By: Natasha Archary
Voetstoots. A clause in South African law that aims to protect the seller.
What it means simply is that you buy a vehicle or property as is. However, it has been ruled by our courts that a seller cannot rely on the voetstoots clause if the seller was aware of a latent defect and deliberately concealed or failed to disclose it with the intention to defraud the purchaser.
After the National Consumer Tribunal fined two used car dealerships and ordered one of them to repay a consumer R1 million, Gugulethu Mfuphi roped in the Head of Complaints and Investigations at the National Consumer Commission, Prudence Moilwa to shed more light on the matter.
The consumers complained at the National Consumer Commission (NCC) about used cars they bought from Wingfield Motors and Sandton Repo Cars.
An investigation by the NCC found that the dealers contravened the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) in both cases. The matters were referred to the National Consumer Tribunal (NCT).
Secondhand cars are often a problem for consumers and this goes to show that it is not a battle you have to wage by yourself.
“When you buy a vehicle in South Africa, that vehicle should not give you problems for at least 6-months after purchase.
This applies to both pre-owned and new vehicles.
It’s very important for dealerships to understand that they have an obligation to the consumer, and the vehicle has to be off good quality.
If anything happens within the first 6-months after purchase, the dealership has the responsiblity to provide the consumer with redress. Section 56 of the Consumer Protection Act emphasizes what is known as an “implied warranty of quality.”
This essentially provides that the supplier must, irrespective of the supplier’s policy, repair, replace or refund the full price paid for the returned goods if they are not in line with Section 55.”
