Legal Articles and Guides

Judgment was reserved in the Western Cape High Court yesterday on Western Province (Pty) Ltd's application for liquidation. The delay was a partial success for Aerios who has been in a legal battle with the commercial arm of the Western Province Rugby Union. The provisional state of liquidation, however, is extended, notes a Sport24 report. Aerios, through Advocate Chris Eloff, had claimed that WP’s sole intended desire through the liquidation was to get rid of Aerios as one of its creditors.

Ishwarlall Ramlutchman – convicted of fraud and corruption – stands to lose millions after the SCA ordered that an inquiry be held to determine how much money should be confiscated from him, says a report in The Mercury. Ramlutchman might have thought his assets were safe after both the trial court and the KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) ruled that his assets could not be confiscated because the state had not determined the exact amount by which he had benefited through his fraudulent activities.

Flush from winning a key round in litigation against the gold-mining industry on behalf of victims of silicosis this year, lawyer Richard Spoor is set to launch a similar case next year, also at the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg), says a Business Times report. The case involves 22 former coal miners who say they contracted lung diseases after working at petrochemicals giant Sasol. ‘We are very confident. This is a winnable case,’ Spoor said.

Negotiations between the inventor of 'Please Call Me', Kenneth Makate, and Vodacom have stalled and the matter will return to court. Makate has applied for an order at the Constitutional Court, seeking clarification on the import and meaning of a judgment handed down earlier this year. The court ruled in April this year that Johannesburg-based Vodacom must compensate Makate for the Please Call Me idea.

The SCA has found a racial quota policy implemented for the appointment of liquidators to be unlawful and invalid. It ruled on Friday that an appeal against a finding of its unconstitutionality be ‘dismissed with costs,’ upholding the High Court’s finding of the policy as ‘unconstitutional and irrational’ as well as ‘unlawful and invalid’, notes a News24 report.

An interim interdict prohibiting rape protesters at Rhodes University from unlawful behaviour‚ including intimidating‚ kidnapping and assaulting others‚ was dismissed almost in its entirety yesterday, says a TimesLIVE report. The Eastern Cape High Court (Grahamstown) confirmed the interdict‚ in an abridged form‚ against only three named students‚ Sian Ferguson‚ Yolanda Dyantyi and Simamkele Heleni.

The Limpopo High Court has granted an interdict against the 'Doom prophet', says a News24 report. Limpopo Health Department spokesperson Derrick Kganyago says the department has been granted an interdict by the Limpopo High Court to stop the ‘Doom prophet’ Lethebo Rabalago from spraying poisonous insecticide on his congregation.

The City of Tshwane and the Ekurhuleni municipality have approached the Constitutional Court to appeal against a judgment that municipalities may not hold a property owner liable for a previous owner’s historical municipal debts. A Business Day report notes the judgment of the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) gave relief to home and business owners who had been saddled with years of historical municipal debt, and who have been refused municipal services until the debt had been settled.

The SCA has acquitted a man who was sentenced to life in prison for murder and robbery. According to a News24 report, Daniel Mahlalela's murder and robbery conviction was set aside after he had spent 16 years in prison. Mahlalela, along with two other people, who were not part of his appeal, were charged with murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and possession of a firearm.

Neighbours in the Nahoon River Estate in Beacon Bay are in a legal war over a massive R4m home being built, which they say contravenes numerous municipal zoning and other regulations. A Daily Dispatch report says Vanessa and Brian Burrows – who own two houses alongside the massive, unfinished structure belonging to Mcebisi Ntlikithi – have resorted to the Eastern Cape High Court (Grahamstown) over the mansion being built next to them.

The contingency fee issue that continues to cause ructions in the legal fraternity was back in the news yesterday when law firm Fluxmans persuaded the SCA a client’s claim that a fee agreement was invalid because it did not comply with the Contingency Fees Act had in fact prescribed, notes Daily News.

The Hermanus Market Traders Co-operative (HMTC) is taking the Overstrand municipality to the SCA in a bid to overturn a Western Cape High Court decision that it had no legitimate expectation to have the trading leases of its members renewed. A Cape Times report says the HMTC turned to the courts after it was served an eviction order following the termination of its trading leases at the market in February 2015.

Twenty-seven adults and six children who have been living on the street outside the building in Yeoville‚ Johannesburg‚ from which they were unlawfully evicted almost two weeks ago have been given the right by the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) to return home. This was confirmed by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC)‚ which represented the families, notes a TimesLIVE report.

The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has ordered that regulations capping rates and fees on short-term credit agreements be reviewed and set aside. This is on the grounds that the National Credit Regulator (NCR) and the Minister of Trade and Industry failed to consider the effect these caps would have on the microlending industry and the provision of short-term credit to consumers.

After a battle lasting more than four years, the residents of Brooklyn in Pretoria have permission to implement road closures and make their area a gated community, says a Pretoria News report. The protracted battle with the city started in 2012 and eventually went to the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) on various occasions. This week, Judge Neil Tuchten suggested the parties should try to find common ground.