Rotek Industries (Pty) Ltd, the respondent, owned land in Rosherville, Gauteng, over which the Rand Water Board, a statutory water authority, had laid an extensive network of water pipelines. Most of the pipelines were installed before Rotek acquired ownership of the land. Rotek instituted action in the Witwatersrand Local Division seeking an order directing the Board to remove all its pipelines from the property. The dispute turned on the interpretation of section 24(j) of the Rand Water Board Statutes (Private) Act 17 of 1950, which conferred powers on the Board to lay pipelines, and whether those powers were enforceable against successors in title without registration of a servitude. The High Court held that although the Board could lay pipelines without first acquiring a servitude, the statutory powers were not enforceable against successors in title, and ordered the Board to expropriate the necessary rights under the Water Services Act 108 of 1997. Before and after judgment, the Board expropriated the rights and ultimately concluded a notarial deed of servitude with Rotek, settling the substantive dispute. Despite this, the Board pursued an appeal limited to the second legal question. The Supreme Court of Appeal raised, as a preliminary issue, whether the appeal had any practical effect as contemplated in section 21A of the Supreme Court Act 59 of 1959.