Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 7 views

    Merafong City Local Municipality V Anglogold Ashanti LTD: Valid Administrative Action

    Uploaded by

    STiX ZA

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Merafong City Local Municipality V Anglogold Ashanti LTD: Valid Administrative Action

    Uploaded by

    STiX ZA
    7 views2 pages

    Original Title

    15

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    7 views2 pages

    Merafong City Local Municipality V Anglogold Ashanti LTD: Valid Administrative Action

    Uploaded by

    STiX ZA

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    An invalid administrative act must be set aside by way of judicial

    review. This
    was confirmed in Merafong City Local Municipality v AngloGold Ashanti Ltd
    2017 (2)
    SA 211 (CC). The Court held that unlawful (or invalid) administrative action
    “is not
    void or non-existent, but exists as a fact and may provide the basis for lawful
    acts
    pursuant to it” (para 36). The Court also held that an organ of state must
    challenge
    an unlawful (or invalid) administrative act, without any unwarranted
    delay. See learning unit 12 for more detail.
    In Kwa Sani Municipality v Underberg/Himeville Community Watch
    Association and
    Another [2015] 2 All SA 657 (SCA), the Supreme Court of Appeal held that
    an administrative
    body may not ignore one of its administrative acts if it is invalid. The
    administrative body must approach a court to have the decision set
    aside.
    Valid administrative action
    We must distinguish between valid onerous or burdensome, beneficial
    and status-
    affecting administrative action.
    The administrator may alter valid onerous or burdensome administrative
    acts.
    Onerous or burdensome administrative acts place a duty on the
    individual, or
    prohibit an individual from doing something or refuse to grant him or her
    something
    such as a licence. For example, the individual applies for the grant of a
    licence
    and the application for a licence is refused. If the official decides that the
    decision,
    though valid, may be a bit harsh, or if policy changes, and so on, the
    decision may
    be changed at any stage. The reason for this rule is that the administration
    must be
    given an opportunity of correcting its own mistakes.
    Valid beneficial administrative acts may be altered by the authority only
    where the
    power to do so has been conferred expressly or by necessary implication.
    For example,
    if a licence has been issued, it cannot simply be revoked by the licensing
    officer.
    Where administrative acts affect the status of individuals, the authority may
    not
    rescind or withdraw this decision unless the revocation is authorised
    expressly or
    by necessary implication. The administrator who takes a decision relating to
    status
    is functus officio after he or she has made the decision. The best-known
    example of
    this type of administrative action is an adoption order.
    ACTIVITY 5.10
    You have read what we have said about the legal force of administrative action
    and what we have said about functus officio in particular. Go back to the decision
    reprinted in annexure B, – the Earthlife Africa decision. Would you say the
    decision-maker was functus officio? In your answer you need to explain first what
    74

    the maxim “functus officio” means. Having provided an explanation, you must
    proceed to the application phase of the answer – to apply the maxim to the set of
    facts and to reach a conclusion.
    This is a self-evaluation activity. Go back to our discussion for the required
    information
    5.5 CONCLUSION
    In this learning unit we learned about administrative action and described
    what it is.
    We learned that administrative action is the gateway for the application of
    section 33
    of the Constitution via the provisions of PAJA. We also learned about the
    various
    classes of administrative action and examined the legal force of such action.
    You
    should now be able to answer questions on these particular aspects.
    In the next learning units (6–10) in part 3, we turn to the third pillar of the
    study of
    administrative law, that is, that administrative action must be performed
    lawfully.
    In other words, we address the requirements for valid or just administrative
    action.
    These units deal with the core of administrative law – the content of the
    right to
    lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair administrative action and the right
    to written
    reasons when a person’s rights are adversely affected.
    ADL2601/1 75

    PART 3

    You might also like