Summons, notice of intention to defend and plea in practice

[Citizen X]

Hi, in desperate need of some advice!
Today a sheriff of the court arrived with a default judgement taken against my husband, to attach property to the value of R19000. The case concerned was from an accident in 2008 in which my husband was not involved. He arrived on the scene of a work-related accident (a TLB driven by a company operator drove into the back of a car), and provided his details for correspondence. The lawyers who contacted him were then given the details of the owner of the company and the particulars for insurance, etc. In 2009 my husband received a summons to appear in court relating to this case, as he was personally being sued for the amount owing. He refused to accept the summons and asserted again that it was not HIS accident and he was not liable. He then contacted the lawyers concerned, gave them particulars once again, and thought that was that. Now he has the default judgement against him. WHAT CAN WE DO?? Surely as it was neither himself operating the TLB, nor was the TLB his or in any way his responsibility, this is an error?? We can't afford hefty lawyer fees but at the same time we most certainly aren't going to pay R19000 for something that did not concern us?! Any advise will be greatly appreciated!!

Good evening Fii ,
I can understand your reasonable anxiety and worry about this matter! That said, one must never lose sight of the fact that a summons is a court process! The court must be respected by the defendant entering an appearance and a plea on merits. If I explain it like this, someone has accused your husband formally in a civil court for liability for an accident. The fact that he was not responsible does not negate the fact that he failed to enter an appearance within the time frame and a plea on merits. So judgment was rightfully and lawfully granted!
What to do next
I’m afraid you’ll have to instruct an attorney on this one, but I’ll advise you on what to specifically instruct.
1. In instruct an attorney to institute proceedings to have the warrant set aside in terms of section 62;
2. In instruct an attorney to have the judgment rescinded on the basis of rule 49(7) or (8) whichever one your attorney believes to be more applicable

[Sourcemart]

Hi Vanash,
Thank you for the information. I have a quick question. Completing the Summons document is real easy, but where do I get the "Case" number from? I see in your example 6003/5013. If I need to complete a draft summons for the magistrate's court, how will this look draft look like? I also then need to know, do I just take the draft personally to the magistrates court, and ask for the clerk of the court to take and stamp it?
I am the director for a debt collections company, and up to now, we did not have the need to complete summons documents. But people are more resistant than ever to pay their outstanding debt this year.

Kind Regards