Case Law[2023] ZAGPJHC 1308South Africa
De Jongh v Philippides and Others (008709/2023) [2023] ZAGPJHC 1308 (14 November 2023)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg)
14 November 2023
Headnotes
in trust by a practising attorney in contemplation of the transfer of an immovable property. Secondly (and perhaps most alarmingly) it appears that rather than this being a rare occurrence, it is not an isolated incident but one which has plagued the legal profession for some time. It is, without doubt, a sad indictment on the noble profession of the practice of law.
Judgment
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# South Africa: South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg
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## De Jongh v Philippides and Others (008709/2023) [2023] ZAGPJHC 1308 (14 November 2023)
De Jongh v Philippides and Others (008709/2023) [2023] ZAGPJHC 1308 (14 November 2023)
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REPUBLIC
OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF
SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG LOCAL
DIVISION, JOHANNESBURG
CASE
NO: 008709/2023
NOT REPORTABLE
NOT OF INTEREST TO
OTHER JUDGES
REVISED
14/11/23
In the matter between
ANNIE
JEANETTA DE JONGH
Applicant
and
ANDREW
PHILIPPIDES
First
Respondent
LEIGH
DOROTHY HARPUR
Second
Respondent
LEIGH
HARPUR INCORPORATED
Third
Respondent
JUDGMENT
WANLESS AJ
Introduction
[1]
The facts of this matter giving rise to the
present application are saddening in more than one respect.
Firstly, they involve
the theft of monies held in trust by a
practising attorney in contemplation of the transfer of an immovable
property. Secondly
(and perhaps most alarmingly) it appears
that rather than this being a rare occurrence, it is not an isolated
incident but one
which has plagued the legal profession for some
time. It is, without doubt, a sad indictment on the noble
profession of the
practice of law.
The facts
[2]
In this application the facts which are
either common cause or cannot be seriously disputed by either of the
parties are the following:
2.1 one ANDREW
PHILIPPIDES, adult male (“
the First Respondent
”),
is the owner of an immovable property situated at[...], Umhlanga,
KwaZulu-Natal (“
the
property
”) and put the
property up for public auction on 21 April 2022;
2.2 the First Respondent
accepted the bid of the DE JONGH FAMILY TRUST (“
the
Applicant
”), for the property;
2.3 the Applicant paid
the stipulated 5% deposit of R205 000.00 (“
the
deposit
”), plus auctioneer’s fees, on the fall of the
hammer;
2.4 in terms of the
written agreement of sale (“
the agreement
”)
entered into between the Applicant and the First Respondent the First
Respondent appointed one LEIGH DOROTHY HARPER, adult
female (“
the
Second Respondent
”), a practising Attorney, practising as
such under the name and style of LEIGH HARPER INCORPORATED (“
the
Third Respondent”
) to attend to the registration of the
transfer of the property from the First Respondent to the Applicant;
2.5 on 1 May 2022 the
Applicant paid the balance of the purchase price of R4 247 447.53
(“
the balance
”) into the bank account stipulated
by the Second Respondent on her
pro
forma
statement;
2.6 it transpired that
the bank account stipulated by the Second Respondent was not a trust
account; the Second Respondent misappropriated
the balance
prior
to the registration of transfer of the property and absconded;
2.7 the First Respondent
has terminated the mandate of the Second Respondent and appointed a
new conveyancer to attend to the transfer
of the property;
2.8 the First Respondent
has purported to cancel the agreement after placing the Applicant on
terms to pay the balance stolen by
the Second Respondent into the
Trust Account of the newly appointed conveyancers and the Applicant
failing to have done so.
[3]
The application instituted by the Applicant
is opposed by the First Respondent. Neither the Second or Third
Respondents have
filed a notice of opposition.
The relief sought
by the Applicant
[4]
The Applicant seeks the following relief:
“
1.
