“In each of the cases upon which the appellant has relied, and which dealt with s 19(1)(a)(iii) of the Supreme Court Act, it was made clear that, in order to succeed in obtaining a declaratory order, a party must establish a legally recognised interest in obtaining it. In the circumstances of this case, the appellant has established no such interest. It is also far from clear that, had the municipal council acted correctly in the manner of the appointment of the municipal manager, it would have made any material difference to the interests which either the appellant or its members seek to advance. Recently, in Illovo Opportunities Partnership #61 v Illovo Junction Properties (Pty) Ltd & others this court affirmed that, in order to obtain a declaratory order in terms of the s 21(1)(c) of the Superior Courts Act, the applicant must have a ‘direct and substantial interest’ in the order sought. The appellant’s interest cannot be so described”. [footnotes omitted]
Willis JA in Muldersdrift Sustainable Development Forum v Council of Mogale City (20424/2014) [2015] ZASCA 118 (11 September 2015) at para [16]: Coram Lewis, Tshiqi, Petse and Willis JJA and Baartman AJA.