[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":118},["ShallowReactive",2],{"form-content-j994":3},{"guide":4,"faq":73,"capsule":117},{"slug":5,"formName":6,"title":7,"subtitle":8,"description":9,"capsule":10,"keyFactsHeading":11,"keyFacts":12,"documentsRequired":25,"howToSteps":29,"commonMistakes":48,"tips":55,"formSlug":5,"sources":60},"j994","Affidavit of Delivery: Letter of Demand (Form 5, J994)","Form 5 (J994) Guide: Prove You Delivered the Letter of Demand","The sworn statement that shows the Small Claims Court clerk you delivered your letter of demand by hand.","Rule 7(2) of the Small Claims Court rules says you prove delivery of the letter of demand with an affidavit or a registered post receipt. Form 5 (J994) is the affidavit the rules allow for the purpose. If you delivered the letter by hand, you complete it and swear it before a Commissioner of Oaths. If you sent the letter by registered post, you do not need it: your registered post receipt is your proof.","Form 5 (J994) is the affidavit that proves you delivered your letter of demand by hand. Fill it in here, print it, and sign it in front of a Commissioner of Oaths. If you sent the letter by registered post you do not need it: the registered post receipt is your proof. Email does not count as delivery.","What you need to know",[13,16,19,22],{"label":14,"value":15},"Legal basis","Rule 7(2) and (3) of the Small Claims Court rules",{"label":17,"value":18},"Who needs it","Someone who delivered the letter of demand by hand",{"label":20,"value":21},"Not needed","If you sent the letter by registered post, keep the receipt instead",{"label":23,"value":24},"Signing","In front of a Commissioner of Oaths, never beforehand",[26,27,28],"Your ID document or passport. The form carries its number, and the commissioner may ask to see it","Your copy of the letter of demand (Form 4, J993)","The date and time you delivered the letter, the name of the person who received it, and the place where you handed it over",[30,33,36,39,42,45],{"name":31,"text":32},"Check that you need this form","The rules accept two kinds of proof that the letter of demand was delivered: an affidavit, or a registered post receipt. If you sent the letter by registered post, keep the receipt and stop here. If you handed the letter over, you need an affidavit, and Form 5 is the one the rules allow for it.",{"name":34,"text":35},"Give your details","Give your full names and surname, your ID or passport number, and the address where you live. The person who delivered the letter makes this statement. Section 29(1)(a) of the Act speaks of a demand delivered to the defendant by the plaintiff, so this is normally you.",{"name":37,"text":38},"Say when, to whom and where","Give the date and the time you delivered the letter. Give the name of the person who received it, and the place or address where you handed it over. Be exact. This is a sworn statement.",{"name":40,"text":41},"Say how you delivered it","Choose whether you gave the letter to that person yourself, or delivered it another way by hand. If it was another way, explain it in your own words, for example who you handed it to and where. The form has no box to tick: paragraph 1.2.1 is for giving it personally, and paragraph 1.2.2 has lines for explaining any other way. We print your choice on the 1.2.2 lines, either a fixed sentence saying you gave it personally or your explanation starting \"Paragraph 1.2.2 applies:\". Only delivery by hand belongs here. Email is not delivery of this letter.",{"name":43,"text":44},"Print it and take it to a Commissioner of Oaths","Print the affidavit but do not sign it. Take it to a Commissioner of Oaths and sign it there, in front of them. Practical advice: before you sign, cross out in ink the option in paragraph 1.2 that does not apply, 1.2.1 or 1.2.2. Initial next to it. Bring your ID or passport too, since the form carries its number. The commissioner completes the certificate on page 2: the place, the date, their signature, name, capacity and address. Leave that part blank.",{"name":46,"text":47},"Keep it for the clerk","Keep the sworn affidavit with your copy of the letter. Wait until 14 days have passed from the other side receiving the letter. If the money is still unpaid, take both to the clerk of the Small Claims Court with your summons (Form 1, J141).",[49,50,51,52,53,54],"Filling in this affidavit when the letter went by registered post, where the receipt is the proof","Signing before you are in front of the Commissioner of Oaths","Leaving both 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 standing, when only one describes how you delivered the letter","Relying on email or WhatsApp as delivery, which is not delivery by hand or by registered post","Giving a delivery date or time you are not sure of","Writing in the commissioner's certificate on page 2",[56,57,58,59],"Say only what happened. A false statement in an affidavit is an offence punishable as perjury","Write down the date, time and name of the person who took the letter when you hand it over, so the affidavit is easy to complete","Keep a copy of the sworn affidavit before you give the original to the clerk","Your copy of the letter of demand and this affidavit go together: the clerk asks for proof that the demand was delivered before issuing a summons",[61,64,67,70],{"label":62,"url":63},"Form 