Omega Risk Solutions (Pty) Ltd v De Witt

Omega Risk Solutions (Pty) Ltd instituted several claims against its former Chief Executive Officer, Mr Josias Alexander De Witt, arising from payments made between March 2007 and August 2010. The claims alleged that De Witt breached his fiduciary duties by authorising payments when the company was not liable, misappropriating certain payments for personal purposes, and using company funds to discharge a personal liability. The respondent raised a special plea of prescription under the Prescription Act 68 of 1969, contending that the claims had prescribed because the appellant, through its Group Finance Manager Mr Philippus Smit, had or could reasonably have acquired knowledge of the relevant facts more than three years before summons was issued.

The appeal was dismissed with costs, including the costs of two counsel.

The case clarifies the application of section 12(3) of the Prescription Act to corporate creditors, confirming that prescription may run where a company, through the exercise of reasonable care by its directors, could have acquired knowledge of the facts giving rise to a claim. It reinforces the objective standard of reasonable diligence and limits attempts by corporate entities to delay prescription by relying on internal knowledge gaps.