The Faculty of Law (UP Law) at the University of Pretoria (UP) is proud to announce that Judge President Legodi, concurred in by Acting Judges Barnardt and Bam, has cited Professors Gustav Muller and Reghard Brits in the recent judgment of Remhoogte CC v The Jacob Durr Trust [2020] ZAMPMHC 14 (8 April 2021). 

On 8 April 2021, in the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court sitting in Middelburg, Legodi JP cited Silberberg and Schoeman’s The Law of Property 6^th edition in paragraphs 49, 60, 63 and 64 of his judgment.  Legodi JP upheld the appeal with costs and ruled as follows:  ‘In paragraph 1 of the order of the court a quo, quoted in paragraph [3] of the judgment, is hereby set aside and substituted as follows:  “1. The respondents are hereby ordered to forthwith return all of the first respondent’s (Remhoogte) cattle delivered on 27 June 2019, 3 July 2019, 19 July 2019, 28 August 2019 and 16 September 2019 identifiable by the markings given by Remhoogte before delivery and all the offspring born out of these cattle upon delivery to Durr Trust, Jacob Trust and or Calicom.  2. The respondents to pay the costs of the application.’

In Obena v Minister of Police and Others [2021] ZAECMHC 11 (13 April 2021), another recent judgment of the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court sitting in Mtatha, Judge President Mbenenge again cited Silberberg and Schoeman’s The Law of Property in paragraph 20, footnote 14, i.e. ‘Was the applicant in possession of the items?’  Quoting from this book, Mbenenge JP stated that ‘The law lays down certain requirements before a person is deemed to be a possessor in order for the consequences to realise. The specific content of possession depends on the context within which and the purpose for which it is employed.’ 

UP Law’s Professor Gustav Muller and Professor Reghard Brits, respectively in the Departments of Private Law and Mercantile Law, co-authored the 6^th Edition of Silberberg and Schoeman’s The Law of Property, in conjunction with Professors Juanita Pienaar and Zsa-Zsa Boggenpoel, respectively in the Departments of Private Law and Public Law at Stellenbosch University. 

Legal practitioners, academics and students acknowledge the book as an authoritative one-stop LexisNexis publication and has a long-standing reputation as a highly respected resource.

In 2019, the latest edition of Silberberg and Schoeman was updated in its entirety by Muller, Brits, Pienaar and Boggenpoel.  The book addresses amendments to legislation, clarifying updates to the law, legal principles, concepts and classifications of property and property rights. Further, it includes recent relevant case law, and commentary on the various types of property ownership, with reference to the National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act 24 of 2008, Infrastructure Development Act 23 of 2014 and contains commentary on the Electronic Deeds Transfer Act 19 of 2019.