Free help with South African small claims, since 2005
Claim what you're owed, without a lawyer.
The Small Claims Court lets ordinary people settle disputes over money quickly and at almost no cost. This guide explains how it works, in plain language, from someone who watched thousands of cases.
Everything in this guide
Getting Started
Which court to use, the Letter of Demand, delivering it, and getting your summons.
How to Win
The four essentials, the rules in plain language, collisions, reviews and collecting your money.
Forms
Copy-and-paste templates and PDFs: Letter of Demand, affidavits and counter-claim.
Questions and Answers
Real questions from readers, answered by Bert, from evictions to email delivery.
Find a Court
Phone numbers, addresses and a map of Small Claims Courts around the country.
Court in the Act
True stories from the Small Claims Courts, from dog fights to coal lorries.
In memory
Bert van Hees
A retired legal journalist from Bellville, Cape Town, Bert launched this website in February 2005, the first of its kind in South Africa. For thirteen years he answered readers' questions free of charge. He passed away in 2018, and this guide has been restored so his work can keep helping people.
If this website helps to fill that gap, then I have succeeded in my purpose.
Bert van Hees