Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa & another v Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa & others

Following the church union in 1999 between the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (RPCSA), all congregations, including the Tiyo Soga Memorial Congregation in Langa, became part of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA). In 2004, a breakaway group from the Tiyo Soga Congregation withdrew from the UPCSA and claimed to revert to the RPCSA, although the RPCSA effectively existed only to finalise transfer of assets to the UPCSA. This breakaway group represented itself to the City of Cape Town as the RPCSA and applied to purchase erf 546, which the City approved and transferred to the RPCSA in 2007. When the same group later applied to purchase erf 547, the UPCSA and the Langa Congregation objected, contending that the group neither constituted nor represented the RPCSA. The appellants sought to set aside the sale and transfer of erf 546 and to interdict consideration of the application for erf 547.

The appeal was upheld with costs. The order of the High Court was set aside and replaced with an order setting aside the sale, transfer and registration of erf 546; interdicting the City from considering the respondent’s application to purchase erf 547 until the Langa Congregation submits its own application within a reasonable time; and directing the first respondent to pay the costs. Condonation for late filing was granted, with costs orders as specified.

The case is significant for clarifying the application of error in persona and misrepresentation in public contracts, reaffirming that a material mistake as to the identity of a contracting party prevents consensus and the formation of a contract. It also reinforces the limits of the abstract theory of transfer by confirming that registration does not pass ownership in the absence of a valid real agreement. The judgment underscores principles of legality, transparency and accountability in the alienation of public property by organs of state.