Janse van Rensburg and Others v WAD Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Others (29458/2022) [2022] ZAGPPHC 974 (5 December 2022)

Parties

Procedural Posture

Urgent Application / Application to Strike Urgent Matter From the Roll

Legal Issues

1. 1 Whether the urgency claimed by the applicants is self-created and fatal to the urgent application.
2. 2 Whether the applicants are entitled to interdict the sale of shares pending finalisation of other litigation.
3. 3 Whether the conduct of the applicants warrants a punitive costs order.

Ratio Decidendi

The court found that the urgency relied upon by the applicants was entirely self-created, arising from their own dilatory conduct in prosecuting multiple actions, arbitrations, and applications over several years. The applicants failed to advance their litigation with diligence, and the imminent sale of shares was a foreseeable event that could have been addressed earlier. The court held that there were no compelling interests of justice, such as fraud or collusion, to justify indulgence of the urgent application. The applicants' repeated changes of position and procedural manoeuvres amounted to vexatious conduct, warranting censure. Accordingly, the application was struck off the roll,...

Court Disposition

Application struck off the roll; punitive costs awarded against applicants.

Orders

• The application is struck off the roll.
• The applicants are ordered to pay the costs of the opposing respondents on the scale as between attorney and client, including the costs of two counsel, where employed.