- The High Court in Johannesburg found that SPAR missed the contractual deadline to renew its lease.
- Acting Judge S van Aswegen ordered SPAR to vacate the Ebony Park shopping centre by 28 August 2026.
- The court dismissed SPAR’s arguments about standing, non-joinder and arbitration before granting the eviction order.
The High Court in Johannesburg has ordered The SPAR Group Limited to vacate its premises at the Ebony Park shopping centre in Midrand, finding that it did not exercise its lease renewal rights within the time required by its agreements with the property owner.
Acting Judge S van Aswegen ruled in favour of Eco Energy Projects (Pty) Ltd, which bought the shopping centre in May 2026. The court found that SPAR’s lease had expired and its continued occupation was unlawful.
Lease renewal at the heart of the dispute
Eco Energy Projects brought an urgent application after taking ownership of the shopping centre from Krisp Properties Commercial (Pty) Ltd. The company argued that SPAR’s lease ended on 30 April 2026 and that the retailer no longer had any legal right to occupy the premises.
SPAR opposed the application, saying it had validly exercised its contractual right to renew the lease through correspondence exchanged in 2025. It also argued that Eco Energy Projects bought the property subject to the existing lease and was therefore bound by the renewal.
SPAR also challenged Eco Energy Projects’ legal standing, argued that Krisp Properties, AJP Properties, and Shoprite should have been joined to the proceedings, and said the dispute should have gone to arbitration.
Court dismisses preliminary objections
Judge Van Aswegen rejected all of SPAR’s preliminary objections before turning to the merits of the eviction application. On legal standing, the judge found that Eco Energy Projects had proved it owned the property and was entitled to seek possession through the rei vindicatio.
The court also found that none of the entities named by SPAR had a direct legal interest in the eviction proceedings because no relief was sought against them.
Addressing SPAR’s reliance on an arbitration clause, Judge Van Aswegen said the mere reference to such a clause in one relevant commercial agreement did not deprive the court of jurisdiction.
Renewal option not exercised in time
The key issue before the court was whether SPAR had properly used its contractual option to renew the lease. Before the court case, SPAR relied on an email dated 11 August 2025. During the proceedings, however, it shifted its case to rely on correspondence dated 15 October and 4 November 2025.
Judge Van Aswegen found that neither exchange amounted to a valid exercise of the renewal option. “There is no clear exercise of a right of renewal in this email,” the judge said about the 15 October 2025 correspondence.
Instead, the court found that the October correspondence only exercised SPAR’s option to take cession of the lease from the previous tenant and noted its entitlement to future renewal options.
The judge said SPAR itself showed how contractual options were exercised by using clear and direct language in later correspondence.
When SPAR finally wrote on 9 March 2026, “We hereby notify you that we elect to exercise our option to renew the Agreement of Lease for a further period of five years,” the notice came after the six-month contractual period and was therefore ineffective.
Judge Van Aswegen described this as a “late attempt to fix its failure to exercise that right in time”.
Eviction order granted
After finding that Eco Energy Projects had proved ownership of the premises and that SPAR had no justification for staying, the court granted the eviction application.
“I therefore find that the Respondent has failed to justify its continued occupation of the premises. Its attempt to exercise the option to renew was late and outside the required timeframe,” Judge Van Aswegen said.
The judge noted that SPAR had already been given two months after the lease expired to leave voluntarily and should have planned for the possibility of an unfavourable outcome by making contingency arrangements.
The court confirmed that the lease had ended, ordered SPAR and anyone occupying through it to leave by 28 August 2026, authorised the sheriff to enforce the eviction from 29 August 2026 if needed, and ordered SPAR to pay the legal costs, including those for senior counsel on Scale C.
Get your news on the go. Click here to follow the Conviction WhatsApp channel.
