Jordaan v Bloemfontein Transitional Local Authority and Another

The plaintiff, H Jordaan, sued the Bloemfontein Transitional Local Authority and Johannes Jacobus Rautenbach in the magistrate’s court for damages to his parked motor vehicle. His vehicle was lawfully parked in Voortrekker Street when a collision occurred between the defendants’ vehicles, after which one or both of those vehicles struck the plaintiff’s car. The plaintiff did not know which defendant was responsible and accordingly sued them in the alternative and jointly and severally under section 42(1) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 32 of 1944. The parties agreed to separate issues of liability and quantum. No viva voce evidence was led; several facts were common cause, including that the local authority’s driver acted in the course and scope of employment. The magistrate held both defendants jointly and severally liable. The local authority appealed.

The appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal succeeded. The judgment of the court a quo was set aside and replaced with an order that no substantive order be made in the proceedings other than that the appellant (first defendant) pay the costs.

The case clarifies South African law on the non-appealability of magistrates’ court rulings on liability only after separation of issues, reaffirming Steenkamp v SABC. It is also significant for confirming that where multiple defendants with exclusive knowledge of the facts lead no evidence, courts may infer joint negligence on a balance of probabilities, even where res ipsa loquitur does not apply. The judgment reinforces the practical functioning of section 42(1) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act.