Feltre Trust and Others v Middelvlei Tenacres Properties (Pty) Ltd and Others (2024/019326) [2025] ZAGPJHC 549 (26 May 2025)

Feltre Trust and Others v Middelvlei Tenacres Properties (Pty) Ltd and Others (2024/019326) [2025] ZAGPJHC 549 (26 May 2025)

The court found that the failure to attach the trustee resolution to the sale agreement or founding affidavit did not render the contract void, as the resolution was executed prior to the agreement and authority was not challenged until later. The agreement was validly concluded and cancelled, and the penalty clause...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
[2025] ZAGPJHC 549
Parties
Applicant: Feltre Trust; Applicant: Ryan Winston Read NO; Applicant: David Edward Rhodes Sargent NO; Respondent: Middelvlei Tenacres Properties (Pty) Ltd; Respondent: Edwin Thabo Letopa; Respondent: Kwa Attorneys & Conveyancers
Court
South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg
Jurisdiction
South Africa
Judgment Date
26 May 2025
Case Number
2024/019326
Procedural Posture
Leave to Appeal / Application for Leave to Appeal Following Judgment and Orders on Validity and Cancellation of Sale Agreement
Outcome
Leave to appeal is refused. Costs of the application for leave to appeal are awarded against the respondents on a party-and-party scale, with counsel's fees on scale C.
Judges
Nigrini
Legal Topics
Alienation of Land Act, Conventional Penalties Act, Contract Cancellation, Authority of Trustees, Case Management, Oral Evidence Referral
Civil Procedure Land and Property Commercial and Corporate Alienation of Land Act Conventional Penalties Act Contract Cancellation Authority of Trustees Case Management +1 more

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Parties

Feltre Trust

Applicant

Ryan Winston Read NO

Applicant

David Edward Rhodes Sargent NO

Applicant

Middelvlei Tenacres Properties (Pty) Ltd

Respondent

Edwin Thabo Letopa

Respondent

Kwa Attorneys & Conveyancers

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Leave to Appeal / Application for Leave to Appeal Following Judgment and Orders on Validity and Cancellation of Sale Agreement

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the failure to attach a trustee resolution to the sale agreement or founding affidavit renders the contract void.
  2. 2 Whether the agreement was validly cancelled and the deposit forfeited.
  3. 3 Whether the penalty clause is disproportionate and requires oral evidence.

Ratio Decidendi

The court found that the failure to attach the trustee resolution to the sale agreement or founding affidavit did not render the contract void, as the resolution was executed prior to the agreement and authority was not challenged until later. The agreement was validly concluded and cancelled, and the penalty clause invoked the Conventional Penalties Act, making proportionality a live issue. The referral to oral evidence on proportionality was within the court's discretion under Rule 6(5)(g) and did not violate the functus officio doctrine, as it was an interlocutory order. The respondents' counterclaim was procedurally defective but did not affect the outcome, and costs on attorney and...

Court Disposition

Leave to appeal is refused. Costs of the application for leave to appeal are awarded against the respondents on a party-and-party scale, with counsel's fees on scale C.

Orders

  • Leave to appeal to the Full Court of this division, Gauteng North Division, Pretoria, or the Supreme Court of Appeal is refused.
  • The respondents are ordered to pay the costs of this application for leave to appeal on a party-and-party scale, with counsel's fees on scale C.