required to determine
whether the judgment for the appellants’ eviction had been
properly sought and
properly granted within the meaning of Uniform
Rule of Court 4(1)(a). He was moreover not required to determine
whether under common
law the appellants had made out a case for the
rescission of that judgment. Shepstone AJ’s sole concern
related to the question
whether, in light of the fact that steps had
not been taken to set aside the writ, the appellants had made out a
case for the stay
of the eviction and the interim restoration of
occupation of the property to them.
[29]
The
issues in both applications were disparate. It is trite that in those
circumstances the doctrine of
res
judicata
can have no application.
[1]
The regulation of
service
[30]
The service of process is governed by
Uniform Rule of Court 4, the relevant provision of which read as
follows:-
“
4(1)(a)
Service of any process of the court directed to the sheriff and
subject to the provisions of paragraph (aA) any document
initiating
application proceedings shall be effected by the sheriff in one or
other of the following manners.
(i)
by delivering a copy thereof to the
said person personally: Provided that where such person is a minor or
a person under legal disability,
service shall be effected upon the
guardian, tutor, curator or the like of such minor or person under
disability.
(ii)
by leaving a copy thereof at the
place of residence or business of the said person, guardian, tutor,
curator or the like with the
person apparently in charge of the
premises at the time of delivery, being a person apparently not less
than sixteen years of age.
For the purposes of this paragraph when a
building other than an hotel, boarding-house, hostel or similar
residential building
is occupied by more than one person or family,
‘residence’ or ‘place of business’ means that
portion of
the building occupied by the person upon whom service is
to be effected;
(iii)
…
(iv)
…”
.
[31]
It is manifest that the deputy sheriff
chose to effect service of the notice of motion and founding
affidavit in the eviction application
and the notice in terms of
section 4(2) of PIE pursuant to Rule 4(1)(a)(ii). Such recourse was
in my judgment ill- conceived. As
I have previously stated the
property was the home of approximately 45 persons comprising 17
independent family units. One such
unit occupied a room in the
dwelling situate on the property. The remaining 16 units occupied
makeshift shacks which had been erected
on it.
[32]
It
is in this regard clear that the persons upon whom service was
effected in each instance were not in charge of the separate
dwellings located on the property. On this ground alone reliance on
Rule 4(1)(a)(ii) must fail. The suggestion that the persons
upon whom
service was effected had been authorised to accept service on behalf
of the appellants is no substitute for what the
rule in express terms
enjoins. Moreover, the suggested authority of those persons has been
placed in sharp dispute by the appellants.
They have on oath stated
that the persons in question are not known to them and certainly did
not have their authority to accept
service on their behalf. This has
not been gainsaid by the first respondent and there is no basis upon
which that body of evidence
falls to be rejected. It is thus clear
that service of the three documents in question did not accord with
the requirements of
Rule 4(1)(a)(ii) or for that matter any of the
other Rules regulating the manner in which service is to be
effected.
[2]
[33]
The appellants have been consistent in
their contention that they were unaware of the issue of process in
the eviction proceedings,
the notice in terms of section 4(2) of PIE
and the date on which those proceedings had been enrolled for
hearing. Equally, they
were unaware that an order for their eviction
was granted on 19 July 2021. There is on the papers no reason to
doubt their word
on the matter. It should in this regard be
remembered that once they had on 7 June 2023 become aware of the
facts the appellants
zealously sought to safeguard their position. I
have little doubt that they would have done the same had they been
aware that the
first respondent had instituted proceedings for their
eviction from the property and that the matter was to be dealt with
in court
on 19 July 2021. This represents a cogent factor indicating
that the appellants’ lack of knowledge was not contrived (as
suggested by the court
a quo
)
but real.
Uniform Rule of Court
42
[34]
Under
Uniform Rule of Court 42(1)(a) Court may
mero
motu
or upon the application of any party affected rescind or vary an
order or judgment erroneously sought or erroneously granted in
the
absence of any party affected thereby. It is well established that in
the absence of proper notice to the absent party a judgment
will be
erroneously sought and erroneously granted.
[3]
I have little doubt that had the court
a
quo
been aware of the defective service it would have declined to enter
judgment against the appellants authorising their eviction
from the
property. It accordingly seems to me that the judgment under scrutiny
was erroneously sought and erroneously granted within
the meaning of
Rule 42(1)(a).
[35]
For
the application for Rule 42(1)(a) it is not necessary for an
applicant who seeks relief thereunder to show the existence of
a
bona
fide
defence to the action.
[4]
The
Rule is not peremptory and this holds the implication that if it
appears that the applicant for relief does not have a good
defence
rescission need not follow mechanically despite the fact that the
judgment was erroneously sought and erroneously granted.
[36]
This
having been said I have little doubt that the appellants do have a
bona
fide
defence.
[5]
Under the provisions
of section 4(7) of PIE a court needs to determine whether the
eviction sought is just and equitable in all
the circumstances. The
appellants make out the case that the eviction will render them
homeless. This factor alone will compel
a court to make enquiries
relating to the availability of alternative accommodation and the
suitability thereof. The facts advanced
by the appellants
prima
facie
suggest that the order of the court
a
quo
did not bring about a fair and equitable result as foreshadowed in
section 4(7) of PIE, at least in the terms in which it was made.
