Abstract
In South Africa tens of thousands of ordinary working people in debt are having substantial
portions of their wages or salaries deducted based on unlawfully obtained emoluments
attachment orders. Unscrupulous credit providers often insert dubious jurisdiction clauses in
credit agreements and end up instituting legal proceedings in courts miles away from where
consumers work or reside. In practice, debt collection practitioners use section 45 of the
Magistrates’ Courts Act to obtain consent to the issuing of emoluments attachment orders
from courts which would not have jurisdiction in terms of section 65J(1)(a) of the
Magistrates’ Courts Act.
This minor dissertation investigates the inevitable impact of the National Credit Act on civil
procedures used by credit providers to collect outstanding debts sounding in money; the
interpretation of section 45 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act with regard to its application in
practices relating to the issuing of emoluments attachment orders by consent; and the
rationale in considering a court’s jurisdiction in the issuing of emoluments attachment orders
where the underlying agreement is a credit agreement to which the National Credit Act
applies.
LL.M. (Banking Law)