Bisschoff N O obo Reyners v Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa

On 20 February 2001, Mr Denzil John Reyners fell from a moving train operated by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), sustaining severe head injuries and traumatic brain damage. Although discharged from hospital with records indicating a ‘full recovery’, he suffered permanent cognitive, memory and executive functioning impairments, including epilepsy and personality changes. He continued to live with his parents and worked intermittently in unskilled jobs. In June 2010 he instructed attorneys to pursue a claim against PRASA. A curator ad litem was appointed on 7 February 2013, and summons was issued on 23 August 2013. PRASA raised a special plea that the delictual claim had prescribed three years after the accident. The curator contended that prescription did not run because Mr Reyners lacked the mental capacity to know the identity of the debtor and the facts giving rise to the debt, alternatively that prescription was delayed under s 13(1)(a) of the Prescription Act due to his unsoundness of mind until the appointment of a curator.

The appeal was upheld with costs. The order of the full court was set aside and replaced with an order dismissing PRASA’s appeal to the full court with costs, thereby restoring the trial court’s dismissal of the special plea of prescription.

The case clarifies the application of sections 12(3) and 13(1)(a) of the Prescription Act in circumstances involving mental incapacity. It affirms that residual or superficial functioning does not equate to the cognitive capacity required to acquire knowledge of a debt or to litigate. The judgment underscores the binding effect of uncontested and agreed expert evidence, and protects vulnerable claimants from prescription running while they are incapable of safeguarding their legal rights.