[37]
In
the result I am persuaded that the appellants have, as required by
Rule 42(1)(a), made good and sufficient cause for the rescission
of
the assailed judgment. It is consequently not necessary to consider
the position under common law in any detail. I need merely
record
that the common law remedy which the appellants relied upon in the
alternative is in my view wide enough to warrant the
rescission of
the judgment. All that need be demonstrated for relief on that basis
is the existence of both a reasonable and acceptable
explanation for
the default and a
bone
fide
defence.
[6]
That is dispositive
of the appeal and it is not necessary to consider the other issues
raised in any detail.
Incidental matters
[38]
As I have indicated there has not been
proper service of the processes which I have identified. It is clear
that Rule 42 is not
sufficiently wide in its terms to allow for an
efficacious service on the very many illegal occupiers of a single
property which
has several separate dwellings occupied by different
family units located on it. In this type of case practitioners need
to give
serious attention to Rule 4(2) or section 4(4) of PIE which
makes provision for substituted service where it is not possible to
effect service in one of the manners prescribed in Rule 4(1).
Provisions for the use of loud hailers by the deputy sheriff to
inform occupiers of the process in question, the frequency of that
use and the time of day when it should be resorted to need to
be
considered. It may also be necessary to affix the process in question
to boards erected at prominent places on the property.
The affixing
of the process to the door of each of the dwellings situate on the
property, postulating that each dwelling is capable
of being to
identified, represents an available option. The list is not
exhaustive and no doubt there are other methods outside
the
provisions of Rule 4(1) to ensure that service is efficacious.
[39]
The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan
Municipality (the City) was cited as the second respondent in the
eviction proceedings. It
did not enter the fray and did not make
available to the Court a quo information which would enable it to
assess whether the eviction
of the appellants and the terms under
which it was to occur were in all the circumstances equitable. This
is to be deprecated.
The owners of immovable properties and the
unlawful occupiers thereof have competing interests. The owners of
properties would
wish to exploit their rights of ownership to them to
the best possible advantage. The unlawful occupiers enjoy the right
to housing
and by definition their occupation occurs against the will
of the respective owners thereof. The tension created in consequence
of these competing rights is manifest and the City has an important
and fundamental role to play in ensuring that such tension
is
contained and satisfactorily resolved. It needs to report to the
court on a variety of matters so as to ensure that any eviction
is in
the circumstances equitable.
[40]
It seems to me to be only proper that this
judgment is to be drawn to the attention of the City’s manager.
Hopefully, this
will put to an end the inaction of the City of the
kind which occurred in this case.
[41]
In the result an order in the following
terms will issue:-
A.
The appeal is upheld.
B.
The order of the court
a
quo
is set aside and is to be
substituted with the following order:-
“
1.
The judgment of Senyatsi J evicting the applicants from the immovable
property situate at 2[…] O[…] D[…]
B[…]
S[…], F[…] Township, Johannesburg is rescinded.
2.
The first respondent is to pay the costs of the application for
rescission.”
C.
The Registrar is directed to furnish the
manager of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality with a
copy of this judgment
and to direct his attention to paragraph [39]
thereof.
D.
There will be no order for costs.
G FARBER
ACTING JUDGE OF THE
HIGH COURT
JOHANNESBURG
APPEARANCES
FOR
APPELLANT:
INSTRUCTED
BY:
ADV
LWAZI MTSHIYO
SERI
LAW CLINIC
Office
No. 601, Nzunza House
88
Jorissen Street
Braamfontein
Johannesburg
2017
Tel:
(011) 356 5860
E-mail
nkosinathi@seri-sa.org
muano@seri-sa.org
Ref:
NK SITHOLE
For
the Respondents:
No
Appearance
[1]
National
Sorghum Breweries v International Liquor Distributors
2001(2)
SA 233 (SCA) at para [9]
[2]
On
the importance of service generally see
Mntambo
and others v
Changing
Tides 74 (Pty) Ltd (08/39225)
[2009]
ZAGPJHC 17 (4 May 2009)
at
para [4].
[3]
Harms:
Civil Procedure in the Superior Courts B-303;
HMT
Projects (Pty) Ltd v Van der Heever NO and other
[2023]
ZAGP
PPHG 3
at
para [20].
[4]
Harms: Civil Procedure in the Superior Courts B-303.
[5]
City
of Johannesburg v Charging tides 74 (Pty) Ltd and others
2012(6)
SA 294 (SCA) at para [20],
City
of Johannesburg v Blue Moonlight Properties
2012(2)
SA 104 (CC).
[6]
See
De
Wet v Western Bank Ltd
1979(2) SA 1031(A) at 1042;
Chetty
v Law Society, Transvaal
1985 (2) SA 756
(A) at 764,
Naidoo
and Another v Matlala NO and Others
2012 (1) 143 (GNP) and
Moshoeshoe
and Another v Firstrand Bank Ltd and Others
[2018] 2 ALL SA 236
(GJ).
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