MEC: Police, Roads and Transport Free State Provincial Government v Bovicon Consulting Engineers CC and Another

Bovicon Consulting Engineers CC rendered professional services to the Free State Department of Police, Roads and Transport between May 2012 and March 2013. When invoices remained unpaid, Bovicon issued summons in August 2014 for payment of R1 171 774.83 plus interest at 15.5%. By 12 September 2019, accrued interest equalled the capital amount, triggering the in duplum rule and capping the total indebtedness at R2 343 549.66. On 5 December 2019, the High Court ordered the MEC to pay the capital amount with interest until final payment. The MEC paid R2 343 549.66 on 14 July 2020. Bovicon claimed further post-judgment interest for the period between judgment and payment. The MEC resisted this claim, contending that the debt was fully settled and that the in duplum rule barred further interest.

Paragraph 5 of the High Court order was set aside and substituted to provide that interest on R2 343 549.66 is payable at the prescribed rate prevailing on 6 December 2019 until final payment. Save for this amendment, the appeal was dismissed with costs.

The judgment reaffirms and clarifies South African law on the interaction between the in duplum rule and post-judgment interest, confirming that the rule does not extinguish a creditor’s right to post-judgment mora interest. It also reinforces that post-judgment interest is sourced in the judgment itself and is governed by the prescribed statutory rate, not the contractual rate.