The First Respondent is declared to be in breach of the agreement
concluded between the Applicant and him on 22 April 2022, in
relation
to the sale by the First Respondent to the Applicant of the immovable
property Unit [...] in the Sectional Title Scheme
La Lucia Bay, SS
126/1982, situated on Erf [...] La Lucia Extension 12, KWAZULU-NATAL
and held under Deed of Transfer ST52947/2007,
with its physical
address at [...], Umhlanga Rocks, KWAZULU-NATAL (“the
property”);
2. The First
Respondent is ordered and directed, within 10 (ten) days from date of
the granting of this order to:
2.1
cause and secure registration of transfer of the property from the
First Respondent to the Applicant;
2.2
in this aforesaid regard and pursuant thereto, to: -
2.2.1
to sign all such documents;
2.2.2
effect all such payments;
2.2.3
lodge with the Registrar of Deeds, or cause to be submitted to the
Registrar of Deeds all such documents; and
2.2.4
generally perform all such acts as may be necessary, to cause
and secure registration of transfer of the property from
the First
Respondent to the Applicant;
2.3
furnish the Applicant or its nominee forthwith, on demand, with
satisfactory proof of all such acts performed or to be
performed by
the First Respondent as contemplated in subparagraph 2.2 above, to
cause and secure registration of transfer of the
property from the
First Respondent to the Applicant;
3.
In the event of the First Respondent failing, refusing or neglecting
to perform all such acts as contemplated in paragraph 2
above within
10 (ten) days and furnishing the Applicant with satisfactory proof
evidencing the First Respondent’s compliance
with paragraph 2
above the Sheriff of the High Court is authorised, directed and
appointed to attend to and perform all such acts
and sign all such
documents as may be necessary to effect, secure and cause transfer of
the property from the First Respondent
to the Applicant;
4. The First
Respondent is to pay the costs hereof.”
[5]
In broad summary, the Applicant submits
that in terms of the agreement the Second Respondent acted as the
First Respondent’s
agent and that payment by the Applicant to
the Second Respondent was equivalent to payment to the First
Respondent. Arising
therefrom, it is further submitted that if
this Court decides the aforegoing in favour of the Applicant it must
follow that the
First Respondent is not entitled to cancel the
agreement and that the Applicant is entitled to the relief sought.
The First
Respondent’s opposition to the relief sought by the Applicant.
[6]
The First Respondent submits that in the
event that this Court holds that it was an express term of the
agreement that the balance
was to be paid into trust as security for
the purchase price, as opposed to such payment into trust
constituting payment of the
purchase price the case of the Applicant
must be dismissed with costs.
[7]
Whilst the First Respondent has not
specifically asked for any relief by way of a counter-application, it
must follow that should
this Court dismiss the application, then the
deposit will be retained by the First Respondent as
rouwkoop
.
The issues
[8]
In a joint minute the parties attempted to
set out therein the issues to be decided by this Court in this
application. This
attempt to define the issues in the present
matter, whilst obviously highly commendable, did not prove to be
totally successful
and, in some respects, merely served to complicate
matters. In this regard, this Court refers to the attempts by
the parties
to set out their differences as to what they understood
to be the remaining issues after setting out those where there was no
disagreement.
Rather than (a) only complicate matters further; and
(b) burden this judgment unnecessarily, it is not the intention of
this Court
to deal therewith. In the premises, this Court shall
simply set out hereunder what it, in its opinion, perceives to be the
real and/or material issues which it is called upon to decide in this
application.
[9]
These issues are:
9.1 whether the Second
Respondent was the First Respondent’s agent or the Applicant’s
agent in receiving and holding
the balance in trust;
9.2 whether the agreement
was validly cancelled by the First Respondent or the Applicant is
entitled to the order sought for specific
performance.
[10]
The parties referenced as an issue whether
it was a tacit or express term of the agreement that payment of the
balance was to be
made by the Applicant as security for the purchase
price. In the opinion of this Court, whilst the question as to
whether
the balance was paid to
secure
the purchase price
or
to discharge the Applicant's obligation to
pay
the purchase price, is the crucial question to be answered in this
application (as will become clear later in this judgment) the
question as to whether such payment was a tacit or express term of
the agreement is not a “stand alone” issue for the
purposes of this Court reaching a decision in this application.
