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REPUBLIC OF SOUTH-AFRICA

THE HONOURABLE JUDGE E VAN DER SCHYFF

HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA

GAUTENG DIVISION

P O Box 442, PRETORIA

 

TO:      ALL PRACTITIONERS                                                            31 March 2023

 

in re: DIRECTIVE FOR THE URGENT COURT OF 31 MARCH 2023 (16:00) TO 07 APRIL 2023 (16:00) BEFORE JUDGE VAN DER SCHYFF

 

1.            All applications which have already been enrolled by 12:00 on Thursday 30 MARCH 2023 (when the roll closed) are indicated on the roll for Urgent Applications. The matters indicated in the Roll attached hereto, were allocated to Van der Schyff J.

 

2.            Where a matter is allocated to a specific date and time in the Roll distributed by Van der Schyff J, an allocation does NOT mean that the matter is sufficiently urgent to be heard on the merits.

 

3.            In all matters (opposed and unopposed) a Practice Note as well as Heads of Argument must also be served and filed (on Caselines only and not to be sent to the Judge’s secretary) by all parties concerned.  Applications heard during normal court hours will be adjudicated by means of an oral hearing in open court. Applications heard outside of ordinary court hours will be heard either on a virtual platform or in physical court as arranged.

 

4.            Failure to file Practice Note(s) and/or Heads of Argument timeously, will be an indication that there is no appearance for the party concerned and the application may then either be struck off the roll or be dealt with in the absence of such party.

 

5.            The practice note must indicate at least the following:

 

5.1  Particulars and contact details of the legal practitioners;

 

5.2  Nature of the relief sought (without referring to the notice of motion);

 

5.3  A brief summary of the factual as well as legal issues involved;

 

5.4  A clear indication (without referring to the heads of argument) which portion of the papers must be read and which not;

 

5.5  The main issues to be considered;

 

5.6  Whether there was service by the sheriff, and if not, why not (unopposed applications);

 

5.7  Estimated duration;

 

5.8  Whether the matter is opposed or not.

Failure to file a practice note setting out all the above information, par by par individually, may result in the application being struck off the roll and a punitive cost order be granted.

 

6.            The Practice Note, or a supplementary Practice Note must be served and filed (on Caselines only) by no later than Friday 31 March 2023 at 12h00 and the Heads of Argument by no later than Monday 03 April 2023 at 10:00 (on Caselines only). The applicant must also set out the reasons, in the Heads of Argument, why the matter is so urgent that it must be heard during the week concerned, by referring to the evidence in the founding affidavit.  In unopposed matters the applicant must also indicate, in the practice note, where in the court papers the Sheriff’s return of service is to be found. 

 

7.            The Practice Directive regarding Urgent Applications (Chapter 13.24) still applies (to opposed and unopposed applications) and the Rules pertaining to urgency will be strictly enforced.  Compliance with annexure “A” (13.24), more particularly par [4], subparagraphs (1) to (11) thereof, as referred to in paragraph 11 of Chapter 13.24 of the Practice Manual, will also be strictly enforced.  If a matter is not ready to be adjudicated on the date and the time indicated in the notice of motion (subject to the degrees of urgency) and/or not so urgent as indicated in the Rules and the Practice Directive, it may be struck off the roll in which event a punitive costs order may be made.

 

8.            Service of process in all urgent applications must comply with the Rules of Court. Deviations will only be condoned if good cause is shown. Where an agreement was reached by the respective parties’ legal representatives to provide for the electronic exchange of papers, this must be specifically stated in the practice note.

 

9.            All new applications, during court hours, must first be enrolled through the Registrar of the Urgent Court and brought to the attention of Judge Baqwa’s secretary.  In this regard the provisions of paragraph 7.1 to 7.4 of Chapter 13.24 of the Practice Manual will apply mutatis mutandis.  All the provisions regarding the Practice Note and Heads of Argument referred to above, will apply mutatis mutandis to all new applications.  All Rules and principles regarding urgency will also apply to these applications and will be strictly enforced.

 

10.         The urgent Court cellular number for Pretoria is: 068 104 7107. The number is only to be used outside of ordinary court hours. The number is not to be used for general enquiries or for any issue. The phone will only be answered after normal court hours.

 

11.         Filing of papers which were impossible to upload on Caselines, must be done via email to the Judge’s clerks, with an affidavit explaining what steps were taken to upload, when and by whom the steps were taken and why it was not possible to upload on Caselines. The judge’s clerk must then be informed telephonically that an email has been sent.

 

            Particulars of the clerk of Judge Van der Schyff are as follows:

            Mr. Sello Tshetlho

            Email: STshetlho@judiciary.org.za

            Cell number: 060 697 7245

 

12.         It should finally be pointed out that there is a growing tendency (especially during recess) to abuse the urgent court in two ways: First, to set matters down which are not ripe for hearing, not being urgent or where self-created urgency is applicable. This will not be allowed. Second, the urgent court is not intended to hear complex factual and/or legal issues scattered over hundreds of pages and which may take a long time to consider and finalise (when new matters may also be encountered on a daily basis in the urgent court). This will prevent other parties having their matters be adjudicated in time. Such complex cases may be removed from the roll and the parties may be referred to the Deputy Judge president for a special court to be allocated at some time in future (cf Practice Manual, annexure “A” to 13.24, par [4] sub par (10) and (11), page H2-141).

 

13.         All practitioners are requested to prepare a draft court order by using “MS Word format” (to allow for alterations) and to upload it onto Caselines only. A failure to comply with this request may result in the application be struck off the roll. Hard copies of draft orders must be handed up when matters are called.

 

14.         Where applications were created on Court online and Caseline file is not populated with the documentation by Friday 31 March 2023, a hardcopy of the papers filed of record must be delivered to Van der Schyff J’s chambers by 31 March 2023 at 14h00 A.M

 

E van der Schyff

 

JUDGE OF THE HIGH COURT, PRETORIA.

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