Absa Bank Limited v Keet

The respondent purchased a tractor vehicle under an instalment sale agreement in September 2003. Ownership was reserved in favour of the seller (ceded to Absa Bank) until full payment. The respondent defaulted on instalments and Absa cancelled the agreement and, in 2011, sued for repossession of the vehicle based on its ownership (rei vindicatio). The respondent raised a special plea that Absa’s claim had prescribed after three years under the Prescription Act 68 of 1969.

The appeal succeeded. The order of the High Court upholding the special plea of prescription was set aside and replaced with an order dismissing the special plea. No order as to costs was made.

This decision settled conflicting authority and authoritatively clarified that vindicatory claims are not subject to extinctive prescription under the Prescription Act. It reaffirmed the fundamental distinction between real rights and personal rights in South African law and overruled earlier SCA authority to the extent that it suggested otherwise.