December 2021 Law Reports

21 January 2022 11:00 by Merilyn Kader

A discussion of recent reported judgments originally published in December 2021 De Rebus and which have been discussed as and when they were published in the South African Law Reports - the All South African Law Reports, and the Butterworths Constitutional Law Reports.

Readers should note that some reported judgments may have been overruled or overturned on appeal or have an appeal pending against them: Readers should not rely on a judgment discussed here without checking on that possibility – De RebusEditor.

By Merilyn Rowena Kader LLB (Unisa), a Legal Editor at LexisNexis South Africa.

Abbreviations:

CC: Constitutional Court

GP: Gauteng Division, Pretoria

ECG: Eastern Cape Division, Grahamstown

KZD: KwaZulu-Natal Local Division, Durban

LC: Labour Court

LAC: Labour Appeal Court

SCA: Supreme Court of Appeal

WCC: Western Cape Division, Cape Town

  1. Building contract - Dispute resolution by adjudication: Zingwazi Contractors CC v Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements and Others [2021] 4 All SA 299 (ECG).
  2. Civil procedure -Delictual damages arising from conduct of lessor which resulted in demise of lessee’s business: Brentmark (Pty) Ltd and Another v Puma Energy South Africa (Pty) Ltd [2021] 4 All SA 106 (WCC).
  3. Class action- Nature of opt-out class actions: Stellenbosch University Law Clinic and Others v Lifestyle Direct Group International (Pty) Ltd and Others [2021] 4 All SA 219 (WCC).
  4. Constitutional and administrative law - Direct reliance on provisions of Constitution for exercise of right: Electoral Commission of South Africa v Democratic Alliance and Others [2021] 4 All SA 52 (SCA).
  5. Costs in Labour Courts - Rule of practice that costs follow the result does not apply in labour matters: National Union of Mineworkers obo Masha and Others v Samancor Limited (Eastern Chromes Mines) and Others 2021 (10) BCLR 1191 (CC).
  6. Family law and persons -Existence of marriage where alleged wedding ceremony did not fulfil legal requirements: Botha v Steyn [2021] 4 All SA 87 (KZD).
  7. Financial Services Regulation - Nature and requirements of reconsideration application: Mwale v Financial Services and Another [2021] 4 All SA 167 (GP).
  8. Property - Eviction order: Davidan v Polovin NO and Others [2021] 4 All SA 37 (SCA) .
  9. Trade (customs and excise) - Claim for refund of fuel levy by mining company: Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service v Glencore Operations SA (Pty) Ltd [2021] 4 All SA 14 (SCA) .

Note: Select the DECEMBER 2021 LAW REPORTS tag for a full discussion of each of the above cases.

Other cases

Apart from the cases and material dealt with above, the material under review also contained cases dealing with –

  • allocations of fishing quotas in terms of Marine Living Resources Act 18 of 1998;
  • appeal against setting aside of indictment;
  • class action in non-Bill of Rights cases;
  • derivative misconduct of employees;
  • development of common law with ‘due regard to spirit, purport and objects’ of fundamental rights provisions;
  • duty of Parliament and provincial legislatures to facilitate public involvement in legislative processes; and
  • provisional sentence or order.

Merilyn Rowena Kader LLB (Unisa) is a Legal Editor at LexisNexis in Durban.

This article was first published in De Rebus in 2021 (Dec) DR 27.