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Other Sources of Information & Links

The primary resources are the act and rules and they should always be kept at close by or be accessible. For ease of reference, links to these have been provided. The links are the latest versions that could be accessed at the time of compiling this presentation and one should always check for amendments after those versions. The website of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is also helpful and indicates amendments or intended amendments. It can be accessed here. Its specific pages on the Small Claims court can be accessed directly by clicking here.

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has made the following standard forms available on its website:

Complaint Form
Letter of Demand
Administering of the Oath
An affidavit for the transfer of an action to the Magistrates' Court for the purposes of execution
Application (cover letters and for information) for the appointment of Commisssioners
Summons commencing action
Notice of judgment that has been granted

These forms can be accessed by following the links here. They can even be completed online if one has the Adobe Acrobat Reader 7 (or later version) installed.

Then there are various secondary and tertiary sources that can be consulted. The Law Reports of the High Court are secondary sources.

The following works are tertiary sources:

Bredenkamp IM, The Small Claims Court,1986;
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development of the RSA, Small Claims Courts: Guidelines For Commissioners,Version 1, 2010; (electronically available here);
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development of the RSA, Small Claims Courts: Guidelines For Clerks,Version 1, 2010; (electronically available here);
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development of the RSA Brochure, Guidelines For Lodging a Claim in the Small Claims Court, 2010; (electronically available here);
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development of the RSA Brochure (in all official South African Languages), Institute Your Own Claim, 2008; (electronically available here);
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development of the RSA Brochure, Step by Step Guide on how to Intitute a Claim, 2007; (electronically available here);
Gough I, The Small Claims Court: A Court with a Human Face? (Unpublished LLM thesis, University of Natal, Durban, 1992;
Spiller P, A Comparison of the South african Small Claims Court and the New Zealand Disputes Tribunal, http://www.austlii.edu.au/nz/journals/WkoLRev/1997/3.html#fn1;
Strauss SAS, You in the Small Claims Court Second Edition,1990;