ADL2601
Assignment 1
Semester 2 – 2023
You have applied for a passport and are informed by the official working for the
Department of Home Affairs that your application was turned down. No reasons
are provided to you.
1. Does the turning down of your application constitute administrative action?
In your answer, you should fully discuss the concept “administrative action”
with reference to the provisions of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act
3 of 2000 (PAJA). (14)
In Grey’s Marine Hout Bay (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Public Works 2005 6 SA 313 (SCA)
Nugent J described administrative action in broad terms as follows:
The conduct of the bureaucracy … in carrying out the daily functions of the
State, which necessarily involves the application of policy, usually after its
translation into law, with direct and immediate consequences for groups or
individuals (par 24).
The Supreme Court of Appeal said the following in the Grey’s Marine decision (see
above) about the definition of “administrative action” (par 21):
… the cumbersome definition in PAJA serves not so much as to attribute
meaning to the term as to limit its meaning by surrounding it within a palisade
of qualifications.
Section 1 of PAJA defines “administrative action” as any decision taken, or any failure
to take a decision, by –
Assignment 1
Semester 2 – 2023
You have applied for a passport and are informed by the official working for the
Department of Home Affairs that your application was turned down. No reasons
are provided to you.
1. Does the turning down of your application constitute administrative action?
In your answer, you should fully discuss the concept “administrative action”
with reference to the provisions of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act
3 of 2000 (PAJA). (14)
In Grey’s Marine Hout Bay (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Public Works 2005 6 SA 313 (SCA)
Nugent J described administrative action in broad terms as follows:
The conduct of the bureaucracy … in carrying out the daily functions of the
State, which necessarily involves the application of policy, usually after its
translation into law, with direct and immediate consequences for groups or
individuals (par 24).
The Supreme Court of Appeal said the following in the Grey’s Marine decision (see
above) about the definition of “administrative action” (par 21):
… the cumbersome definition in PAJA serves not so much as to attribute
meaning to the term as to limit its meaning by surrounding it within a palisade
of qualifications.
Section 1 of PAJA defines “administrative action” as any decision taken, or any failure
to take a decision, by –
