| (1) |
Every person making a claim against any other person may, through the office of the registrar or clerk of the court, sue out a simple summons or a combined summons addressed to the sheriff directing the sheriff to inform the defendant among other things that, if the defendant disputes the claim and wishes to defend, the defendant shall— |
| (a) |
within the time stated in the summons, give notice of intention to defend; and |
| (b) |
after complying with paragraph (a), if the summons is a combined summons, within 20 days after giving such notice, deliver a plea (with or without a claim in reconvention), or an exception, or an application to strike out. |
(2)
| (a) |
In every case where the claim is not for a debt or liquidated demand the summons shall be a combined summons similar to Form 2B of Annexure 1, to which summons shall be annexed a statement of the material facts relied upon by the plaintiff in support of plaintiff's claim, and which statement shall, amongst others, comply with rule 6. |
| (b) |
Where the claim is for a debt or liquidated demand the summons may be a simple summons similar to Form 2 of Annexure 1. |
(3)
(a)
| (i) |
Every summons shall be signed by the attorney acting for the plaintiff and shall bear the attorney's physical address, within 15 kilometres of the courthouse, the attorney's postal address and, where available, the attorney's facsimile address and electronic mail address. |
| (ii) |
If no attorney is acting for the plaintiff, the summons shall be signed by the plaintiff, who shall in addition append a physical address within 15 kilometres of the courthouse at which plaintiff will accept service of all subsequent documents and notices in the suit, the plaintiff's postal address and, where available, plaintiff's facsimile address and electronic mail address. |
| (iii) |
After subparagraph (i) or (ii) has been complied with, the summons shall be signed and issued by the registrar or clerk of the court and shall bear the date of issue by the registrar or clerk as well as the case number allocated thereto. |
| (b) |
The plaintiff may indicate in a summons whether the plaintiff is prepared to accept service of all subsequent documents and notices in the suit through any manner other than the physical address or postal address and, if so, shall state such preferred manner of service. |
| (c) |
If an action is defended the defendant may, at the written request of the plaintiff, deliver a consent in writing to the exchange or service by both parties of subsequent documents and notices in the suit by way of facsimile or electronic mail. |
| (d) |
If the defendant refuses or fails to deliver the consent in writing as provided for in paragraph (c), the court may, on application by the plaintiff, grant such consent, on such terms as to costs and otherwise as may be just and appropriate in the circumstances. |
(4) Every summons shall set forth—
(5) Every summons shall include—
(a) a form of consent to judgment;
(b) a form of appearance to defend;
| (c) |
a notice drawing the defendant's attention to the provisions of section 109 of the Act; and |
| (d) |
a notice in which the defendant's attention is directed to the provisions of sections 57, 58, 65A and 65D of the Act in cases where the action is based on a debt referred to in section 55 of the Act. |
(6) A summons shall also—
| (a) |
where the defendant is cited under the jurisdiction conferred upon the court by section 28(1)(d) of the Act, contain an averment that the whole cause of action arose within the district or region, and set out the particulars in support of such averment; |
| (b) |
where the defendant is cited under the jurisdiction conferred upon the court by section 28(1)(g) of the Act, contain an averment that the property concerned is situated within the district or region; and |
| (c) |
show any abandonment of part of the claim under section 38 of the Act and any set-off under section 39 of the Act. |
| (7) |
Where the plaintiff issues a simple summons in respect of a claim regulated by legislation the summons may contain a bare allegation of compliance with the legislation, but the declaration, if any, must allege full particulars of such compliance: Provided that where the original cause of action is a credit agreement under the National Credit Act, 2005, the plaintiff seeking to obtain judgment in terms of section 58 of the Act shall in the summons deal with each one of the relevant provisions of sections 129 and 130 of the National Credit Act, 2005, and allege that each one has been complied with. |
| (8) |
A summons for rent under section 31 of the Act shall be in the form prescribed in Annexure 1, Form 3. |
| (9) |
Where the plaintiff sues as cessionary the plaintiff shall indicate the name, address and description of the cedent at the date of cession as well as the date of the cession. |
| (10) |
A summons in which an order is sought to declare executable immovable property which is the home of the defendant shall contain a notice in the following form: |
"The defendant's attention is drawn to section 26(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa which accords to everyone the right to have access to adequate housing. Should the defendant claim that the order for eviction will infringe that right it is incumbent on the defendant to place information supporting that claim before the Court".
| (11) |
If a party fails to comply with any of the provisions of this rule, such summons shall be deemed to be an irregular step and the opposite party shall be entitled to act in accordance with rule 60A. |
Statistics Act, 1999
