1. Section 15(1) of the Bill provides that -"Official receipt of a complaint by an ombud or the statutory ombud suspends any applicable contractual time barring terms or the running of prescription in terms of the Prescription Act, 1969 (Act No 68 of 1969), for the period from such receipt until the complaint has either been withdrawn by the complainant concerned or determined by any such ombud."
2. I would suggest that the suspension should be extended to circumstances in which the claim of a client may become time barred as the result of the running of a prescription or expiry period in terms of legislation other than the Prescription Act, 1969.
3. I refer as an example to section 7 of the Usury Act, 1968. This section provides that - "Any borrower or credit receiver or lessee who in connection with a money lending transaction or a credit transaction or a leasing transaction has paid an amount which exceeds the amount which in terms of this Act could lawfully have been recovered from him in connection with such transaction, may, at any time within a period of three years as from the date of such payment, recover from the person to whom he made the payment, a sum equal to the amount overpaid by him."
4. There has been some debate as to whether the period of three years in section 7 of the Usury Act is an expiry period or a prescription period. It was held obiter in C&T Products (Pty) Ltd v MH Goldschmidt (Pty) Ltd 1981 (3) SA 619 (CPD) at 631 E-F and 633 B-C that it was a prescription period. The difference between an expiry period and a prescription period is considered in Commissioner for Customs and Excise v Standard General Insurance Company Limited 2001 (1) SA 978 (SCA) and Meintjies NO v Administrasieraad v Sentraal Transvaal 1980 (1) SA 283 (T) and by de Wet and van Wyk, Kontraktereg, 5th Edition at pages 308 and 308. Expiry periods are also considered in Labuschagne v Labuschagne; Labuschagne v Minister van Justisie 1967 (2) SA 575 (A) at 588 D-E, Hartmann v Minister van Polisie 1983 (2) SA 489 (A) at 500 C-D and Kuhne and Nagel Zurich v APA Distributors (Pty) Ltd 1981 (3) SA 536 (W) at 537-8.