In November 2024, the Supreme Court of Appeal (court) set a precedent for Valuation Appeal Boards (VABs) in South Africa, reaffirming the importance of providing clear and reasoned decisions. The court highlighted that VABs, which are entrusted to adjudicate over valuation appeals in accordance with section 54 of the Local Government:
In this appeal the Supreme Court of Appeal found that a party to a contract could, to avoid liability, rely on the exclusion of damages clause and time-bar clause despite their repudiation of the agreement having resulted in cancellation.
It was undisputed that the contract precluded a claim for damages for loss of profit and
In April 2025 the Supreme Court of Appeal held on the facts that an alleged oral agreement between two family trusts was not valid and binding because there was no meeting of the minds between the negotiating parties, particularly as to the purchase price for the shares.
The parties had fallen out and, at an
In March 2025 the Supreme Court of Appeal reaffirmed that if the exercise of a power depends on the existence of a state of affairs as a jurisdictional fact, in the absence of a clear expression to the contrary, the person exercising that power will not likely be found to be the only judge as
Previous decisions suggesting that a preamble does not affect the interpretation of a contract are no longer correct in the light of the modern approach to interpretation of contracts which gives consideration to the language used, the context and the purpose of the document.
In a decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal in late
In a January 2025 judgment the Supreme Court of Appeal again affirmed the principle that where an agreement lapses automatically because of the failure to fulfil the suspensive terms of the contract, the lapsed contract cannot be amended or revived. The parties have to enter into a new agreement.
It was a condition of a
On 29 November 2024 the Supreme Court of Appeal found that, where the National Consumer Commission was represented in the high court by a former attorney who had no right of appearance because his name had been struck from the roll of legal practitioners, it fundamentally prejudiced the administration of justice and the proceedings were a
This blog was co-authored by Hannah Howell, Candidate Attorney.
In October 2024 the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that an agreement for the purchase of immovable property could not be revived by an addendum to the existing agreement. A new agreement is required subsequent to the lapse of a suspensive condition contained in the agreement.
In a previous blog, we illustrated that an applicant needs to meet all the legal requirements for urgent interim relief before a court will grant such relief. On 17 September 2024, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) handed down a judgment which reaffirmed this point.
The matter arose from a dispute between the
On 8 April 2024 the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered a judgment affirming that the residence of the defendant alone does not confer jurisdiction on the South African courts where no other link exists between the claim and the jurisdiction of the South African courts.
A South African company sought an order in terms