Frieslaar NO v Ackerman

The appellants, acting as trustees of the Frieslaar Family Trust together with G & I Plumbers CC, concluded four identical agreements of sale on 25 February 2010 with the respondents for the purchase of immovable properties. In terms of clause 7.1 of the agreements, the sellers (respondents) were liable for payment of transfer and related costs and for effecting transfer of the properties, although no time for performance was stipulated. Possession passed to the Trust on 1 March 2010. The respondents never paid the transfer costs or effected transfer and purported to cancel the agreements on 4 July 2012. The appellants instituted action on 7 March 2013 seeking declaratory relief, specific performance (transfer), alternatively damages. The respondents raised a special plea that the claims had prescribed, contending that prescription commenced on conclusion of the agreements in February 2010.

The appeal was dismissed with costs, confirming the full court’s decision upholding the special plea of prescription.

The case reaffirms that contractual obligations to perform (including obligations to transfer property and pay transfer costs) constitute debts capable of prescription. It clarifies that where a contract does not stipulate a time for performance, prescription generally commences upon conclusion of the contract. The judgment consolidates Supreme Court of Appeal authority on when a debt becomes 'due' under the Prescription Act, particularly in sale of immovable property transactions.