Call us now:
In this guide
By Onah Attorneys Inc • Updated July 2026 • Legal information, not a substitute for advice on your specific matter.
The sheriff’s papers on your kitchen table start a clock most people don’t know is running: miss it and judgment can be taken against you by default — salary attachments, asset execution, a listed judgment — without you ever telling your side. Here is exactly what to do in the first days, and every off-ramp available.
Read it like a lawyer (5 minutes)
Identify: which court, who’s suing, for what amount and cause (the particulars of claim), and the DIES — the days you have to respond (typically 10 business days to enter appearance to defend in Magistrates’ Courts; 10 court days in High Court). Check the service date — your clock runs from service, not from when you found it under the doormat. A summons with the wrong name, dead entity or prescribed debt is still a live grenade until formally dealt with.
The five moves
1) Diarise the deadline in red. 2) Gather every document touching the claim (contract, invoices, payments, correspondence). 3) Check prescription — debts older than 3 years without summons/acknowledgment may be extinguished (a complete defence). 4) Do NOT call the plaintiff and make payment promises — admissions revive prescribed debt and hand them the case. 5) Get the papers to an attorney within days, not on deadline eve — defences need drafting time.
Defending
A notice of intention to defend (simple, fast) stops default judgment and buys the pleading timetable. Then the real question: is there a defence (prescription, payment, defective goods, wrong amount, invalid s129 notice on credit agreements) or is this a negotiation? Summary judgment awaits sham defences — defend honestly or settle smartly, but decide with advice, not hope.
Settling from strength
Post-summons settlements happen constantly: lump-sum discounts (creditors take 60-80% today over judgment-and-execution tomorrow), payment plans via consent orders or s57/58 arrangements, and costs negotiations. Everything in writing, in full and final settlement wording, before you pay a cent. If the debt is genuinely yours and payable, a structured consent beats a defended loss with costs.
If judgment was already taken
Default judgment isn’t the end: rescission applications succeed where you weren’t properly served or have a bona fide defence and moved promptly on learning of it. Judgments also expire practical relevance — paid-up judgments MUST be removed from credit records on proof. But rescission is repair work: answering the summons in week one is always cheaper.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I just ignore it?
Default judgment, then execution: emoluments attachment, movables on the bakkie, bank attachments, credit listing for 5 years. Silence is the most expensive response available.
The debt is 5 years old and I never acknowledged it — must I pay?
Very possibly prescribed (extinguished). Raise prescription as a defence — but don’t acknowledge or pay anything first; that can revive it. Advice before contact.
Can I negotiate directly with their attorneys?
You can, but anything you say/write is on the record. A one-hour consult first prevents the classic self-inflicted admissions.
I was never served — judgment appeared on my credit report. Now?
Rescission for defective service, then bureau correction with the rescission order. Move immediately — promptness is an element of the application.
Speak to an Attorney Today
Get straight answers about received a summons from a firm that fights to win. First consultation — no obligation, full confidentiality.
Call 011 042 8039 Request a Callback