Constitutional Court rules against Gold Reef City Casino operator
Operator must cover a player’s legal costs after a player tripped while walking through the casino’s premises.
South Africa.- The Constitutional Court of South Africa has ruled that Akani eGoli (Pty) Ltd, the operator of Gold Reef City Casino, must pay the legal costs of a customer who tripped while walking through the casino’s premises.
The case began in 2018 when Shaynaz Prithilal slipped and fell at the casino. After the incident, Prithilal filed a lawsuit against Tsogo Sun Gaming, mistakenly believing the latter owned the property. However, in 2021, Tsogo Sun revealed that another entity, Akani eGoli, was the actual operator.
The revelation led Prithilal to subsequently apply to add Akani eGoli as a second defendant in the suit. However, Akani contested the application, claiming the time had expired.
The High Court ultimately allowed the addition but ordered Prithilal to pay Akani’s legal costs in February 2024. Prithilal challenged the ruling, finding the cost order in favour of the operator unreasonable.
After losing her appeal in the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), Prithilal escalated the matter to the Constitutional Court.
Akani submitted that there were no grounds for the Constitutional Court to interfere with or overturn the High Court’s discretionary ruling. However, the Court justified its decision to entertain Prithilal’s application by citing the lack of reasoning provided by the High Court for its cost order.
Justice Owen Rogers said: “In the absence of reasons, it is impossible to know that the high court exercised a discretion at all, and it is certainly not possible to say that it made the order by acting on correct principles and considering all relevant factors.”
Rogers pointed out that the High Court still failed to explain its decision, even after Prithilal’s appeal application drew attention to this omission. He said: “One of the consequences of the absence of reasons is that Prithilal was deprived of the opportunity of demonstrating to the SCA that the high court went astray on a basis justifying appellate interference.”
Given the circumstances, the justice ruled that Akani must cover Prithilal’s legal costs for the High Court, SCA and the Constitutional Court.
