Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund — Claim rejection — Applicant seeking review of the Fund's decision to reject a claim for misappropriated trust funds — Funds deposited into attorney's trust account for property transaction not transferred as agreed — Court finding that the attorney's actions constituted theft under the Legal Practice Act — Fund's rejection of claim deemed unlawful and unreasonable as the applicant's loss resulted from the attorney's misappropriation, not from the seller's default.
Family Law — Interim relief — Application for spousal maintenance and care of minor children — Applicant sought interim relief under Rule 43 for maintenance, medical aid, relocation costs, and legal fees pending divorce — Respondent opposed, claiming inability to meet requested amounts — Court considered the financial circumstances of both parties and the applicant's reasonable needs — Condonation granted for late filing of opposing affidavit — Court held that the respondent has a duty to support the applicant and ordered spousal maintenance and contributions towards accommodation costs, finding the respondent's tender inadequate in light of the applicant's unemployment and the need for reasonable support.
Review — Costs order — Application to review costs order granted by Regional Magistrate — Applicants contending costs order was a product of bias and gross irregularity — Court finding that the First Respondent exercised her discretion judicially and provided rational basis for differential treatment of costs — Application for review dismissed.
Unfair Dismissal — Automatically unfair dismissal — Protected disclosure — Employee dismissed for allegedly breaching ICT policy after making protected disclosure to SIU regarding procurement irregularities — Employee contended dismissal was retaliatory, linked to whistleblowing — Court found causal nexus between disclosure and dismissal, ruling dismissal was automatically unfair — Employee awarded reinstatement and full costs.
Execution — Summary judgment — Application for summary judgment for payment and declaration of immovable property executable — Defendants contesting compliance with section 129 of the National Credit Act — Court finding that notice was properly addressed and served — Defendants failing to provide evidence of financial circumstances to support their defence against execution — Summary judgment granted in favour of plaintiffs, declaring property specially executable and setting reserve price.
Liquidation — Provisional liquidation — Application for provisional liquidation of Respondent by Applicant alleging inability to pay debts — Respondent defaulted on payments under instalment sale agreement and settlement agreement — Respondent acknowledged indebtedness but failed to provide required guarantee and make payment — Court satisfied that Respondent is unable to pay its debts and that Applicant complied with Companies Act requirements for liquidation — Rule nisi granted for provisional liquidation.
Civil Procedure — Rule 30A(1)(a) — Application to compel compliance with court orders — Applicants sought orders compelling the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to deliver undertakings as previously ordered by the court; RAF failed to comply with these orders — Court considered the interpretation of Rule 30A(1)(a) regarding orders "made by a court" — Found that Rule 30A(1)(a) applies solely to procedural and interlocutory orders made by a court, and not to substantive compliance with existing court orders; the proper remedy for non-compliance is to apply for contempt of court.
Striking off — Roll of legal practitioners — Removal of attorney from roll — Respondent's name struck off due to misconduct — Applicant sought removal of respondent's name from the roll of legal practitioners, citing serious breaches of professional conduct — Court held that the respondent's actions warranted removal from the roll, and appointed a Curator Bonis to manage the respondent's trust accounts and related financial matters.
Family Law — Divorce — Application for leave to appeal against appointment of curator ad personam — Applicant contested the appointment, arguing it infringed on her parental rights and was unnecessary as the children were not cognitively impaired — Legal issue centered on whether the court erred in appointing a curator ad personam without evidence of parental incapacity — Court dismissed the application for leave to appeal, affirming the decision and maintaining the order's execution pending all appeal processes.
Appeal — Tax Court — Duty of consideration — Full Court unable to entertain appeal due to late submission of substantial material — Appellant's failure to provide complete record in a timely manner resulted in postponement of appeal and order for wasted costs. The Tax Court was presented with 6,543 pages of documents, but the relevant appeal material was not fully available until shortly before the hearing, hindering the court's ability to prepare adequately. The appellant and their attorneys were held responsible for the delay, leading to the conclusion that the appeal must be postponed and costs awarded against the appellant.
Costs — Appeal against costs order — Court a quo ordering appellant to pay costs of postponement on attorney-and-client scale — Appellant contending that respondents did not seek punitive costs in their application — Court finding that the respondents failed to establish jurisdictional requirements for postponement — Appeal upheld and costs order set aside, with respondents ordered to pay appellant's costs.
Summary Judgment — Security for judgment — Defendant provided bank guarantee as security for potential judgment amounting to R39 million — Plaintiffs challenged adequacy of security and sought to file additional affidavit — Court held that further affidavit was inadmissible under Rule 32(4) and that the security provided was sufficient to satisfy the court's requirements — Summary judgment application granted.