How Long After an Incident Can You Sue? | South African Law

Under the Prescription Act 68 of 1969, most civil claims in South Africa — including personal injury, defamation, and most delicts — prescribe after 3 years from the date the claim first arose, meaning that, as a general rule, a person has 3 years from the incident to issue and serve summons before the claim becomes unenforceable in court. The Act sets out a tier of periods depending on the type of claim: 30 years for debts owing under any court judgment, 15 years for debts secured by mortgage bond, 6 years for other monetary debts, and 3 years for any other civil claim (which captures personal injury, defamation, and most damages claims). The prescription clock is interrupted by a written acknowledgment of liability or a written demand, restarting the period under sections 14 and 15 of the Act, and for minors the clock only begins running once the impediment ceases — in many cases effectively extending the practical window well beyond the standard 3 years.

The Prescription Act 68 of 1969 — The National Framework

The Prescription Act 68 of 1969 is the national statute that sets the time limits for civil claims in South Africa; it applies in every provincial division of the High Court and in the regional and magistrate’s courts throughout the country. A “prescribed” claim cannot be enforced in court — the lapse of the prescription period is a complete defence, even where the underlying claim is otherwise valid. The Act works alongside the procedural rules for issuing summons: prescription is dealt with under the substantive law, but a claim only stops prescribing once summons is actually issued and served, not merely issued. Under section 17 of the Act, a court will not take notice of prescription on its own motion — it must be raised by the defendant in the pleadings — but once raised, the effect is final in most cases. Section 10 also provides for the extinction of a debt by prescription in narrow circumstances, separate from the running time limits set out in section 11.

Burger Huyser Attorneys’ general and commercial litigation practice (under Marni Huyser’s leadership) regularly acts on prescription-driven work — issue and service of summons, urgent extensions of service periods, and letter-of-demand strategies that restart the clock in time to protect a claim.

The Standard Time Limits, by Type of Claim

Type of claim	Prescription period
Any civil claim not listed below (personal injury, defamation, most delicts, contractual damages claims)	3 years
Other debts owed by virtue of a written contract, negotiable instrument, or other recognised source	6 years
Debts secured by mortgage bond, and debts owing to the State arising from advances, loans, or sales/leases of land	15 years
Debts owing under any court judgment, debts arising from taxation, and certain debts owed to the State relating to mining rights	30 years

The starting point of the prescription clock is the date the debt or claim first arose — that is, the date the incident occurred, or for a contractual claim, the date the money or performance became due (section 12). Where the claim is for damages that only crystallise later (for example, an injury that worsens over time), the courts generally treat the date of the incident as the starting point, not the date of later diagnosis — late discovery does not usually restart the clock. Some claims have their own statutory windows layered on top of prescription (for example, RAF lodgement timelines, COIDA injury-on-duty claims) — those internal rules do not extend the court prescription period.

Common Examples and What the Period Means in Practice

• Personal injury from a vehicle accident — the 3-year period runs from the date of the collision; summons should be issued and served within 3 years of that date for a court action to remain alive.
• Road Accident Fund claims — lodgement with the RAF has its own internal windows and process set out under the RAF Act and on the RAF’s published FAQ (3 years from the date of the accident for identified claims, 2 years for hit-and-run claims, with finalisation generally within 5 years), but the right to sue the RAF in court is still subject to the same 3-year prescription under the Prescription Act — lodgement and court action are tracked separately.
• Defamation — 3 years from the date the offending statement was published; each fresh publication may give rise to a new claim.
• Breach of contract for money owed — 6 years from the date the amount became due (the longer period applies because contractual monetary debts are classified under section 11).
• Damages for unlawful arrest or malicious prosecution — 3 years from the act complained of, with the underlying criminal-case outcome often relevant to when the civil cause of action crystallises.
• Property damage arising from negligence — 3 years from the date of the damage-causing event.

