Former headmaster gets revenge on a large corporate that shut down his business

Public Interest lawyer Richard Spoor won a legal battle on behalf of a former school headmaster who was muscled out of a small petrol station by a large corporation.

Spoor is one of South Africa’s most prominent human rights attorneys with over 30 years of experience.

He is the founder and director of Richard Spoor Inc Attorneys, which focuses on defending the rights of vulnerable groups.

He recently shared information about a positive judgment in the High Court where his client was a former school headmaster.

When he retired, he cashed in his pension and jumped through the many bureaucratic hoops required to establish a small petrol station in the Bushbuckridge area.

Shortly thereafter, a large mall developer built a huge shopping center with its own petrol station just 2 kilometers down the road.

When it opened, the developer did not sell as much fuel as expected. It was partly because of competition from the former headmaster’s filling station.

“The mall developer sent his town planners and lawyers to scour the records relating to my client’s application for a fuel retailing license and rezoning application,” he said.

Predictably, especially as the filling station was in Bushbuckridge, they found some mistakes and shortcomings.

“The mall developer then filed a High Court application to review and set aside my client’s fuel retail license,” he said.

“It also sought an interdict to stop him from trading until the review proceedings were finalized. The interdict was granted, and my client’s business was shut down.”

The business owner, whose life savings had been invested and whose entire livelihood depended on the filling station, filed a series of appeals. They were all unsuccessful.

His business was forced to close, cost orders to the value of R500,000 were granted against him, and he lost his only income.

The successful fightback

When the review application was set down for hearing, the business owner asked Spoor to represent him. His previous attorney had quit because he could not pay.

“This was just two weeks before the hearing. The pleadings were closed, and the papers, running to 1,500 pages, were a mess. I agreed to do it,” Spoor said.

“I cobbled together an argument and pitched up at the hearing. The other side, whose attorneys are town planning specialists, was represented by senior counsel.”

Spoor knew very little about the relevant field of law. “All I knew was that what they had done was wrong and unjust,” he said.

“It cannot be the case that a large and powerful corporation is allowed to shut down its competition through brute legal force.”

“My client was quietly going about his business when they decided to destroy him just to increase their own profitability.”

The case was argued on 12 February 2026, and the judgment in the case was delivered on Wednesday, 11 March 2026.

“We won. The review application was dismissed, and the interdict was lifted. It has been three years, but my client plans to resume selling petrol in the next few days.”

Spoor said it was one of those days when he felt really blessed to be able to practice law. “This is rare, because mainly it’s a horrible job,” he said.

He added that the former headmaster was crying on the phone with happiness and relief at being able to resume business.