INLSA
Businessman Sunny Gayadin has won the right to appeal the sale of a prime beachfront site to movie-maker Anant Singh.
The fate of Durban’s Natal Command site now lies with the Constitutional Court after the chief justice agreed to hear an appeal by businessman Sunny Gayadin against eThekwini municipality’s decision to sell the prime beachfront site to movie-maker Anant Singh.
“We have been given permission to argue the matter on September 4,” Gayadin said yesterday.
Leading advocate Gilbert Marcus, SC, would be preparing heads of argument summarising the 1 800 pages of legal banter the dispute had produced so far, he added.
Gayadin, who owns Giant Concerts, first challenged the R15-million movie studio development deal which the city signed with Singh for the R71m site in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
There, Judge Jerome Mnguni ruled that the sale process had been “contaminated” and the city had not really seriously considered Gayadin’s offer for the land. He ordered the city to reverse the sale.
But Singh appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal and notched up victory there when the court ruled on a narrow technical point that Giant Concerts lacked the standing to challenge the lawfulness of the sale because it was not an eThekwini municipality ratepayer.
Sunny Gayadin
Ex-QDMS
The Constitutional Court indicated that it wanted to hear argument on both the issue of legal standing and on the merits of the case, as dealt with by Judge Mnguni.
“Twelve judges will now hear the case,” Gayadin said.
“I feel elated. I believe I have excellent prospects on appeal. My wife, a member of Giant Concerts, owns properties in Durban, and between us we have 30 other properties.
“We pay more than R60 000 in rates every month to the municipality. Giant Concerts also has an office in uMhlanga. We are optimistic that we have a winning case. This is a public matter and I won’t let the public down,” he said.
Singh had asked the court to refuse to hear the appeal, describing the seven-year legal battle as “ruinous”.
But now he too would be hiring lawyers to prepare for the hearing.
In terms of the directions handed down by the chief justice, the record of the matter must be lodged with the court by the end of this month, and both sides must put in their written argument on the issue of standing and on the merits by mid-July.
Singh denied there was anything wrong with the original deal and said Gayadin had never disclosed his plan for the site.
But Gayadin said he had expressed an interest in buying the land at a rate much closer to the land’s market value.
Although cited as a respondent in Singh’s appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal, the city did not file any papers.
While no confirmation could be received yesterday, it seems likely the city will not enter the legal fray this round either, with both municipal manager S’bu Sithole and speaker Logie Naidoo indicating recently that, because of the time lapse, the film studio issue should be revisited.
