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Magistrates' Courts Act, 1944 (Act No. 32 of 1944)

Part II : Civil Matters

Chapter IX : Execution

74J. Duties of administrator

 

(1) An administrator shall collect the payments to be made in terms of the administration order concerned and shall keep up to date a list (which shall be available for inspection, free of charge, by the debtor and creditors or their attorneys during office hours) of all payments and other funds received by him from or on behalf of the debtor, indicating the amount and date of each payment, and shall, subject to section 74L, distribute such payments pro rata among the creditors at least once every three months, unless all the creditors otherwise agree or the court otherwise orders in any particular case.

 

(2) If any debt or the balance of a debt be less than R10, the administrator may in his discretion pay such debt in full if such action will facilitate the distribution of funds in his possession.

 

(3) Claims that would enjoy preference under the laws relating to insolvency shall be paid out in the order prescribed by those laws.

 

(4) An administrator may, out of the moneys which he controls, pay any urgent or extraordinary medical, dental or hospital expenses incurred by the debtor after the date of the administration order.

 

(5) Every distribution account in respect of the periodical payments and other funds received by an administrator shall be numbered consecutively, shall bear the case number under which the administration order has been filed, shall be in the form prescribed in the rules, shall be signed by the administrator and shall be lodged at the office of the clerk of the court where it may be inspected free of charge by the debtor and the creditors or their attorneys during office hours.

 

(6) A distribution account referred to in subsection (5) shall at the request of any interested party be subject to review free of charge by any judicial officer.

 

(7) An administrator shall deposit all moneys received by him from or on behalf of debtors whose estates are under administration—
(a) if he is not a practising attorney, in a separate trust account with any bank in the Republic, and no amount with which any such account is credited shall be deemed to be part of the administrator's assets or, in the event of his death or insolvency, of his deceased or insolvent estate;
(b) if he is a practising attorney, in the trust account that he keeps in terms of section 33 of the Attorneys, Notaries and Conveyancers Admission Act, 1934 (Act No. 23 of 1934).

 

(8) If a debtor should at any time, despite a registered letter of demand from the administrator, be 14 days in arrear with the payment of any instalment and if steps in terms of section 74I(3) cannot be taken or have been taken unsuccessfully, or if the debtor has disappeared, the administrator shall forthwith notify the creditors in writing thereof and request their instructions.

 

(9) If within the period allowed in a notice contemplated in subsection (8) the majority of the creditors instruct him to do so, or fail to respond, the administrator shall institute legal proceedings against the debtor for his committal for contempt of court or take such steps as may be necessary to trace the debtor who has disappeared, as the circumstances may require.

 

(10) If within the period allowed in a notice contemplated in subsection (8) the majority of the creditors instruct him to do so, the administrator shall apply to the court for the rescission of the administration order.

 

(11) If an administrator fails to lodge a distribution account with the clerk of the court within one month from the time his obligation to do so commenced, any interested party may apply to the court for an order directing him to lodge a distribution account with the clerk of the court within the time laid down in the order or relieving him of his office as administrator.

 

(12) If an administrator has lodged a distribution account with the clerk of the court but has failed to pay any amount of money due to any creditor in terms of such account within one month thereafter, the court may upon the application of the creditor order the administrator to pay the creditor the amount concerned within such period as may be fixed in the order and furthermore to pay to the debtor's estate an amount which is double the amount which he failed so to pay.

 

(13) The court may order an administrator to pay the costs of an application in terms of subsection (11) or (12) de bonis propriis.

 

(14) If any debt which was due at the time of the granting of an administration order in respect of a debtor's estate is paid in full or in part to the creditor by the debtor after the granting of the order, otherwise than by way of payments in terms of the administration order, such payment shall be invalid and the administrator may recover the amount paid from the creditor, unless the creditor proves that the payment was effected without his knowledge of the administration order, and, in addition, the creditor shall forfeit his claim against the estate of the debtor if the payment was effected at the request of the creditor whilst he had knowledge of the administration order.