Mabutho Innocent Shabalala v Little Swifts Investments (62) (Pty) Ltd and Others

The applicant resided on a farm known as Bell Park in Winterton, KwaZulu-Natal. In 2008 he brought an application (LCC104/2008) in the Land Claims Court seeking relief relating to grazing and alleged interference with his land use rights. On the hearing date, his attorneys sought to amend the notice of motion to include eviction-related relief. The amendment was refused and the entire application was dismissed with costs on an attorney-and-client (punitive) scale. Pursuant to that costs order, the respondents obtained a taxed bill of costs and a warrant of execution. The sheriff attached and sold the applicant’s cattle in execution. The applicant then launched the present application seeking to set aside the bill of costs and the warrant of execution, to interdict further execution pending taxation of costs, and to restrain the sheriff from attaching his assets.

The application was dismissed. The applicant was ordered to pay the costs of all respondents on a party-and-party scale.

The case affirms that a costs order dismissing an application applies to the entire matter unless clearly limited, and that minor typographical errors in a warrant of execution do not invalidate it where there is substantial compliance with the Uniform Rules. It also underscores the importance of proper taxation of costs and the evidentiary burden on a party alleging lack of notice. The judgment reflects the Land Claims Court’s balancing of procedural fairness with its broader social justice mandate when awarding costs.