Rather, as will become abundantly clear in this judgment, the
interpretation and implementation of the said term, when interpreting
the agreement and applying the agreement to the facts of this
matter,
is inextricably bound up with the resolution of the two central
issues, as set out above.
[11]
Having set out the issues in this matter,
it is now necessary for this Court to turn and consider the
applicable principles of law.
The law
[12]
In
the matter of
Minister
of Agriculture and Land Affairs and Another v De Klerk and Others
[1]
it
was held
[2]
that:
“
Whether
the conveyancer was the agent of the seller for receiving payment of
the purchase price from the purchaser
in
this instance depends solely on the terms of the deed of sale
.
The conveyancer received and held the money paid over to him in terms
of the sale although not as a party to the deed of
sale.
No
other tacit or express authorisation is relied upon
.
I am of the view, on a proper construction of the deed of sale, that
the Court a quo correctly concluded that the conveyancer
was not the
agent of the seller in receiving payment of the purchase price.”
[3]
[13]
Further,
in the matter of
Baker
v Probert
[4]
the
erstwhile Appellate Division
(“AD”)
held,
inter
alia
,
that:
[5]
“
In
considering whether York Estate was the agent of the defendant for
receiving payment of the purchase price, it is important at
the
outset to bear in mind what the expression “agent of the
defendant” means in the present context. It means
no more
than the person authorised by the defendant to accept payment of the
purchase price by the plaintiff.
It
connotes a mandate by which the seller confers authority on the agent
“his mandatory” to represent him in the acceptance
of the
payment of the purchase price, with the consequence, in law, that
payment to the agent is equivalent to payment to the seller
.”
[6]
[14]
Also,
in
Baker,
the
Court held the following:
[7]
“
It
is clearly implicit that York Estate is authorised by the defendant
to receive the purchase price for, were it not so, the purchaser
would have been obliged to pay it to the defendant. York
Estate, when it received the payment with knowledge of the provisions
of clause 3, prima facie accepted the mandate from the defendant to
do so
as
the agent of the defendant
,
to whom it was obliged to pay over the money when he had complied
with his own obligation to deliver the share certificates in
terms of
clause 5. Moreover, the parties clearly intended that payment
by the plaintiff to York Estate would operate as a
complete discharge
of her obligation under the contract,
thus
equating payment to York Estate with payment to the defendant
.”
[8]
[15]
It
is fairly trite and a long-established legal principle that a
principal is liable for the dishonest acts of his agent, even where
the agent commits a fraud upon the principal.
[9]
[16]
Insofar
as the correct legal principles are concerned in respect of the
interpretation of documents in general the much-cited passage
from
Natal
Joint Municipal Pension Fund v Endumeni Municipality
[10]
offers
guidance as how to approach same. That guidance was recently
summarised by the SCA
[11]
as
follows:
“
It
is the language used, understood in the context in which it is used,
and having regard to the purpose of the provision that constitutes
the unitary exercise of interpretation. The triad of text,
context, and purpose should not be used in a mechanical fashion.
It is the relationship between the words used, the concepts expressed
by those words, and the place of the contested provision
within the
scheme of the arrangement (or instrument) as a whole that constitutes
the enterprise by recourse to which a coherent
and salient
interpretation is determined. As Endumeni emphasised, citing
well-known cases, “[t]he inevitable point
of departure is the
language of the provision itself”
[17]
Interpretation
is accordingly to be approached holistically: simultaneously
considering the text, context and purpose.
[12]
[18]
The
modern-day approach to the interpretation of written instruments was
restated by the SCA in
Commissioner
for the South African Revenue Service v United Manganese of Kalahari
(Pty) Ltd
[13]
where
it was stated:
“
It
is an objective unitary process where consideration must be given to
the language used in the light of the ordinary rules of
grammar and
syntax; the context in which the provision appears; the apparent
purpose to which it is directed and the material known
to those
responsible for its production… The inevitable point of
departure is the language used in the provision under
consideration.”
