Sizwe Lindelo Snail ka Mtuze v Bytes Technology Group South Africa (Pty) Ltd and Others

The applicant, an attorney practising under the name Snail Attorneys @ Law, was subjected to a punitive de bonis propriis costs order by the North Gauteng High Court after the presiding judge found his conduct in litigation and in court to be reprehensible. The High Court further referred his conduct to the relevant Law Society for investigation. His applications for leave to appeal against the costs order were dismissed by the High Court and subsequently by the Supreme Court of Appeal. He then sought leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court, which was also dismissed with costs for lack of prospects of success. After this dismissal, the applicant brought an application styled as one for “reconsideration” of the Constitutional Court’s order, arguing that the Court had decided the matter before he could file a supplementary affidavit and that he had not received responses from the Registrar.

The application for reconsideration of the Constitutional Court’s order of 28 May 2013 was dismissed with costs.

The case reinforces the finality of Constitutional Court decisions and the strict application of the functus officio principle. It clarifies that the Court will only in the most exceptional circumstances consider revisiting its own final orders, underscoring procedural certainty and the limited scope for reconsideration outside formal rescission or variation proceedings.