Geca v Ndzekeni and Others

The applicant alleged that she was allocated a residential site at Highbury location, Mthatha, by a community allocation committee and that the first respondent unlawfully commenced construction on that site. There was already pending opposed motion proceedings between the same parties under case number 5390/2021 concerning entitlement to the site. Previous interim interdicts had been granted and later rescinded, and an order issued on 25 January 2022 interdicted construction pending finalisation of the main dispute. After rescission of a later order in January 2025, the first respondent resumed construction. The applicant launched this urgent application in April 2025 seeking an interim interdict restraining construction pending finalisation of the main proceedings.

The application was dismissed with costs.

The case reinforces South African procedural law principles that urgency must not be self-created and that litigants must act immediately once aware of the harm complained of. It also underscores that courts will not entertain applications seeking duplicate relief where an existing order already provides a remedy, and such conduct may amount to an abuse of process.