[14]
[19]
It
is permissible when interpreting the document, to have regard to the
manner in which the parties implemented the said document.
[15]
Conclusion
[20]
As
correctly pointed out by Adv Smit, on behalf of the First Respondent,
amongst the plethora of decisions dealing with the unfortunate
theft
of monies held in trust by attorneys, there are probably an equal
number thereof where findings were made that the said attorneys,
in
matters of purchase and sale, acted as the agent of the purchaser as
were made that the attorneys acted as the agent of the
seller.
In determining whether, in a particular matter, an attorney is the
agent of the purchaser or the seller (or even
both)
[16]
,
it is clear that (as dealt with earlier in this judgment), it is
necessary to interpret the agreement entered into between the
parties. This is common cause between the parties in the
present matter. Moreover, there was no material dispute between
the parties as to either the correct principles to be applied when
carrying out such an interpretation or the facts to be applied
thereto, in this application.
[21]
Clause 3 of the agreement deals with the
payment of the purchase price by the Applicant to the First
Respondent in respect of the
property. Subclause 3.1 thereof
provides for the payment of the deposit. In terms of subclause
3.3:
“
3.3
The balance of the Purchase Price shall be
secured
to the satisfaction of the Seller’s Attorneys, by a written
guarantee from a Bank or registered financial Institution, payable
free of exchange against registration of transfer of the PROPERTY
into the PURCHASER’s name
.
The PURCHASER may elect to secure the balance of the Purchase Price
by payment in cash to the SELLER’s Attorneys who
shall hold
same in trust, pending registration of transfer into the name of the
PURCHASER.
The aforesaid guarantee shall be presented and/or cash shall be
payable by the PURCHASER to the SELLER’s Attorneys
within 45
(Forty-Five) days from receipt of a written request to that effect
from the SELLER’s attorneys.”
[17]
[22]
The provisions of clause 3 of the agreement
must be read with the provisions of clause 9 thereof which deal with
transfer and the
costs of transfer. In particular, subclause
9.1 of the agreement states:
”
9.1
Transfer of the PROPERTY shall be passed, by the SELLER’s
Attorneys, as soon as possible after date of acceptance, provided
the
PURCHASER has paid
or
secured
all
amounts payable in terms hereof.”
[18]
[23]
On
behalf of the Applicant, Adv Botha, when submitting that this Court
should interpret the agreement on the basis that the Second
Respondent received payment of the balance from the Applicant as the
agent of the First Respondent, relied, in the first instance,
on the
matter of
Baker
(supra)
[19]
where
it was held:
“…
I
have difficulty in visualising a situation (save possibly for an
exceptional case) in which there could be due performance of
the
obligation to pay the purchase price, by paying it to a third party,
unless
that third party was appointed and authorised by the seller to accept
the payment, thus constituting him his agent for the
purpose
.”
[20]
[24]
In
Baker
the main issue which the AD had to decide was whether or not an
estate agent was the agent of the seller for the purpose of receiving
payment of the purchase price. The Court held that it was
clearly implicit in clause 3 of the contract that the estate agency
was to act as the seller’s agent
for
the purpose of receiving payment
and
that payment to the agency would operate as a complete discharge of
the purchaser’s obligations under the contract.
[25]
This Court understood the submissions of
Adv Botha to be that, relying on
Baker
,
where payment of the purchase price is paid by a purchaser to a third
party then, as a general principle, the third party is
prima
facie
and unless exceptional
circumstances exist, the agent of the seller and payment of the
purchase price is deemed to have taken place.
If these are
indeed the submissions relied upon by the Applicant, they cannot, for
the reasons set out hereunder, be correct.
[26]
The said submissions are incorrect in that,
inter alia
,
they are based on a misinterpretation of the (correct) principles of
law as set out, by the AD, in
Baker
.
