The High Court in Cape Town has handed a major victory to the operators of a sport facility in Knysna, granting an urgent interim interdict that allows the Liv Padel courts in Knysna-Hollow to reopen to the public immediately.
The ruling, delivered by Judge G. Da Silva Salie on 18 December, suspends a controversial municipal appeal decision that had effectively shut down the business just as the lucrative festive season began.
The legal battle centred on the Liv Padel-Knysna Hollow facility, which has been operational since March 2023 on land zoned as a “Resort Zone”. While building plans were approved early in 2023, the facility became the subject of complaints from a small group of neighbouring residents regarding noise and lighting.
Despite an independent acoustic report finding no “disturbing noise levels,” the Knysna Municipality later imposed stringent new conditions on the facility’s operation.
The crisis for the applicants, Liv Padel (Pty) Ltd and property owner Perry Bridge Citrus Estate (Pty) Ltd, reached a breaking point on 3 December when the municipality communicated an appeal decision that upheld a requirement for the courts to be enclosed within six months. More critically, it imposed an “immediate prohibition” on public use until that enclosure was complete, restricting court access only to guests of the small Knysna Hollow resort.
This immediate shutdown forced the facility to cancel and reimburse bookings at the start of December. The court heard that resort guests account for only about 5% of the facility’s revenue. Without the 95% of income generated by the public, the business faced “inevitable” liquidation, and its employees were at risk of losing their jobs.
Judge Da Silva Salie criticized the municipality’s handling of the matter, noting a significant “delayed communication” of the appeal outcome. While the decision was apparently concluded in August 2025, it was only shared with the operators 110 days later, far exceeding the statutory 21-day notification period.
“Where the immediate implementation of an administrative decision threatens to cause irreversible consequences before its lawfulness can be tested, urgency is established,” the judge noted. The court found that the applicants had a “prima facie right” to procedurally fair administrative action and that the “balance of convenience” favoured allowing the business to stay open while the merits of the case are fully reviewed.
The municipality had attempted to have the case dismissed on technical grounds, arguing that the residents who complained should have been joined as parties to the lawsuit. However, the court dismissed this “non-joinder” objection, ruling that the municipality is the primary repository of public power and that requiring every resident to be joined would be “impractical” and elevate “form over substance”.
The interim relief is a temporary reprieve. The court has ordered Liv Padel to institute formal review proceedings within 60 days to challenge the lawfulness of the enclosure requirement and the public use prohibition. For now, the “implementation and enforcement” of the municipal shutdown is suspended, allowing the courts to serve the public once more.
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