Mziwamadoda Shedrick Yabo v Rhodes University and Another

The applicant, a former Rhodes University student, was found guilty in 2023 of sexual assault in internal disciplinary proceedings and sanctioned with a three-year exclusion. His internal appeal failed, and he instituted review proceedings in the High Court to set aside the Proctor’s decision. Pending that review, Malusi J granted a rule nisi on 10 July 2024 suspending the sanction and directing Rhodes to admit the applicant for the 2024 academic year and to meet with him to agree on academic arrangements and residence. Although Rhodes applied for leave to appeal against parts of that order, the applicant was admitted for 2024 and wrote examinations. A dispute arose regarding residence, leading to the applicant’s eviction by court order. The applicant later discovered that he was reflected as excluded on Rhodes’ system and was not admitted for the 2025 academic year. He then brought this application seeking to have Rhodes declared in contempt of Malusi J’s order and to compel his admission for 2025.

The application was dismissed with costs on the party-and-party scale.

The case reaffirms the strict requirements for establishing civil contempt of court in South African law and illustrates the limits of court intervention in university administrative decisions. It also clarifies that interim court orders admitting students pending review proceedings must be interpreted narrowly according to their express terms.