In the first instance, the
dicta
relied upon by the Applicant at
440B
must be seen in the correct context. When read properly with
that directly preceding and following same, it is clear that
Botha JA
was merely confirming a general principle of law, namely that each
case must be decided on its own facts. This principle
had been
clearly enunciated by the learned Judge earlier in his judgment at,
inter alia
,
the reference of the judgment also relied upon by the Applicant,
namely that at
439G-H
.
[27]
Of
course, as set out earlier in this judgment, ultimately whether a
conveyancer acts as the agent of the seller for receiving payment
of
the purchase price from the purchaser, depends largely on the
agreement of sale.
[21]
In
the premises, if falls upon this Court to interpret the agreement in
the present matter.
[28]
In the first instance and applying the
well-established and correct principles of interpretation (as also
set out earlier in this
judgment) to subclause 3.3 of the agreement,
it is clear that the balance of the purchase price would be
secured
,
to the satisfaction of the Second Respondent, by written guarantee
from a Bank or registered financial institution. Thereafter,
the
secured
amount would be
payable
when registration of the property into the Applicant's name took
place. The Applicant was given the option or election to
secure
the balance of the purchase price (the
deposit having been paid in terms of subclause 3.1 of the agreement)
by payment, in cash,
to the Second Respondent,
who
would hold same in trust
, pending
registration of the transfer into the name of the Applicant.
[29]
From the aforegoing, it is clear that:
29.1
the agreement provided for
payment
of a deposit (
subclause 3.1 of the
agreement
) in direct contrast to the
securing
of the balance of the purchase price
(subclause
3.3 of the agreement)
;
29.2
the requirement that the balance of the purchase price be
secured
(but not paid)
could be fulfilled by the purchaser in two ways. That is, the
purchaser had a choice to either obtain a written guarantee
from a
Bank or registered financial institution,
or
pay in cash to the conveyancing attorney who would hold the money in
trust until registration of transfer (the agreement being
silent in
respect of any interest accrued in respect thereof);
29.3
the election given to the purchaser to
secure
the balance of the purchase price (and
not to
pay
the balance of the purchase price) by
either
providing the written guarantee
or
paying the balance of the purchase price as provided for in terms of
subclause 3.3 of the agreement, supports an interpretation
not only
that the Second Respondent was not the agent of the First Respondent
but also that payment was to secure the balance of
the purchase price
rather than discharge it.
[30]
As
part of its case that the Second Respondent was the agent of the
First Respondent and received the balance on behalf of the First
Respondent in discharge of its obligations to pay the purchase price,
the Applicant submitted that it was assisted by subclause
9.1 of the
agreement. In this regard, it was submitted that the word
“
secured”
as used in this subclause, refers to the payment of the purchase
price being “
secured”
by delivery of a bank guarantee, payable upon transfer. It was
further submitted that where payment of the purchase price was made
in cash then the obligation to transfer was unconditional since the
Applicant had paid the purchase price. In this manner the Applicant
(if this Court understood the submissions made on the Applicant’s
behalf correctly) seeks, in the first instance, to draw
a distinction
between (a) the purchase price being paid or secured; and (b) the
manner in which such payment may be made and security
provided
(by
reading subclause 9.1 with subclause 3.3 of the agreement).
This
interpretation placed upon the wording of subclause 9.1 on behalf of
the Applicant cannot be sustained. Applicant's Counsel
submits
that subclause 9.1 supports the interpretation sought by the
Applicant of subclause 3.3. In light of that already
held by
the Court above
[22]
and,
once again, applying the correct principles of interpretation (with
particular reference to the ordinary and grammatical meanings
to be
applied),upon a reasonable interpretation of the agreement, there
can never be a distinction between “
pay”
and “
secure”
as contended for on behalf of the Applicant (where the Applicant
contends that payment of the balance was unconditional and discharged
the Applicant’s obligations in terms of the agreement). As to
the attempt on behalf of the Applicant to draw a distinction
between
the manner in which payment may be made and security provided, this
Court has great difficulty in accepting the submissions
made on
behalf of the Applicant in support thereof. In this regard, it is
clear, once again, from the ordinary rules of grammar
and syntax,
together with the wording of subclause 9.1 of the agreement, that
this subclause is silent as to
how
the
amounts referred to in clause 9 were to be paid or secured. Arising
therefrom, it would be improper to arrive at the singular
interpretation ascribed to this subclause of the agreement by the
Applicant that in terms of this subclause the Applicant has paid
the
balance and thereby discharged its obligations in terms of the
agreement.
