Offit Enterprises (Pty) Ltd and Another v Coega Development Corporation (Pty) Ltd and Others

The appellants owned three properties totalling approximately 524 hectares situated within the proclaimed Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) in the Eastern Cape. Since around 2000, Coega Development Corporation (CDC), a state-owned entity tasked with developing and operating the Coega IDZ, attempted unsuccessfully to purchase the properties through negotiations. The appellants repeatedly increased their asking price. CDC and provincial authorities intermittently threatened expropriation, and two prior notices of expropriation were issued but set aside by the High Court. No further expropriation steps were taken. In 2007 the appellants advertised the properties for sale at R40 million, prompting CDC to publish a notice stating that expropriation remained an option. The appellants then approached the High Court seeking, primarily, a declaratory order that any future expropriation would be unlawful, alternatively an order compelling the respondents to initiate expropriation proceedings. The High Court dismissed the application, and the appellants appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The appeal was dismissed with costs, including the costs of two counsel.

The case is significant for clarifying that expropriation in South Africa may lawfully occur for large-scale development projects implemented through state-owned or public–private entities, provided the purpose is public or in the public interest. It affirms a broad, constitutionally aligned interpretation of 'public purpose' and confirms that landowners cannot compel the State to expropriate their property. The judgment also reinforces the Oudekraal principle by rejecting collateral challenges to administrative acts not set aside.