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Wraypex Pty Ltd v Barnes and others

Country/Territory
South Africa
Type of court
National - lower court
Date
Feb 9, 2011
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Court name
North Gauteng High Court
Judge
Sapire
Language
English
Subject
Land & soil
Keyword
Constitutional law Liability/compensation Access-to-justice
Abstract
The current suit arose from green opposition to the now-completed Blair Atholl, the 330-house luxury estate, golf course and hotel development northwest of Johannesburg, which includes the Gary Player golf estate. The estate borders the Cradle of Humankind world heritage site and the Rhenosterspruit Conservancy. Wraypex, developer of the golf estate, accused the four —all residents of the area and members of the Rhenosterspruit Conservancy—of publishing false and malicious statements concerning the company and alleged that it was done wrongfully with the intention to injure the firm. Wraypex said the statements made to authorities delayed the necessary statutory approvals and, as a result of the delays, the developer suffered damages including the costs of finance and contractual penalties. Judge Stanley Sapire said Wraypex failed on all four claims of defamation and damages it had launched against Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy members. He said the suit was “vexatious litigation” and confirmed that it could be labelled as a Slapp suit, one of the first in South Africa. This is when developers threaten civil litigation against environmental activists and civil society organisations in order to silence critics and burden them with legal costs until they abandon their criticism. Judge Sapire said Wraypex’s defamation action was "purposeless from an economic point of view" and that even if the company had won its case, it could not in good faith have expected more than an "infinitesimal fraction" of the R170m it claimed. The costs judgment recognised the idea of "Slapp" litigation and awardedpunitive costs against the developer.
Full text
COU-159333.pdf