[31]
Further, clause 9 of the agreement
specifically deals with transfer and costs of transfer.
Subclause 9.1 of the agreement
(
as set
out fully earlier in this judgment)
refers to the purchaser paying
or
securing
all
amounts payable in terms of the agreement before transfer may be
passed. From the aforegoing, it is clear that transfer could
not take place unless the purchaser had paid
or
secured
all
amounts payable in terms of the agreement, with particular reference
to the transfer costs and not just the purchase price.
In the
premises, it is difficult to understand how this subclause assists
the Applicant in its argument (if applicable thereto
at all).
[32]
As
correctly noted in
Agu
v Krige,
[23]
yet
another matter dealing with the misappropriation of the purchase
price paid by a purchaser into a conveyancer’s trust
account,
in that case by the conveyancer appointed by a seller in terms of a
deed of sale, it does not necessarily mean however
that because the
seller appointed the conveyancer and the conveyancer was the seller’s
attorney (the same facts as the present
matter) that the conveyancer
was the seller’s agent for receiving payment of the purchase
price.
[24]
[33]
In
Agu,
relied upon by the Applicant, the learned Acting Judge, in reaching
the decision that the conveyancer acted as the seller’s
agent
to receive payment of the purchase price on the seller’s
behalf, appears to have placed a fair amount of weight upon
the fact
that the said conveyancer was the seller’s attorney of
longstanding. It is common cause in the present matter
that the
Second Respondent had acted as the First Respondent’s attorney
in the past.
[34]
The facts giving rise to the appointment by
one party of the conveyancer to hold monies in trust (also relied
upon by the Applicant
in the present matter in support of the relief
sought) should not, in the opinion of this Court, be a factor which
should be given
much weight, if any weight at all, when deciding the
crucial issue as to whether the conveyancer acts as the agent of that
party
when receiving payment of the monies to be held in trust.
This is particularly so in the case of the sale of an immovable
property where it has become an accepted trade custom in such matters
for the seller to appoint the conveyancer in the deed of
sale entered
into between the parties. In the premises, in light of,
inter
alia
, the fact that the seller (a)
appoints the conveyancer in terms of the deed of sale for an
immovable property; and (b) that it
would not be unusual that such an
attorney appointed by the seller would be well-known to the seller,
should have little or no
bearing on a court’s decision as to
whether that attorney acts as the agent of the seller when accepting
payment of the purchase
price by the purchaser.
[35]
Clause
3 of the agreement in the present matter is distinctly different to
those in other matters referred to in this judgment
[25]
.
This distinction is, as dealt with earlier in this judgment, clearly
illustrated by the use of the word “
secure”
and the election given to the purchaser to either secure the balance
by way of a written guarantee or cash. The distinction
is
further enforced by the clear and separate manner in which the
deposit and the balance are to be dealt with in terms of the
agreement. It is clear from a reading thereof that clause 3 of
this agreement is very different to that contained in a “normal”
or “usual” deed of sale. In the premises, it
requires to be properly interpreted as such.
[36]
If the “innocent bystander”
test was to be applied, it is highly improbable that either of the
parties, when entering
into the agreement, if asked, would have
answered in the affirmative that should the purchaser elect to make
payment to the attorney
in cash to secure the balance of the purchase
price pending registration of transfer, rather than by providing a
suitable guarantee
and that attorney stole those monies, the seller
would be liable therefor.
