Small claims jurisdiction at R30 000
The first adjustment since 2019, and the boundary the clerk still has to keep.
The ceiling is R30 000. The Act still draws the line.
“The small door is still a door of the court.” On the small claims counter
With effect from 1 August 2026, the monetary jurisdiction of the Small Claims Courts rose from R20 000 to R30 000. The determination was made under sections 15 and 16 of the Small Claims Courts Act 61 of 1984 and published in Government Notice 7717, Government Gazette 55038 of 20 July 2026. The Department of Justice described it as a step
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to keep the forum level with the cost of living, and said that further increases would be considered.
The Department has recorded 418 Small Claims Courts and 1 563 commissioners. Sittings are commonly after ordinary hours, in the same buildings in which many of our members sit. A ceiling of R30 000 does not mean that every dispute under that sum belongs there.
The Act still excludes specified claims, still requires a natural person as claimant in the ordinary case, and still withholds legal representation. A liquid claim by a natural person, within the new ceiling and not otherwise excluded, should be pointed to the small claims court. A claim above the ceiling, or brought by a juristic person, or seeking relief the commissioner cannot grant, remains with the magistrate. A short written note at civil section will prevent both the refusal of a competent small claim and the acceptance of one the Act does not allow.
A view formed in a small claims sitting is not a finding in a later action on the same facts. The informal procedure is a virtue only inside that court.
A note from Neelan Karikan. A short note at the counter, setting out the new ceiling and the claims the Act still excludes, may spare both the clerk and the litigant a difficult Monday.