Debt review after enforcement has begun

A recent warning about timing, section 129 and later debt-review applications.

Enforcement timing and the limits of debt review

Selected recent authorities and practical implications for debt-review practice.

FirstRand Bank Ltd v Buys and Another

Citation: (5511/2022) [2026] ZAMPMHC 59 (26 August 2026)

Authority level: High Court — Mpumalanga Division

Why this development matters

Buys is a useful recent reminder that engaging with a bank or proposing partial payments is not the same thing as invoking the statutory mechanisms that can affect enforcement, and that a later debt-review application cannot necessarily undo litigation already underway.

Background

• The matter concerned home-loan enforcement after arrears and a section 129 notice.

• There had been engagement about payment and proposed arrangements, but the bank had reserved its rights and proceeded with litigation.

• A debt-review application was made later, after enforcement had already commenced.

What the Court decided

• The court distinguished ordinary payment negotiations from the formal statutory responses contemplated by the NCA.

• The later debt-review application did not retrospectively neutralise enforcement proceedings that had already been commenced in respect of the agreement.

• Summary judgment was granted and the property was declared executable on the facts before the court.

Practical implications

• When a consumer receives a section 129 notice, establish the dates immediately. Timing can determine whether a particular agreement remains capable of inclusion in the debt-review process.

• Do not assume that an informal proposal, call-centre arrangement or partial payment has the same legal effect as referral to a prescribed dispute-resolution route.

• Where litigation already exists, the Debt Counsellor should obtain the complete summons/application and refer the enforcement issue for legal assessment rather than simply adding the account to a proposal.

Key statutory provisions: NCA ss 86(2), 129 and 130.

Related authority: Collett v FirstRand Bank Ltd 2011 (4) SA 508 (SCA); Botes v SB Guarantee Company (RF) Proprietary Ltd [2025] ZAGPPHC 536.

Primary source: https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAMPMHC/2026/59.html