Metro Western Cape (Pty) Ltd. v Ross (20/85) [1986] ZASCA 36; [1986] 2 All SA 288 (A) (26 March 1986)

Metro Western Cape (Pty) Ltd. v Ross (20/85) [1986] ZASCA 36; [1986] 2 All SA 288 (A) (26 March 1986)

The Supreme Court of Appeal held that the Registration and Licensing of Businesses Ordinance was enacted to control the suitability of persons and premises for specified businesses in the public interest, not to regulate the contractual relationship between traders and customers. The prohibition in section 3 is...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
[1986] ZASCA 36
Parties
Appellant: Metro Western Cape (Pty) Limited; Respondent: Dennis Robert Ross
Court
Supreme Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction
South Africa
Judgment Date
26 March 1986
Case Number
20/85
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal / Appeal From the Witwatersrand Local Division
Outcome
Appeal upheld. Judgment of the court a quo set aside and replaced with judgment for the plaintiff.
Judges
Rabie, Jansen, Trengove, Viljoen, Boshoff
Legal Topics
Illegality of Contract, Statutory Prohibition, Registration and Licensing of Businesses, Public Policy, Enforceability of Contracts
Commercial and Corporate Civil Procedure Illegality of Contract Statutory Prohibition Registration and Licensing of Businesses Public Policy Enforceability of Contracts

Source-derived case record

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

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Parties

Metro Western Cape (Pty) Limited

Appellant

Dennis Robert Ross

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Civil Appeal / Appeal From the Witwatersrand Local Division

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether contracts entered into by a trader operating without the required certificate of registration and licence under the Registration and Licensing of Businesses Ordinance are void and unenforceable.
  2. 2 Whether the statutory prohibition against unlicensed trading renders contracts with innocent customers null and void.
  3. 3 Whether public policy demands that contracts concluded in the course of illegal trading be declared void.

Ratio Decidendi

The Supreme Court of Appeal held that the Registration and Licensing of Businesses Ordinance was enacted to control the suitability of persons and premises for specified businesses in the public interest, not to regulate the contractual relationship between traders and customers. The prohibition in section 3 is directed at the person carrying on business without a certificate of registration and licence, not at the making or performance of particular contracts. The court found that rendering contracts void would cause grave inconvenience and injustice to innocent customers, depriving them of contractual remedies. The legislative intent, as ascertained from the ordinance as a whole, was to...

Court Disposition

Appeal upheld. Judgment of the court a quo set aside and replaced with judgment for the plaintiff.

Orders

  • Judgment for the plaintiff in the amount of R25,785.44 with interest thereon at the rate of 11 per cent per annum from 19 November 1981 to date of payment and costs of suit.