South African legal developments

The High Court in Johannesburg heard an appeal against a forfeiture order under POCA concerning a truck and trailer. The court said the vehicles were instrumentalities of robbery, rejected the innocent owner defence, and dismissed the appeal with costs.

SAFlii has listed this judgment: China Coal No 5 Construction SA v Bakubung Minerals (Pty) Ltd and Others (2024/138173) [2026] ZAGPJHC 988 (1 September 2026).

The judgment concerns an urgent Rule 43(6) application in a long running divorce matter in the Gauteng Division, Johannesburg. The court dealt with a request for a further contribution towards trial costs and a counter-application for maintenance pendente lite and a contribution towards the Respondent's trial costs. The order granted a contribution towards the Applicant's trial costs and dismissed the counter-application.

The High Court dealt with an opposed application about arrear rental, electrical repair costs, restoration damages, and a suretyship arising from a commercial lease. It found the arrear rental and electrical repair claims established, referred the general restoration damages claim to oral evidence, and held that the suretyship remained extant. The court also ordered interest at 1.5% per month from 2 October 2024 on the amount awarded.

The High Court heard an appeal by the Minister of Police against an award of damages for past and future loss of earnings after the respondent lost his right eye in a 2011 shooting incident involving SAPS members. The judgment discusses the trial court's assessment of the respondent's work history, psychological evidence, and actuarial calculations, and concludes that there was no basis to interfere with the award. The appeal was dismissed with costs.

The Western Cape High Court reviewed a magistrates' court matter about two accused who failed to appear, after which bail was provisionally cancelled and bail money provisionally forfeited. The court said the magistrate erred by imposing a sentence after the section 67 enquiry, and set aside the sentence imposed in respect of accused two.

SAFlii has listed this judgment: Nxtgen Student Living (Pty) Ltd v Teejay Properties (Pty) Ltd (044466/26) [2026] ZAGPPHC 996 (1 September 2026).

The High Court dealt with an application for summary judgment arising from an arrangement under which the defendants received rental paid by tenants into the first defendant’s bank account. The court found that the arrangement was not a loan, but an agency style arrangement for receiving, administering and investing the plaintiff’s rental monies, and granted summary judgment with an order for accounting and payment of interest.

The High Court in Pretoria considered applications for leave to appeal in Cousins Coal Co (Pty) Ltd and others v Black Gold Resources (Pty) Ltd. The court said it was satisfied that no other court would reasonably come to another conclusion and dismissed the applications with costs, including the costs of two counsel.

The Labour Appeal Court dealt with an appeal about a review of an arbitration award concerning the dismissal of a senior public service employee. It found that the commissioner’s findings were reasonable and supported by the evidence, and it dismissed the appeal. The court also noted that the failure to attend meetings over a few days did not justify dismissal.

The notice states that, under section 32(6)(a)(i) of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, the Director: Collective Bargaining extends the periods fixed in Government Notice Nos R. 1416 of 01 November 1019 and R. 1642 of 24 December 2021. The extension runs for a further period ending 28 February 2027.

The notice extends the public comment period for the Proposed Competency Framework (Revised 2026) from 7 September 2026 to 30 September 2026. It says the final framework was originally due to go to the IRBA Board in October 2026, but will now be presented in January 2027.

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development invites written comments on the Executive Members’ Ethics Amendment Bill, 2026. The notice says the Bill aims to amend the Executive Members’ Ethics Act, 1998 and lists changes relating to definitions, ethics-code functions, reporting, tabling of reports, and sanctions.

The notice calls for comments on draft amendments to the Social Assistance Act, 2004 regulations. It says the Minister intends to amend regulations on applications for and payment of social assistance, and on eligibility requirements or conditions, as set out in the Schedule.

ICASA gives notice of its intention to mandate the use of nine service codes designated for provincial government services. The notice says the codes will be mandatory after 180 calendar days from publication and that interested parties are invited to submit written representations within 30 working days.

The judgment concerns an application to rescind default judgment granted on 19 March 2025 under case number 2024-126579. The court dismissed the application in respect of claims 2 and 7, and also dismissed it in respect of claim 1. Costs were ordered against the applicant on the attorney and client scale.