The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has ruled that the Valuation Appeal Board (VAB) of the Ehlanzeni district in Mpumalanga erred in ignoring expert evidence brought by Johann Rupert’s golf course Leopard Creek in its long-drawn valuation dispute with the Nkomazi Local Municipality.
The ruling by the SCA puts the valuation of the world-renowned golf course up in the air, with a differently constituted VAB set to evaluate the value of the property.
This comes after the SCA found that while VAB erred in its approach, and by not giving Leopard Creek reasons for its decision, it was not in a position to substitute the findings of the VAB as this would be tantamount to blurring the separation of powers doctrine.
“Leopard Creek contends that the VAB’s failure to give reasons for its decision deprived it of its constitutional right to a fair administrative process.
“To this, the municipality responds that the VABs are specialist tribunals, and their members have a unique understanding of the specialist valuation concept. They deal with appeals from several municipalities in the country,” read the SCA judgment, handed down on Wednesday.
“To expect the VABs to formulate reasons in the same manner as a court of law would cripple the very important administrative function of such boards.
“The municipality submits further that it was not necessary for the VAB to give reasons for its decision because the parties who participated in the appeal were well informed of the context and knew exactly what was sought to be conveyed in the findings of the VAB’s decision.
“This submission is without merit. It does not matter how many cases the VAB deals with. It must assess every piece of evidence, analyse it and provide reasons for its decision. Its failure to do so rendered its decision irrational and unlawful. I find that the high court was correct to set aside the decision of the VAB.”
Rupert and his partners have questioned the R1.56bn valuation tag placed on the property by the municipality, insisting that it is worth just R330m.
Leopard Creek, which hosts the annual Alfred Dunhill Cup, is on the banks of the Crocodile River and borders Kruger National Park. The 355ha facility has an 18-hole golf course designed by Gary Player, a clubhouse complex measuring 3,600m2, about 97 residential sites, tennis and squash courts, a swimming pool and a gym, among other facilities.
Rupert, SA’s richest person, owns 50 stands, and Leopard Creek Investments owns 47, which are not for sale. Rupert’s 50 stands afford him four memberships per stand.
The long-running dispute dates back to 2017 when the municipality placed a R1.3bn valuation on the property. Leopard Creek disagreed and said a private valuation company put the price at R450m.
Rupert last year told Business Day that the dispute was causing economic damage in the region as he wanted to build a hotel and there were at least two hotel groups that wanted to invest but there was no certainty about taxes and rates.
“We had a legal agreement, a contract. They [the municipality] accepted the money for a decade and then arbitrarily tore up the agreement and quadrupled the bill,” Rupert said at the time.
“They provide nothing. We do our own roads, our own water and we buy electricity directly from Eskom. We told them to cut off our services, but they said they couldn’t because they don’t provide any.”
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