The Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) has recalled a summary judgment granted in favour of Nedbank in a vehicle finance dispute, ruling a woman who arrived at court shortly after the order was made should be given an opportunity to oppose the bank’s application.

Acting Judge J Mitchell ruled the court had the inherent power to recall its own order where a litigant appeared shortly after a default judgment had been granted, emphasising the principle of finality in court orders should not prevent procedural fairness.

According to The Star, the dispute arose after MS purchased a vehicle financed by Nedbank but fell into arrears on her instalments.

She entered debt review proceedings, but the bank terminated the debt review before instituting legal action to repossess the vehicle and recover any outstanding balance.

Although MS filed a plea, she did not submit an affidavit opposing Nedbank’s application for summary judgment, prompting the bank to enrol the matter on the unopposed roll.

When the matter was called on 27 July, MS was absent. After satisfying himself the application had been properly served through her debt counsellor, who held a power of attorney, the judge granted Nedbank the relief it sought.

However, approximately 30 minutes later, while the judge was in chambers, the court registrar informed him MS had arrived.

The judge recalled the matter and directed both parties to address whether the court retained the power to recall the order and, if so, what the appropriate order should be.

Although Nedbank maintained that her prospects of successfully opposing summary judgment were weak, Mitchell rejected the argument the outcome would likely remain unchanged.

The court postponed Nedbank’s application indefinitely and granted MS until 14 August to file her opposing affidavit.

Full report in The Star

Judgment