Cape Town - The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has granted an order to evict Ma-Afrika Hotels (Pty) Ltd from an erf in Stellenbosch.
This follows Ma-Afrika’s failure to pay rental and other related charges allegedly owing to the Trustees of the Venezia Trust in terms of a lease agreement.
The parties had entered into a sale and leaseback agreement where the Trust purchased a certain erf in Stellenbosch for a guest house.
However, the guest house was prohibited from trading in terms of the Covid-19 lockdown regulations.
The Trust then launched an urgent application against Ma-Afrika Hotels in the high court in February 2021, seeking an order of ejectment of Ma-Afrika Hotels, coupled with an order of costs, as well as arrears rental, interest thereon and costs, according to the papers.
“The Trust alleged that the respondent failed to pay the rentals provided for in the lease and that as of 31 December 2020 it was in arrears with its rental payments in the amount of R872 266.
“The Trust further asserted that between 1 March 2020, when the respondent’s default commenced and 7 December 2020 took place, when it issued a notice of cancellation of the lease, many discussions took place, and communications were exchanged between the parties in an attempt to resolve the matter amicably.
“This had been in vain,” read the papers.
The high court had dismissed the application for eviction. It also ordered Ma-Afrika Hotels to pay the amount claimed as arrears rentals with interest.
Aggrieved by the order dismissing the application for eviction, the Trust sought and was granted leave to appeal.
Ma-Afrika Hotels had argued that due to the lockdown restrictions between April 1, 2020 and August 31, 2020, it did not earn any revenue as its occupancy levels remained at zero.
The SCA found that it could not be ignored that due to the non-payment by Ma-Afrika Hotels, the Trust ended up having to service the repayments of the mortgage bond from a loan to avert foreclosure.
The court also found that the high court erred in the claim of arrear rental from the Trust.
“Accordingly, the parties agreed that the cross-appeal must succeed,” he said.
The court ordered Ma-Afrika Hotels to be evicted from the premises, and for the eviction to be carried out by the Sheriff for the high court, assisted by the SAPS, if necessary should they fail to vacate the premises.
Cape Times