11 HH 29-2007 HC 1786/06 “The function of judicial review is to scrutinize the legality of administrative action, not to secure a decision by a judge in place of an administrator. As a general principle, the courts will not attempt to substitute their own decision for that of the public authority; if an administrative decision is found to be ultra vires the court will usually set it aside and refer the matter back to the authority for a fresh decision. To do otherwise „would constitute an unwarranted usurpation of the powers entrusted [to the public authority] by the Legislature.‟ Thus it would be said that „(t)he ordinary course is to refer back because the court is slow to assume a discretion which has by statute been entrusted to another tribunal or functionary. In exceptional circumstances this principle will be departed from. The overriding principle is that of fairness.” It goes without saying that a court does not exercise administrative functions and that it cannot imbue itself with such power without legal justification. This is why in its draft order the applicant has prayed that this court grant an order declaring that the applicant be deemed to have been registered in terms of the Act. If indeed the court had the legal justification to do such administrative acts, except in rare and exceptional situations, the applicant would have sought an order in its draft that the court grants the applicant substantive registration in accordance with the provisions of AIPPA. The fact that it did not and sought instead an order wherein the court would deem it to have been duly registered is an acknowledgment that the court cannot register the applicant as a mass media operator under the AIPPA. In the event, can the court still deem the applicant as registered in terms of the AIPPA? I do not think that the applicant seriously disputes the principle that a court will not interfere in the sphere of administrative actions or decisions except in very exceptional situations. It settled law that a court will normally interfere in the administrative sphere in the following circumstances:a) where the end result is a forgone conclusion and a referral back would be a waste of time; b) where further delay would cause unjustifiable prejudice to the applicant; c) where the statutory tribunal or functionary has exhibited bias or incompetence to such a degree that it would be unfair to require the applicant to submit to the same jurisdiction again; and d) where the court is in as good a position to make the decision itself. In order to do justice to the submissions from counsel, it is necessary that I examine each of the authorities cited in detail. In Traube v Administrator, Transvaal and Others (supra) the applicant therein, was a qualified medical practitioner who was employed at Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto in 1985 as an intern. She completed her internship in 1986 and was then offered a position as senior house officer for the first half of 1987 and thereafter for the second half. Both stints were successful. She then applied for the same post for the first half of 1988 and was informed that her application had not been successful. The applicant sought therefore a review of the decision denying her the post and an 11