Court orders Garden Court hotel in Cape Town to vacate premises
But Tsogo Sun‚ which operates the hotel‚ argues that the principles of ubuntu and fairness should spare the hotel because failure to pay rent was its bank’s fault
One of Cape Town’s biggest hotels faces eviction‚ and only ubuntu can save it.The 292-room Garden Court in Nelson Mandela Boulevard has been ordered to vacate the premises on March 31 by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).A full bench of five judges said the hotel’s failure to pay its monthly rental of R694‚585 in 2014 triggered an eviction clause in its lease with the property’s owner‚ Mohamed Rafik of Sandton.Tsogo Sun‚ which operates the hotel‚ argued that the principles of ubuntu and fairness should spare the hotel because failure to pay the rent was its bank’s fault.But Judge Rammaka Mathopo said the High Court in Johannesburg got it wrong when it granted the company’s application to avoid eviction."It was impermissible for the high court to develop the common law of contract by infusing the spirit of ubuntu and good faith so as to invalidate [the eviction clause]‚" he said.Now Tsogo plans an appeal to the Constitutional Court. Chief operating officer Ravi Nadasen declined to an...
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