Judge strikes a ‘blow’ for indebted
WESTERN Cape High Court Judge Seraj Desai struck a blow for the poor who are being exploited by micro-lenders.
Hailed as a victory for those who made loans to survive, Desai yesterday declared as illegal and unlawful emoluments attachment orders (EAO) against a group of Stellenbosch workers.
Stellenbosch University Legal Aid Clinic took up the case of a group of low income earners from the area.
Law firm Webber Wentzel assisted the clinic while debt collectors Flemix & Associated Incorporated Attorneys defended. Flemix acted for several lenders and had tens of thousands of debtors.
The EAOs against the Stellenbosch residents were obtained in magisterial districts as far as Kimberley and Winburg.
Werksmans Attorneys lawyer Louis du Preez for Flemix had conceded that the EAOs be set aside but Desai, in his judgment, went further.
“That, however, is not the end of this matter. This application relates to 12 EAOs and all were irregularly, if not unlawfully, obtained.
“Ms AE Jordaan, the attorney for the Flemix respondents, states that there are 150 000 active cases. In the light of how the debt collecting agents secured the consents, the forum shopping involved and the fact that all the EAOs in this matter were unlawfully obtained in the wrong jurisdiction, it is safe to assume that thousands, if not tens of thousands from Ms Jordaan’s 150 000 cases involving ordinary working people in debt, are having significant portions of their salaries or wages deducted based on unlawfully obtained EAOs.”
He was not at liberty to inquire into the tens of thousands of other EAOs.
However, he could not “in good conscience” ignore the plight of those debtors, the judge said.
“I trust that the Flemix respondents and Ms Jordaan will not pursue EAOs obtained against the debtors in the wrong jurisdiction. That may in fact be illegal.”
“Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. This ruling means thousands of poor people can now hold their heads high,” Stellenbosch University Legal Aid Clinic director Kruger van der Walt said.