Britannia Beach Estate (Pty) Ltd and Others v Saldanha Bay Municipality

The applicants were property developers who, between 2003 and 2008, applied to the Saldanha Bay Municipality for the rezoning and subdivision of land. The Municipality approved six development applications subject to conditions imposed under section 42 of the Land Use Planning Ordinance 15 of 1985 (LUPO), requiring the payment of capital contributions calculated according to municipal tariffs (R55 and later R35). The applicants challenged the lawfulness of the tariffs and claimed they had overpaid. They succeeded in the High Court, which ordered the Municipality to account for overpayments, but the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) overturned that decision, holding that the development conditions were valid and binding. The applicants then sought leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court on the narrow ground that the Municipality had a constitutional duty, under section 195 of the Constitution, to account for alleged overpayments.

Condonation was granted. Leave to appeal was refused with costs, including the costs of two counsel.

The case confirms that section 195 of the Constitution does not confer free-standing, justiciable rights to individuals and cannot be used to bypass ordinary statutory or private-law remedies. It reinforces the distinction between constitutional democratic accountability and private-law duties to account, and limits the expansion of constitutional claims into essentially commercial disputes involving municipalities.