Abstract:
In the South African law of civil procedure, the practice of requesting a
plaintiff to furnish security for costs was limited initially to a foreign
peregrinus (non-resident) plaintiff who did not own any immovable property
in South Africa. Over the years, the scope of this rule has been extended,
and some of the provisions regarding a request for security for costs were
enacted in legislation. One such provision was s 13 of the former Companies
Act 61 of 1973, which stated that where an incola (local) company or body
corporate sued as a plaintiff or applicant, a court could, in its discretion, order
such a company or body corporate to furnish security for the defendant’s
costs in certain circumstances. This section was not re-enacted in the
Companies Act 71 of 2008. This omission resulted in several conflicting
court decisions regarding the furnishing of security for costs by an incola
plaintiff company.
