Transvaal Provincial Administration v Letanka

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Court: Appellate Division
• Judge: Innes CJ, Solomon JA, De Villiers JA, Juta JA and Kotzé JA
• Judgment Date: 13 November 1922
• Citation: 1923 AD 102
• Hearing Date: 25 October 1922

Solomon, J.A.:

The question to be decided in this appeal is whether the Provincial Division was right in holding that Ordinance 7 of 1921 (Transvaal), in so far as it imposed a poll tax on natives, is ultra vires, on the ground that it conflicts with the provisions of sec. 3 (2) of Act 5 of 1921. That sub-section provides that "Anything to the contrary notwithstanding in the South Africa Act, 1909, or in Act No. 10 of 1913, a Provincial Council shall not have power to make an Ordinance imposing direct taxation on natives, unless the Ordinance also impose taxation at a like rate and with like incidence on persons other than natives. . . . . . ." Ordinance 7 of 1921 imposes a poll tax upon every adult ordinarily resident within the Province, but the provisions applicable to natives and to persons other than natives are contained in separate chapters and differ in several respects. The question to be decided is whether the Ordinance, in imposing a poll tax upon natives, has at the same time "imposed taxation, at a like rate and with like incidence, on persons other than natives."

To answer that question it is necessary first to determine the meaning of "like," as it appears in sec. 3 (2) of Act 5 of 1921. That the word is capable of being used in more senses than one is clear. "Like" may mean either "the same" or "similar." As applied to "rate," however, it can only signify "the same." For the rate of a poll tax is something which is exactly expressed in numbers or...