5 (J994), Affidavit in terms of rule 7(2) (Department of Justice)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.justice.gov.za\u002Fforms\u002Fscc\u002Fscc_J994-Form05.pdf",{"label":65,"url":66},"Rules regulating matters in respect of the Small Claims Court (Department of Justice)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.justice.gov.za\u002Fscc\u002Fdocs\u002F20221007-gg47254reg11497gon2573-RulesBoard-SCC.pdf",{"label":68,"url":69},"Small Claims Courts Act 61 of 1984 (Department of Justice)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.justice.gov.za\u002Flegislation\u002Facts\u002F1984-061.pdf",{"label":71,"url":72},"Form 4 (J993), Letter of demand (Department of Justice)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.justice.gov.za\u002Fforms\u002Fscc\u002Fscc_J993-Form04.pdf",{"slug":5,"title":74,"description":75,"formSlug":5,"relatedFormSlugs":76,"items":80},"Form 5 (J994) FAQ: Affidavit for a Letter of Demand","Form 5 (J994) FAQ: when you need the affidavit, who signs it, what a Commissioner of Oaths does, and what to do if you used registered post.",[77,78,79],"letter-of-demand","j141","affidavit",[81,84,87,90,93,96,99,102,105,108,111,114],{"question":82,"answer":83},"What is Form 5 (J994)?","It is the affidavit the Small Claims Court rules allow for proving that a letter of demand was delivered. Rule 7(2) says the plaintiff must prove delivery by means of an affidavit or a registered post receipt, and rule 7(3) says the plaintiff may use Form 5 for the affidavit.",{"question":85,"answer":86},"Do I need Form 5 if I sent the letter by registered post?","No. For registered post, your proof is the registered post receipt. Keep the receipt and take it to the clerk. Form 5 is for a letter you delivered by hand.",{"question":88,"answer":89},"Can I deliver the letter of demand by email or WhatsApp?","No. The Act allows delivery of the demand only by hand or by registered post, and the court rules do not count email as delivery for this purpose. Form 5 cannot turn an emailed letter into a delivered one.",{"question":91,"answer":92},"Who completes Form 5?","The person who delivered the letter. Section 29(1)(a) of the Act speaks of a written demand delivered to the defendant by the plaintiff, so that is normally you. A Commissioner of Oaths completes the certificate on page 2.",{"question":94,"answer":95},"Do I sign it before I go to the Commissioner of Oaths?","No. Print it, take it with you, and sign it in front of the Commissioner of Oaths. It is sensible to bring your ID or passport too: the form carries its number and the commissioner may ask to see it. The form's certificate says it was signed before the commissioner, so a form signed beforehand does not match what the commissioner has to certify.",{"question":97,"answer":98},"Can I sign Form 5 on screen?","No. It is an affidavit, a written statement made under oath or affirmation before a Commissioner of Oaths, so you sign the printed copy in front of the commissioner.",{"question":100,"answer":101},"What does the Commissioner of Oaths fill in?","The certificate on page 2: the place and date, their signature, and their name, capacity and address. We leave all of that blank.",{"question":103,"answer":104},"What do I put under \"Other\" in paragraph 1.2.2?","Use it if you did not give the letter to the person yourself but still delivered it by hand. Explain what happened, for example who you handed it to and where. We print \"Paragraph 1.2.2 applies:\" before your words so it is clear which paragraph you are using. Do not use it for email or any other way that is not by hand or by registered post.",{"question":106,"answer":107},"Which of 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 do I cross out?","Paragraph 1.2 offers two ways of delivering the letter, 1.2.1 (giving it personally to the person in 1.1) or 1.2.2 (another way, explained on the lines below). The form has no box to tick, so we print your choice on the 1.2.2 lines: a fixed sentence if you gave it personally, or your explanation if you did not. Practical advice, not a rule in the form: in front of the commissioner, before you sign, cross out in ink the option (1.2.1 or 1.2.2) that does not apply and initial next to it, so the page does not leave both standing.",{"question":109,"answer":110},"What if the person who took the letter was not the one I am claiming from?","Write the name of the person who actually received it in paragraph 1.1. The form asks for the name of the person who received the letter and the place where you delivered it.",{"question":112,"answer":113},"What happens if I put something false in it?","A person who makes a false statement in an affidavit, knowing it to be false, commits an offence and can be punished as for perjury (Justices of the Peace and Commissioners of Oaths Act 16 of 1963, section 9). Give the date, time and details exactly as they happened.",{"question":115,"answer":116},"Where does Form 5 go once it is sworn?","Keep it with your copy of the letter of demand. When the 14 days from the other side receiving the letter have passed and the money is unpaid, take both to the clerk of the Small Claims Court with your summons (Form 1, J141). The clerk issues the summons on production of the prescribed proof that the demand was delivered.",null,1791264610116]