A judgment is a court order compelling the defaulting party to pay the outstanding debt. By means of this court order, the plaintiff may take further action against the defaulting party in order to recover the outstanding debt.

The Magistrates Court has jurisdiction to grant judgement on debt amounting below R100 000. The High Court has jurisdiction for amounts exceeding R100 000.

A judgment has to be rescinded before it can be removed. An attorney can apply to the court to have the judgment rescinded. Some financial institutions and chain stores (in the case of Judgement granted in the Magistrates Court) will not consent to a rescission of judgment even if the debt has been paid in full. They will update the listing to read “debt paid up in full”. If the judgment is not rescinded, it remains listed for 5 years.

A High Court application for a rescission of judgment is slightly more complex and the process is more costly, and even if the consent of the Respondent is obtained, it cannot be guaranteed that the rescission will be granted.