Legal Articles and Guides

The head of Shell's global business processing centre, Busisiwe Mashiyi, was allegedly hounded out of Hout Bay, the upmarket Cape Town suburb, only eight months after moving there in 2012 because of her racist landlord, who ‘chased her like prey’, according to an acting judge. A Sunday Times report says Mashiyi complained to the Equality Court, sitting in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court, that Keith Watkins discriminated against her from the day he realised she was black.

The affiliation between a landlord and a tenant can often be difficult. Problems arise which cannot be harmoniously resolved and the necessity for self-regulating party turn out to be essential. It is so easy for misinterpretations and disagreements to ascend amongst landlords and tenants, and although greatest of these issues can be determined with a bit of open communiqué and compromise, from time to time self-governing third-party intercession is required.

Whether you are a tenant or a landlord, chances are that sooner or later you are going to be asking yourself the question “What happens if the lease is cancelled early?” Of course there are no free lunches in life, …

Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba has been accused of abusing the criminal justice system and conspiracy in arresting a man alleged to be the kingpin behind several hijacked buildings in the city, reports TimesLIVE. Appearing in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court yesterday for his bail hearing, Jonathan Constable charged that Mashaba was irresponsible in labelling him a kingpin, claiming instead that he was a member of the National Immigrants Council of SA union and was attempting to help tenants.

With the economic crises of uncertainty, buying property is uniquely one of the major and possibly utmost worthwhile venture choices that an owner can make. Property increases in value and does not depreciate. Possessing your own property generates a lot of security for businesses, especially if they own their own premises. It also permits owners to guarantee the facility by ensuring that the premises is appropriate for the industry or business ventures s/he is currently in. It also ensure that one does not need to pay rent, as paying rent is paying for someone else’s bond in which they reap the rewards of investment.

The operators of Cape Town's Garden Court hotel will turn to the Constitutional Court to avoid eviction, TimesLIVE reports. The 292-room hotel, operated by Tsogo Sun, has been ordered by the SCA to vacate the premises in Woodstock by 31 March for failure to pay its monthly rent of R694 585 in 2014.

It was never going to end in the Western Cape High Court. A Cape Times report says this was the statement from Judge Elizabeth Baartman yesterday of the case involving the future of about 200 rural pupils, as she granted the Grootkraal community leave to have their case heard in the SCA.

The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has come to the rescue of a 68-year-old woman who was about to be evicted from her home, says a TimesLIVE report. Mary Rahube launched an application to declare that she is the owner of the property in Mabopane on which she has lived since 1977.

‘If you get sent to Wolwerivier, what is the chance that you will be able to get out of Wolwerivier, or are you essentially going on a permanent basis,’ asked Acting Judge Mark Sher in the eviction case of 27 residents of Bromwell Street, Woodstock. A GroundUp report says the families have returned to the Western Cape High Court where a new judge is now hearing the case. The families are facing eviction to Wolwerivier after the Woodstock Hub bought the property on which they live.

The developers behind the multibillion-rand upgrade to Durban’s Point precinct want the water sports clubs out, and they have gone to court to have a judge evict them from their shared clubhouse, says a report in The Mercury. The Durban Point Development Company notes the clubhouse is right where a new promenade is supposed to be built, and that delays in construction are going to translate into a ‘direct increased cost’ of around R100 000 a day for them.

More than 700 structures were demolished by City Law Enforcement agencies over the weekend. According to a Cape Argus report, this comes days after the Western Cape High Court dismissed an application to evict 60 000 people living in the Marikana informal settlement in Philippi. Three mass land invasions in Khayelitsha prompted the City to demolish at least 751 occupied and unoccupied structures.

A former shop tenant who took the management of Dragon City Wholesale Mall in Fordsburg, Johannesburg, to court in a bid to retake control of his business has had his urgent application dismissed and been told to pay all legal fees, says a Saturday Star report. Bareket Gebru, who initially leased out two shops at the centre, accused the landlords of using their bodyguards to forcefully remove, intimidate and assault him, as well as holding at least R500 000 worth of stock to ransom.

A recent High Court judgment of Abigak 1 General Trading & Investment CC v Gani and Another; Gani and Another v Balkin and Others (1184/16; 6620/16) [2017] ZAGPJHC 126 is yet another reminder of how essential it is to comply with all necessary formalities when entering into any sort of agreement, particularly when dealing with the sale of property.

The Constitutional Court’s decision in Baron and others v Claytile (Pty) Limited and Another is a missed opportunity to enhance the usefulness of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act (Esta) as a tool that can enable farm dwellers to take control of their lives. The Act recognises that the farm dweller’s rights to live on commercial farmlands are precarious.

Former employees of a brick plant in Cape Town have lost their five-year battle to hold on to their farm homes, notes a TimesLIVE report. Yesterday the Constitutional Court said they should move 30km from Muldersvlei‚ near Klapmuts‚ to Wolwerivier‚ near Atlantis‚ which they argued is too far from their children’s schools and their workplace. A spokesperson for Lawyers for Human Rights‚ which represented the ex-employees‚ said the judgment was disappointing.