dishonestly or unfairly

Literal translation

(not Latin)

Legal meaning

Mala fide, which translates as 'dishonestly or unfairly' in English, refers to a party's intention or behavior that is not in good faith. In the context of South African law, this term is often used in contract law and disputes where parties act with dishonesty or fraudulent intent.

Examples

• In the case of [Prymaris (Pty) Ltd v Sataco (Pty) Ltd and Others, 2016 (15),” C 384/15], the court considered a claim involving mala fide intentions.
• [In Mots & Des in Transy (1997) (8), para 2.2; Joubert; du Plessis, 3d Ed., para 56-57], the term is used to indicate a party acting with dishonesty or fraudulent intent.

• 🇿🇦 S A Fakie, NO v CCII Systems (Pty) Ltd
• 🇿🇦 Snowy Owl Properties 284 (Pty) Ltd v Celliers and Another
  Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa· 2023-03-31· 1295/2021

  contemnor failed to comply with the order. Once these elements are established, wilfulness and mala fides are presumed and the respondent bears an evidentiary burden to establish a reasonable doubt

• 🇿🇦 Shaidat Aroyewun v Nurudeen Babatunde Aroyewun
  High Court of South Africa, Eastern Cape Division, Gqeberha· 2024-11-26· 1238/2020

  The respondent contends that his failure to adhere to the court order was not mala fide or wilful in that he found himself in extreme financial predicament

• 🇿🇼 Ranoth Matshazi v Joel Mlotshwa and The Registrar of Deeds
  High Court (Bulawayo)
• 🇿🇼 Ex-Constable Shiri Tatenda 087585A v Chief Superintendent Chihwereva (Trial Officer) and Others
  High Court (Harare)· HCH 1627/25
• 🇿🇼 Patrobs Dube v Prosecutor General N.O and Others
  High Court (Bulawayo)
• 🇿🇦 Le Hanie and Others v Glasson and Others
  Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa· 2022-04-22· 214/2021

  court – interpretation of court order – non-compliance not proven – absence of wilfulness and mala fides – court order not directed at respondents. ORDER On appeal from: Gauteng Division of the High

• 🇿🇼 Trevor Batezat v Permassan (Private) Limited
  Supreme Court· Civil Appeal No. 312/06
• 🇿🇦 Former Way Trade and Invest (Pty) Ltd t/a Premier Service Station and Another v Bright Idea Projects 66 (Pty) Ltd t/a All Fuels
  Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa· 2021-12-14· 1140/2020

  Summary: Contempt of court – requisites for contempt satisfied – wilful disregard of the order and mala fides proved on the part of the appellants – duty to comply with court orders – appeal

• 🇿🇼 Sharpstone Garande and Others v Eastboy Fashions (Pvt) Ltd and Others
  High Court (Harare)· HC 7016/18

Live search across the public SA + ZW case corpus. Results may include false positives where the same Latin lexeme appears in a different context.

Areas of law