Mokala Beleggings (Pty) Ltd and Another v Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform and Others

The applicants, Mokala Beleggings (Pty) Ltd and Willem Hendrick Steyn Snyman, concluded agreements of sale with the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform for several adjacent farming properties intended to be transferred to the Barolong Ba Ga Mariba Community pursuant to a land claim. The agreements were signed on 29 January 2009, with an addendum correcting the property description signed on 15 May 2009. The contracts regulated payment of the purchase price in two stages, linked to registration of transfer, but made no express provision for interest in the event of delay. Transfer and payment were delayed due to issues with property description and later due to a lack of funds on the part of the Department, including an instruction by the fourth respondent to delay lodging transfer documents. By the time of the hearing, the purchase price had been paid and transfer processes were underway, leaving only disputes regarding entitlement to interest and costs.

The first to fourth respondents were ordered, jointly and severally, to pay the applicants’ costs on a party and party scale. No order was made for interest, and no punitive costs were awarded.

The case illustrates the Land Claims Court’s approach to contractual enforcement in the context of state land reform transactions, particularly the strict linkage between payment obligations and registration of transfer. It also reaffirms the Court’s cautious approach to awarding interest where contracts are silent and to granting punitive costs against the state in the absence of mala fides.