Digital letter allowed as demand for payment

TIMES have changed, and those who owe money can no longer hide behind the fact that they did not receive registered letters of demand in the mail.

In a groundbreaking order, the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, has accepted the digitally registered delivery of a Section 129 final letter of demand for payment as the basis for granting a default judgment.

A Section 129 letter is issued in terms of the National Credit Act, and alerts a consumer that he or she is in arrears with payments. In the past, consumers received these notices through registered post and many ignored them, and claimed they never received the notices.

But now a digitally received letter will suffice.

Bradley Gilmour, director at Registered Communication, who was involved in the legal proceedings, explained that if a business or person is owed money by a consumer, the business or person can institute legal proceedings to recover that money.

Part of the process is sending the consumer a letter of demand, which has conventionally been sent to them through registered mail.

Consumers can ignore a registered letter, or choose not to sign for it at the post office.

This is a lengthy procedure, even though the credit provider can proceed with legal action if the registered letter of demand has not been collected.

He said a letter of demand through registered email or registered SMS was more difficult for a consumer to ignore, as it was delivered through a convenient and accessible channel, directly to their cellphone number or email address.

It reaches them wherever they are, without the need to visit a post office.

“Consumers are more quickly equipped with the information that they need to make payment arrangements with the creditor, avoiding legal costs and adverse credit ratings,” he explained.

The court ordered that a company could recover its debt from an owing consumer after the latter was alerted through a digital letter of demand.

Gilmour said there had been similar default judgments handed down in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in 2018, which were the first in South Africa to afford registered digital channels, such as registered SMS and registered email, the same status as conventional registered letters.

But this high court order further paved the way for the online route.

The court gave an attorney the green light to serve legal notices through electronic registered mail.

The company Registered Communication and one of its software partners, Swordfish Software, a debt collection software provider, hailed the victory which they have obtained.

Gilmour said using a track-andtrace concept that’s reminiscent of traditional registered mail, his company could deliver an instant electronic certificate and detailed audit report to clients as evidence that communication had been sent and delivered by SMS or emailed to recipients – with the same legal status as traditional registered post.

“In a recent campaign we ran with a client, less than 3% of their letters sent by conventional registered post had been delivered successfully by the end of the second month.

“This, while just short of 97% had been delivered, accepted and certified digitally by the end of the first month,” Gilmour said.

ANOTHER elephant calf has been brought to the Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development (HERD) centre for treatment and rehabilitation after being caught in a snare.

The female calf was found last month on a private game reserve in Phalaborwa in Limpopo by a resident.

The pachyderm had a wire snare wrapped tightly around her head, which had caused severe wounds, and had managed to dislodge the snare from where it had been secured. There was no sign of her herd.

Wildlife veterinarian Gerrit Scheepers was contacted and managed to relocate her to HERD.

“She was extremely scared and defensive, not allowing anyone come near her,” HERD said.

The calf is about 2½ years and weighs 350 to 400 kilograms.

“She was in bad condition due to serious wounds caused by the snare, dehydration and weight loss.”

It was likely she had been suffering for four to eight weeks.

The young calf, named Fenya (Sotho for survivor), has endured a similar experience to Khanyisa, an orphaned albino elephant calf found in January last year.

“Fenya has been in our care for a week and has made excellent progress …She is accepting milk from a bottle too, which is remarkable progress.”

“Wildlife veterinarian Peter Rogers to returned to clean the wounds and assess them for stitching.

“They administered extra vitamins through a drip. Her blood results show she has a low red blood cell count and her albumin levels are low.”

Rogers advised that Fenya needed to get stronger before further treatments that involved sedation, which would include a blood transfusion from one of the older elephants in the Jabulani herd.

“Given the extreme trauma she experienced, both emotionally and physically, her rehabilitation may take some time,” HERD said.

To Donate to HERD, visit: https:// herd.org.za/product/donate/