What Is the Statute of Limitations in South Africa?

The statute of limitations in South Africa is called prescription, and it sets how long a creditor has to collect a debt or the state has to prosecute a crime before the right to do so lapses. The Prescription Act 68 of 1969 governs civil debts. The Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 governs criminal prosecution. Most ordinary debts prescribe after three years, judgment debts and mortgage debts after 30, and most crimes after 20 years, with the worst offences carrying no time limit at all.

How Long a Debt Lasts Before It Prescribes

Section 11 of the Prescription Act splits debts into four periods, each running from the date the debt became due.¹

Three years for most ordinary debts: credit card balances, personal loans, medical bills, retail accounts, and unpaid rent. Anything not specifically placed in a longer category sits here.
Six years for debts arising from bills of exchange, such as cheques and promissory notes, and from notarial contracts.
Fifteen years for debts owed to the state where the state itself extended a loan or advance, or sold or leased state land to the debtor. The category is narrower than it reads: it only applies when the state was the original creditor or seller.
Thirty years for debts secured by a mortgage bond, judgment debts, any tax or levy imposed by law, and royalties owed to the state for mining rights.

Two consequences of the 30-year tier catch people out. Once a creditor obtains a court judgment, the underlying three-year debt converts into a judgment debt that lives for 30 years. And because maintenance orders are judgment debts, unpaid child maintenance does not prescribe after three years; the recipient has up to 30 years to enforce each missed payment.

When the Clock Starts

Section 12 ties the start of prescription to when the debt becomes “due”, meaning when the creditor first has the legal right to demand payment. If a loan agreement sets repayment for 1 March, prescription runs from 1 March, not from the date the loan was signed.²

For claims that do not arise from a contract, such as damages after a car accident, the clock only starts once the creditor knows both the identity of the debtor and the facts giving rise to the claim. The Act closes the obvious loophole: if the creditor could have discovered those facts through reasonable care, the law treats them as already knowing.³

How the Clock Resets or Pauses

Prescription is not unstoppable. Two things reach into a running clock: interruption, which restarts it from zero, and delay, which extends the deadline by at least a year.

Under Section 14, any express or tacit acknowledgment of the debt by the debtor restarts the full prescription period from the date of that acknowledgment. A partial payment counts. A written promise to pay counts. Asking for more time counts. This is how consumers most often revive debts they could have walked away from: one payment on an old account, and the clock is new again.

Under Section 15, serving a summons on the debtor through the sheriff also interrupts prescription. The creditor must then prosecute the claim to final judgment; if the case is abandoned or withdrawn, the interruption falls away and the debt can prescribe as if the summons had never been served.²

Section 13 pauses prescription in defined situations, so that the period cannot complete until at least one year after the obstacle disappears. The main ones: the creditor is under 18, under curatorship, or has a mental disability; the spouses are married in community of property and the debt is between them; the debtor is outside South Africa; the debt sits in an insolvent estate or a company in liquidation; or a party has died and no executor is yet in place. The Prescription in Civil and Criminal Matters (Sexual Offences) Amendment Act 15 of 2020 added a further delay for civil claims by victims of sexual offences.⁴

What Happens Once a Debt Prescribes

A prescribed debt becomes a “natural obligation”. The creditor cannot sue on it. If you voluntarily pay anyway, the creditor is entitled to keep the money. Prescription is a defense you must raise. A court will not apply it on its own, so if you are sued on a prescribed debt and do not plead prescription in your response, you lose the protection.

Credit agreements get a further layer of protection. Under Section 126B of the National Credit Act, no one may sell a prescribed credit debt, and no one may continue collecting on a prescribed credit debt once the consumer raises prescription or would reasonably have raised it had they known. Collectors who chase prescribed credit debts are acting unlawfully. But if a debtor knows the debt has prescribed and chooses to keep paying anyway, those payments stand.

The practical rule is short. Before paying anything on an old account, or signing any document that acknowledges it, check whether the debt has already prescribed. One payment resets the full period, and the NCA protections fall away the moment the clock restarts.

Shorter Deadlines That Override the General Rule

Several categories of claim run on their own, much shorter clocks. Missing one of these is usually fatal even though ordinary prescription would still give you years.

Claims Against the State

If your claim is against a government department, municipality, or other organ of state, the Institution of Legal Proceedings against Certain Organs of State Act 40 of 2002 requires written notice within six months of the date the debt became due. Miss the six months and you cannot sue without a court order condoning the late notice. Condonation is only available if the debt has not yet prescribed, you have good cause for the delay, and the organ of state was not unreasonably prejudiced.⁵

This notice is separate from prescription. You can give notice in time and still have the claim prescribe later, or miss the notice and apply for condonation provided the claim itself has not yet prescribed.

Road Accident Fund Claims

Injuries from motor vehicle accidents fall under the Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996. Where the driver who caused the accident is identified, you have three years from the date of the accident to lodge your claim with the RAF. Where the driver or vehicle owner is unknown, as in a hit-and-run, the lodgment deadline is two years and the whole claim must be finalised within five years of the accident.⁶

Unfair Dismissal and Labour Disputes

Employment deadlines are the shortest of all. Under the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, an employee who has been unfairly dismissed generally has 30 days from the date of dismissal to refer the dispute to the CCMA. For unfair labour practices, such as unfair conduct around promotion, demotion, or benefits, the referral period is 90 days from the date the employee became aware of the conduct. Miss these and you must apply for condonation, showing good cause, a reasonable prospect of success, and a convincing explanation for the delay. Many valid claims fail here because workers assume they have months or years to act.

How Long the State Has to Prosecute a Crime

Section 18 of the Criminal Procedure Act gives the state 20 years from the date a crime was committed to bring charges. After that, the right to prosecute lapses and the accused can raise prescription as a complete defense. The 20-year window applies to all offences that are not specifically exempt, covering fraud, theft, assault, arson and the rest. Some statutes set shorter periods for less serious regulatory offences, and the Criminal Procedure Act defers to those.⁷

Crimes With No Time Limit

Section 18 exempts the most serious offences from the 20-year rule. The state can prosecute these no matter how much time has passed:

Murder
Treason, but only when committed while the Republic is in a state of war; peacetime treason still carries the 20-year limit
Robbery with aggravating circumstances
Kidnapping and child-stealing
All sexual offences under common law and statute, following the 2020 Amendment Act
Bribery and corruption offences under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act
Terrorism-related offences under the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act
Genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes
Human trafficking offences
Torture under the Prevention and Combating of Torture of Persons Act

The 2020 Prescription in Civil and Criminal Matters (Sexual Offences) Amendment Act is the most recent significant change. Before 2020, only certain sexual offences escaped the 20-year limit. The amendment extended the exemption to all sexual offences arising under common law or any statute, and amended the civil Prescription Act to delay prescription on damages claims arising from those offences.⁴

1
Law Library. Prescription Act 68 of 1969 – Section 11 Periods of Prescription of Debts
2
South African Government. Prescription Act 68 of 1969
3
Legal Assistance Centre. Prescription Act 68 of 1969 – Section 12
4
South African Government. Prescription in Civil and Criminal Matters (Sexual Offences) Amendment Act 15 of 2020
5
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. Institution of Legal Proceedings Against Certain Organs of State Act 40 of 2002
6
Road Accident Fund. Claims FAQ
7
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 – Section 18