[37]
The only reasonable interpretation that can
be given to the agreement in this matter which would ultimately give
it
true
business
efficacy, is that the balance was paid by the Applicant to the Second
Respondent to secure the balance. Insofar as it may
be necessary for
this Court to deal therewith, it is clear that same is an express and
not a tacit term of the agreement
(the
Applicant having misconstrued the First Respondent’s
submissions in respect of the interpretation of the agreement when
the parties attempted to define the issues in the joint minute as
dealt with earlier in this judgment).
Applicant elected to provide security in cash rather than in the form
of a written guarantee which it was, in terms of the agreement,
entitled to do. Payment of the balance by the Applicant to the
Second Respondent secured the purchase price in terms of the
agreement but did not discharge the Applicant’s obligations in
terms of the agreement to pay the balance in terms thereof.
That obligation would and could only be discharged upon transfer of
the property and payment of the balance by the Second Respondent
to
the First Respondent. In accepting the balance in cash from the
Applicant the Second Respondent acted as the agent of the Applicant
and not the agent of the First Respondent.
[38]
Before the balance could be paid to the
First Respondent it was stolen by the Second Respondent. The
First Respondent placed
the Applicant on terms to pay the balance
which the Applicant has failed to do. In the premises, the
First Respondent was
entitled to cancel the agreement. It must follow
that the Applicant is not entitled to the relief sought and the
application must
be dismissed.
Costs
[39]
It is trite that (a) costs fall within the
general discretion of the court and that (b) unless unusual
circumstances exist, costs
normally follow the result. No such
circumstances were drawn to the attention of this Court. In the
premises, the Applicant should
be ordered to pay the costs of this
application.
Order
[40]
This Court makes the following order:
1.
The application is dismissed.
2.
The Applicant is to pay the costs of the
application.
B.C. WANLESS
ACTING JUDGE OF THE
HIGH COURT
GAUTENG LOCAL DIVISION
JOHANNESBURG
Date of hearing:
8 November 2023
Date of judgment:
14 November 2023
Appearances
On behalf of the
Applicant: Adv. J. G. Botha
Instructed by: Postma
Attorneys
On behalf of the 1
st
Respondent: Adv, M. Smit
Instructed by: Martin
Pike Incorporated
℅
Vos
Attorneys
[1]
2014
(1) SA 212 (SCA)
[2]
At
paragraph [16]
[3]
Emphasis
added
[4]
1985
(2) SA 429 (AD)
[5]
At
439C-E
[6]
Emphasis
added.
[7]
At
439G-H
[8]
Emphasis
added
[9]
Raven
Plantation v Abrey
1928 AD 143
at 153; Randbank Bpk v Santam
Versekeringsmaatskappy Bpk
1965 (2) SA 456
(W) at, inter alia,
457G-458C; Chappell v Gohl
1928 CPD 47
; Randbank Bpk v Santam
Versekeringsmaatskappy Bpk
1965 (4) SA 363
(AG) at 372D-E
[10]
2012
(4) SA 593
(SCA) at paragraph [18]
[11]
Capitec
Bank Holdings Ltd and Another v Coral Lagoon Investments 194 (Pty)
Ltd 2021 JDR148 (SCA) at paragraph [254]
[12]
University
of Johannesburg v Auckland Park Theological Seminary and Another
2021 (6) SA 1
(CC) at paragraph [65]
[13]
(264/2019)
[2020] ZASCA 16
(25 March 2020)
[14]
At
paragraph [8]
[15]
Capitec
Bank Holdings Ltd (supra) at paragraphs [35] and [36]
[16]
Basson
v Remini and Another 1992 (2) SA 322 (NPD)
[17]
Emphasis
added
[18]
Emphasis
added
[19]
At
440B
[20]
Emphasis
added
[21]
Paragraph
[12] ibid
[22]
Paragraph
[31] abid
[23]
2019
JDR0716 (WCC)
[24]
At
page 14; Minister of Agriculture (supra) at 218E-F
[25]
Baker
(supra) at 437C-E; AGU (supra) at 4
sino noindex
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