{"id":854631,"date":"2026-04-05T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=854631"},"modified":"2026-04-02T19:01:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:01:15","slug":"high-court-warning-for-anyone-buying-property-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/854631\/high-court-warning-for-anyone-buying-property-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"High Court warning for anyone buying property in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A recent High Court judgment serves as a notable warning for anyone buying or selling property in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case centred on a property purchased in October 2013. Less than a year later, in August 2014, a wooden deck on the property collapsed, prompting legal action from the buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, judgment was only handed down on 25 February 2026\u2014more than 12 years after the sale and over 11 years after the defect first emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court ultimately ruled in favour of the estate agent, his company, and the seller, finding that the plaintiffs failed to establish a prima facie case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Johlene Wasserman, Director of Community Schemes and Compliance at VDM Incorporated, the outcome provides critical clarity for the property market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ruling provides clear guidance on the legal meaning of marketing language, the scope of an estate agent\u2019s duty, the strength of voetstoots clauses, and the limits of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) in private property transactions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wasserman noted that the length of the case also highlighted the significant costs involved in property disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe extended duration of the litigation underscores the high financial, emotional, and professional cost of property disputes, even where claims ultimately fail at the prima facie stage,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key issue before the court was whether descriptive terms used in property marketing (such as \u201cstunning\u201d or \u201cbeautiful\u201d) could amount to misrepresentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court reaffirmed the long-standing legal principle of \u201csales puffery,\u201d which distinguishes between opinion and fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe court confirmed a long-standing principle of law known as sales puffery. Sales puffery refers to enthusiastic, promotional language expressing opinion rather than fact,\u201d Wasserman explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn property transactions, words such as \u2018stunning\u2019, \u2018beautiful\u2019 and even \u2018in excellent condition\u2019 are not guarantees of structural integrity, safety, or regulatory compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estate agents are not structural engineers<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Johlene Wasserman of VDM Incorporated<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The judgment also clarified the role and responsibilities of estate agents. Wasserman stressed that agents are not expected to identify hidden structural defects unless there are special circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEstate agents are required to disclose material facts within their personal knowledge, but they are not expected to conduct engineering inspections or uncover hidden structural defects unless special circumstances exist,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExpert evidence showed that the defects were latent and not detectable by a layperson. As a result, the agent could not be held liable for failing to identify or disclose them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another unusual feature of the case was that the plaintiffs called the estate agent as their own witness\u2014an approach that ultimately backfired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCalling your opponent as a witness means that a party is generally bound by their witness’s evidence,\u201d Wasserman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile the plaintiffs called Mr Latsky as their witness, his testimony actually undermined their own case. He credibly maintained that he did not know about the structural defects, and he was believed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The property had been sold subject to a voetstoots clause, meaning \u201cas is.\u201d To overcome such a clause, a buyer must prove that the seller had actual knowledge of the defect and deliberately concealed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe court found no evidence of either. Even the plaintiffs conceded that the seller was honest and likely unaware of the defect,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claims under the Consumer Protection Act also failed. The court found no misleading marketing, ruled that the once-off private seller fell outside the CPA\u2019s scope, and determined that strict liability provisions did not apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wasserman added that the plaintiffs\u2019 damages claim was further weakened by incorrect quantification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnder the actio quanti minoris, the correct measure is the reasonable cost to cure, not replacement or upgrading. This failure of quantification was fatal to their damages claim,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent High Court judgment serves as a notable warning for anyone buying or selling property in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":854641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[3874,853,23507],"class_list":["post-854631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-high-court","tag-south-africa","tag-vdm-incorporated"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854631"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":854700,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854631\/revisions\/854700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}