By Boniface Keakabetse
The High Court has struck out an urgent application by Wilderness Holdings Limited seeking to block the termination of its exclusive marketing agreement with Ngamiland Adventure Safaris (Pty) Ltd (NAS), ruling that the matter was not urgent and procedurally flawed.
Delivering judgment on 12 December 2025, Justice Godfrey Nthomiwa held that Wilderness failed to justify urgency after knowing since 27 May 2025 that NAS intended to terminate the agreement with effect from 1 December 2025.
The dispute concerns six luxury safari lodges in Okavango Delta concession NG25, historically marketed as Wilderness Jao, Tubu Tree, Little Tubu, Kwetsani, Jacana and Pelo. Wilderness has marketed the camps for over 25 years, claiming an entrenched exclusive right arising from shareholder and marketing agreements.
NAS gave seven months’ notice of termination and later circulated a 15 October 2025 letter to trade partners announcing the rebranding of the camps as the “Jao Reserve”, with marketing to be handled by the Jao Collection. Wilderness argued the communication caused reputational harm and threatened losses of up to US$10 million, prompting its urgent court bid.
The court rejected this argument, finding that any alleged harm was financial and compensable by damages, and that Wilderness had delayed for months before approaching the court urgently, amounting to self-created urgency.
Justice Nthomiwa also struck out Wilderness’ amended application after finding it had introduced new relief without proper board authorisation, filed supplementary affidavits without leave of court, and improperly sought substantive relief under the guise of an interlocutory application.
“The urgent procedure was misused to secure a tactical advantage,” the court ruled.
Wilderness was ordered to pay costs on an attorney-and-client scale.
The judgment however does not determine the merits of the underlying contractual dispute, which remains pending, but clears the way for NAS to proceed with its planned marketing transition.