What Interrupts or Stops the Prescription Clock

The Act sets out a small number of clear events that interrupt prescription. The most important are:

1. An acknowledgment of liability by the debtor (the other party), express or tacit and in writing — restarts the clock under section 14 of the Act.
2. The service of court process on the debtor in which the creditor claims payment of the debt — under section 15, this stops the running of prescription. For a civil claim, that means issue and service of summons before the deadline, not mere issue.
3. Once prescription has run for the full period, the claim is extinguished in most cases and cannot be revived, even if the debtor later acknowledges the debt in conversation; a fresh acknowledgment after prescription has, in the ordinary course, no effect.
4. Court condonation after prescription has run is difficult and is only granted in narrow circumstances; prevention through early summons is materially safer than an after-the-fact extension application.

Special Rules: Minors, Persons Under Curatorship, Deceased Estates

Category	Effect on prescription
Minor child	Under section 13, prescription cannot complete while the creditor is a minor, and in any event not before one year has elapsed after the impediment ceases — in practice giving most minors until at least their 19th birthday, and in many cases considerably longer.
Person under curatorship or with a mental or intellectual disability	Section 13 delays completion while the impediment continues, with the same one-year minimum tail afterwards.
Person prevented by superior force (including a law or court order) from interrupting prescription	Section 13 delay applies for so long as the impediment exists.
Deceased estate	The executor generally has the same standing the deceased would have had; the Act contains continuity provisions where the cause of action arose before death but was not pursued.

Where a claim is for damages suffered during childhood — for instance, an injury on the road at age 8 — the practical effect is that the family or the now-adult claimant has until well after the child’s 18th birthday to bring the action. That makes early investigation valuable even where the standard 3-year window has technically closed.

Filing the Summons in the Right Court in Gauteng

Most civil claims arising from incidents in Gauteng are issued either out of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Johannesburg seat, or the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Pretoria seat, depending on where the parties are domiciled and the nature of the relief sought. The Johannesburg seat is the customary venue for matters originating in Johannesburg, Sandton, Roodepoort, Randburg, Alberton, and Midrand, while the Pretoria seat is the customary venue for matters from Pretoria, Centurion, and the broader northern Gauteng region. A searcher considering the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court (corner of Sauer and Albert Streets in the Johannesburg CBD) or the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court (Pretoria Central) for a smaller claim should know that the magistrate’s court jurisdictional ceiling for civil claims is R400,000, with the Small Claims Court (a separate, attorney-free forum) sitting at a much lower ceiling (currently R20,000) and operating under its own procedural rules — both apply the same Prescription Act framework as the High Court.

The Road Accident Fund’s central claims office in Centurion handles the administrative lodgement of motor-vehicle-related claims; lodgement there is administrative only and does not, on its own, extend the prescription period for a court action against the RAF. Burger Huyser Attorneys practises out of its head office in Linden/Randburg and its Gauteng branches, and the firm’s general litigation practice works time-sensitive prescription matters out of whichever branch sits closest to the matter for direct filing and service logistics.

What to Do as a Deadline Approaches (or After It Lapses)

1. Instruct an attorney early to issue and serve summons before the prescription date — service by the sheriff (or via substituted service on application to court) is what stops the prescription clock.
2. If a summons is issued in time but service fails, apply to the court for an extension of the service period under the Uniform Rules of Court — this is possible but exceptional and must be motivated.
3. A letter of demand sent before the deadline can interrupt prescription in limited circumstances and also serves as a useful precursor to summons, giving the debtor a final opportunity to settle.
4. Once the prescription period has fully run, the options narrow sharply — most courts will not condone late filing, and a creditor cannot revive the claim by restarting negotiations after prescription has run.
5. Lodgement of an internal claim with a body like the RAF, an insurer, a medical scheme, or a forensic auditor does not, on its own, extend the prescription period for a court action; lodgement and the right to sue are two parallel procedural tracks, and only the court summons under the Prescription Act stops the court-action clock.

Common Practical Pitfalls

• Waiting until the final weeks of the prescription period to instruct an attorney — by then the file has not been prepared, summons may not be ready in time, and service is unlikely to be achieved before the deadline.
• Treating an insurance or RAF offer as an extension of the deadline — most internal claims processes run on their own timetable, separate from the court prescription clock.
• Issuing summons but failing to achieve service — issue does not stop prescription; service does.
• Assuming “I only just found out” extends the clock — late discovery does not usually restart prescription under the Act.

Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Roodepoort branch, under Director Nadine Roesch-Prinsloo, handles this kind of general litigation work — MVA claims, insurance repudiations, and prescription-driven matters — as part of the firm’s wider High Court motion practice, so the same warning signs above map directly onto a branch that takes them on every week.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to sue after a car accident in South Africa?

The general rule under the Prescription Act is 3 years from the date of the collision for most personal injury claims, including RAF-related claims. Lodging a claim with the RAF has its own internal process and window, but the right to issue court summons lapses after 3 years, so lodgement and the court-action track must be managed separately. Issuing and serving the summons before the 3-year deadline stops the clock — issuing alone is not enough.

Does lodging an insurance claim or RAF claim stop the prescription clock?

No. Lodgement of a claim with the RAF, an insurer, a medical scheme, or another administrative body does not, on its own, interrupt the prescription period for a court action. Only an acknowledgment of liability in writing, the service of a court process, or — in limited cases — a written demand that the Act recognises, stops the prescription clock under the Act.

Can a minor sue for personal injury after the incident, and when does their time start?

Yes. Under section 13 of the Prescription Act, prescription is delayed where the creditor is a minor, so the period cannot complete while the impediment continues. In practice this means a child injured in a road accident at age 10 will generally have until at least a year after turning 18 to issue summons, and in many cases considerably longer.

I only discovered my injury years after the incident — does that restart the prescription clock?

Generally, no. The clock under the Act typically runs from when the debt or claim first arose (the date of the incident), not from when the damage was discovered. There are narrow factual situations where a later date may apply, but late discovery is not, on its own, enough to extend prescription, which is why consulting a litigation attorney as soon as a serious injury is suspected matters.

What happens if my summons is issued but never served on the defendant?

Service, not issue, is what stops the prescription clock for most claims. If a summons is issued in time but service fails, the court may extend the period for service in some circumstances under the Uniform Rules of Court — but doing nothing carries the risk that the claim will prescribe. This is one of the most common pitfalls in litigation and the strongest reason to instruct an attorney well before the deadline, not at the last minute.

How does Burger Huyser Attorneys help with prescription and time-sensitive litigation matters?

Burger Huyser’s general litigation practice (covering personal injury, contractual disputes, defamation, and debt recovery) issues and serves summons, drafts letters of demand, and runs urgent prescription-related work for clients across Gauteng. The firm’s head office in Linden/Randburg (49 First Avenue, 011 888 0246, after-hours 061 516 6878) and its branches in Sandton (011 253 3080), Roodepoort (011 668 0030), Bedfordview (011 201 7190), Centurion (012 644 4990), Pretoria (012 471 5700), Alberton (011 439 3990), and Midrand (010 022 4082) all take instructions on time-sensitive litigation work, with after-hours mobile lines available for urgent filing.

If the date of the incident is approaching (or has already passed) the 3-year mark, prompt legal advice matters: after the deadline, court condonation is only available in narrow circumstances, so prevention — letters of demand in time, and issuing and serving summons before the deadline — is materially safer than an after-the-fact application. Burger Huyser Attorneys’ general litigation practice acts for clients across Gauteng on personal injury, RAF, defamation, contractual damages, and debt matters; the firm’s head office in Linden, Randburg (49 First Avenue, 011 888 0246, after-hours 061 516 6878) and its branches in Sandton (011 253 3080), Roodepoort (011 668 0030), Bedfordview (011 201 7190), Centurion (012 644 4990), Pretoria (012 471 5700), Alberton (011 439 3990), and Midrand (010 022 4082) all take instructions on time-sensitive litigation work. Bringing the date of the incident, any prior correspondence (insurer, RAF, demand letters), and the claimant’s contact details to the first consultation lets the litigation team give an accurate prescription read on day one. The firm carries a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews (Trustindex verified) and a multi-specialist Litigation practice area.