South Africa Case Law

Sandbaken Boerdery (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service and Another (053180/2022)

Sandbaken Boerdery (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service and Another (053180/2022) [2025] ZAGPPHC 54 (21 January 2025)

Court

North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria

Case number

053180/2022

Judge

Woodrow

The High Court dismissed Sandbaken Boerdery’s diesel refund appeal, finding its invoices and logbooks did not meet the Customs Act’s strict rebate requirements.

• Diesel Refund Scheme
• Customs And Excise Act
• Recordkeeping Requirements
• Onus Of Proof
• Strict Compliance
• Eligible Purchases

Dankie Oupa Delwery CC V Commissioner for the South African Revenue Services (A216/2023)

Dankie Oupa Delwery CC V Commissioner for the South African Revenue Services (A216/2023) [2024] ZAGPPHC 1202 (14 November 2024)

Court

North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria

Case number

A216/2023

Judges

S. Potterill, G.N. Moshoana, N. Engelbrecht

The Court held that the appellant's logbooks did not provide sufficient particularity to distinguish eligible diesel usage for primary mining activities as required by Note 6 to Schedule 6 of the Customs and Excise Act. The descriptions in the logbooks were generic and did not enable SARS to verify that the diesel was used exclusively for qualifying activities. The responsibility to prove entitlement to the refund lies with the claimant, and reliance on generic examples or analogies from SARS's website does not excuse non-compliance with statutory requirements. The Court further found that th…

Source excerpt

• Diesel Refund Scheme
• Customs And Excise Act
• Recordkeeping Requirements
• Eligible Purchases
• Procedural Fairness

Canyon Resources (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (68281/2016)

Canyon Resources (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (68281/2016) [2023] ZAGPPHC 1957 (30 November 2023)

Court

North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria

Case number

68281/2016

Judge

N Davis

The High Court upheld SARS’s refusal of diesel refund claims under rebate item 670.04, finding the applicant’s records too vague and inconsistent to prove eligible use.

• Diesel Refund
• Customs And Excise Act
• Rebate Item 670 04
• Recordkeeping Requirements
• Eligible Use Of Diesel
• Burden Of Proof

Mbali Coal (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Services (81950/2019)

Mbali Coal (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Services (81950/2019) [2023] ZAGPPHC 1792; 84 SATC 353 (5 October 2023)

Court

North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria

Case number

81950/2019

Judge

Bam

The High Court dismissed Mbali Coal’s appeal against SARS’s disallowance of diesel refund claims, holding the activities were post-mining and the records were inadequate.

• Diesel Refund Scheme
• Customs And Excise Act
• Primary Production Activities
• Recordkeeping Requirements
• Judicial Deference
• Diesel-refund-scheme

Dankie Oupa Delwery CC v Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service

Dankie Oupa Delwery CC v Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service [2023] ZAGPPHC 344; 39598/20 (10 March 2023)

Court

North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria

Case number

39598/20

Judge

Ceylon

The High Court granted leave to appeal in a dispute about diesel fuel rebate recordkeeping, fuel-usage logbooks, and the scope of a statutory appeal.

• Diesel Fuel Rebate
• Recordkeeping Requirements
• Leave To Appeal Test
• Customs And Excise Act
• Statutory Compliance
• Leave-to-appeal