The Supreme Court of Appeal held that a public authority may not exercise powers which are not given to it by the express wording of its empowering statute. The relevant empowering provision in the Medical Schemes Act gives the Registrar the power to decide whether a medical scheme’s proposed name is likely to mislead the … Continue reading
Life may not be fair but investigations should be. Our courts have on many occasions expressed the importance of the principle which requires that people should be afforded a chance to participate in a decision that will affect them and more importantly given an opportunity to influence the result of the decision (the audi alteram … Continue reading
In February the high court confirmed that the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) applies to section 37C decisions on the distribution of death benefits made by the boards of retirement funds under the Pension Funds Act. In Mbatha v Transport Sector Retirement Fund and Salt Employee Benefits the court also confirmed the accepted principles … Continue reading
A government administrator’s decision may be irrational because it does not take into account a vital material fact for making a rational decision in the light of the empowering legislation and its purpose. The relevant question for rationality is whether the means, including the process of making a decision, are linked to the purpose or … Continue reading
One of the functions of the Master of the High Court is to compile a panel of suitable candidates to be appointed as liquidators or trustees of insolvent persons and to remove people who are unsuitable. The adding or exclusion of persons from the panel is administrative action for the purposes of the Promotion of … Continue reading
Where a former managing director of a municipal entity was sued by that entity for alleged breach of the Municipal Finance Management Act 2003 (MFMA) it was held that she was entitled to join 19 other municipal officials on the ground that they were allegedly joint wrongdoers and equally liable to the municipality if she … Continue reading
South Africa is a participatory democracy and where legislation is passed without facilitating public participation, especially by those members of the public most affected, the law is invalid. The Veterinary Association was successful in having the word ‘veterinarian’ severed from an amendment to the Medicine and Related Substances Act because of lack of consultation regarding … Continue reading