Unscrupulous garnishee orders must be uprooted!

Connivance between corrupt financial predators and some in the administration of the court systems must be uprooted!

9 July 2015

The SACP welcomes yesterday’s judgment by Western Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai, in the garnishee order matter. Judge Desai found that garnishee orders against 15 farm workers and unemployed persons from the Stellenbosch area were “unlawful, invalid and of no force”. He said that the facts before the court gave rise to “significant disquiet, if not alarm.”

One applicant had more than half of his salary deducted. Another applicant was less fortunate – the clerk of the court issued three garnishee orders on the same day against her, attaching almost all of her salary. Interest rates charged were typically 60% and more.

While all the applicants affected live in the Stellenbosch area, most of the orders were obtained by the loan-sharks from courts, for instance in Kimberley, at great distance from where those affected resided. This clearly indicates there is subversion of the court system through collusive behaviour between loan-sharks and some within certain courts.  

Although this judgment was strictly limited to the 15 affected, it clearly exposes illegal and inhumane loan-shark practices that are wide-spread in South Africa. It was the SACP’s 2000 Red October financial sector campaign that first brought into the public light these shameful practices that weigh so heavily on the poorest of the poor. As the SACP we continue to be active in exposing these malpractices and in calling on the relevant government departments to intensify efforts to deal decisively with loan sharks and connivance with them from some within the administration of courts. 

Statement issued by the SACP, July 9 2015