The President of the Republic of South Africa and Others v Gauteng Lions Rugby Union and Another (Louis Luyt)

The matter concerned an application to review the taxation of a party-and-party bill of costs in the Constitutional Court. The disputed bill arose from an appeal and a related application for the recusal of all Constitutional Court judges, proceedings which together occupied eight days of hearing. The appellants (the President of the Republic of South Africa and others) were successful in both the recusal application and the appeal, and were awarded costs, including the costs of three counsel. Two separate costs orders were made: the costs of the recusal application were awarded against Dr Louis Luyt alone, while the costs of the appeal were awarded against Dr Luyt and the Gauteng Lions Rugby Union jointly and severally. The appellants submitted a single composite bill of costs which did not distinguish between recusal and appeal costs. On taxation, the taxing master substantially allowed the bill, including counsel’s fees and an attorney’s perusal fee. The respondents sought review of the taxation, challenging only the amounts allowed for counsel’s fees and the attorney’s perusal fee.

The challenge to the attorney’s perusal fee was rejected. The final outcome regarding the review of counsel’s fees and the overall disposition of the review application cannot be fully determined from the provided text, as the judgment is incomplete.

The case is significant for clarifying the Constitutional Court’s approach to the review of taxed bills of costs and for aligning that approach with established Supreme Court of Appeal jurisprudence. It provides important guidance on the principles governing party-and-party costs in complex constitutional litigation, the deference owed to taxing masters, and the application of SCA tariff provisions in the Constitutional Court context.