Deez Realtors CC t/a Firzt Realty Company v South African Securitisation Program (Pty) Ltd and Others

The respondents (plaintiffs) concluded two written lease agreements with the first appellant for printing equipment. The appellants breached the agreements by failing to pay rentals timeously. The lease agreements (clause 14.1) afforded the creditor alternative remedies upon breach: either to enforce the contract and claim accelerated rentals, or to cancel and claim arrear rentals plus liquidated damages for the remaining period. Summons was issued and served in September 2010 claiming accelerated rentals. After the appellants pleaded that the respondents had elected to cancel the agreements on 16 July 2010, the respondents amended their particulars of claim in 2014 to claim liquidated damages flowing from cancellation. The appellants sought to introduce a special plea of prescription, contending that the amended claim constituted a different debt which had prescribed.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.

The case clarifies South African law on prescription by confirming that a change in the remedy claimed, arising from the same contractual breach, does not necessarily create a new debt. It reinforces the wide meaning of 'debt' under the Prescription Act and provides important guidance on when prescription is interrupted despite amendments to pleadings.