Minister of Department of Rural Development and LAnd Reform and others v Jacobs and another
| Jurisdiction | http://justis.com/jurisdiction/166,South Africa |
| Judge | Muvangua AJ |
| Judgment Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Citation | 2023 JDR 0608 (LCC) |
| Docket Number | LCC19/2022 |
| Hearing Date | 17 November 2022 |
| Court | Land Claims Court |
Muvangua AJ:
Introduction:
The applicants seek an order from this court condoning the late filing of their answering affidavit in review proceedings before this court and under the same case number. I will refer to those proceedings as the main proceedings in this judgment.
The application for condonation arises out of the following background. On February 2022, the respondents, who are the applicants in the main proceedings, filed an application for the review and setting aside of a decision to pay them compensation of R36 000.00 in respect of claims lodged by the applicants (in the main proceedings).
The applicants (who are respondents in the main proceedings) were, in terms of the rules of this court, required to file the record of decision within 15 days from the date of the review application. The record should therefore have been filed on 25 February 2022. It was, however, only provided on 13 April 2022. This was about a month and a half after the prescribed period.
2023 JDR 0608 p3
Muvangua AJ
The respondents filed their amended notice of motion and supplementary founding papers on 10 May 2022. The applicants had 15 days from that date to file the answering affidavit. This means that it was due to be filed on 31 May 2022. It was, however, filed on 22 June 2022.
The respondents served the applicants with a notice to bar on 16 May 2022. Although served before the dies for the filling of answering affidavit was up, this notice got the applicants to jump into action and start preparing the answering affidavit. The draft was sent to the clients for signature on 26 May 2022. [1] The applicants' legal representative, Ms Hanli Glanvill ("Ms Glanvill") says in her founding affidavit that she did not follow up with her clients (the applicants) on the signing of the affidavit "because there was no pressure . . . as there was no notice of bar."
The respondents served a notice of bar on the applicants on 9 June 2022. Ms Glanvill says in her found affidavit that she only became aware of the notice of bar by chance on 22 June 2022.
Legal Principles Applicable to the Granting of Condonation:
The principles applicable to the granting of condonation are settled in law. The Constitutional Court in Mphephu-Ramabulana [2] summarised the legal position as follows:
". . . compliance with this Court's Rules and timelines is not optional, and . . . condonation for any non-compliance is not at hand merely for the asking. The question in each case is "whether the interests of justice permit" that condonation be granted. Factors such as the extent and cause of the delay, the reasonableness of the explanation for the delay, the effect of the delay on the administration of justice
2023 JDR 0608 p4
Muvangua AJ
and other litigants, and the prospects of success on the merits if condonation is granted, are relevant to determining what the interests of justice dictate in any given case." [3]
The court may take the following factors into account...
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