Fourie v Agenbag Motor Group

[2018] ZACONAF 3 | North West Consumer Affairs Court, Mmabatho | 4 May 2018

Summary of what this case is relied on for

Voetstoots (as-is) clauses are inoperative against consumers protected by the CPA. The court ordered a full refund against a dealer who had purported to sell “as-is” under a voetstoots clause.

Important provenance note: ZACONAF is the SAFLII neutral-citation code for the Consumer Affairs Courts (provincial bodies established under CPA s 73). ZANCT is the code for the National Consumer Tribunal. These are two different bodies. The site previously cited Fourie under an NCT-attribution sentence, which was wrong; it was corrected on 2026-04-24 following the Claude Desktop copy-check audit.

Facts

• Fourie purchased a 2005 Chevrolet Spark from Agenbag for R35,000 (original R40,000 reduced).
• On taking delivery, the vehicle had an engine problem, a noisy gearbox, and a non-functioning air conditioner.
• The dealership sought to rely on a voetstoots clause, including a R5,000 discount framed as trade-off for the consumer accepting responsibility for defects.

Held

The defendant was ordered to reimburse the full R35,000 within 15 business days. The voetstoots clause was held ineffective against a CPA consumer — the Act’s quality warranty (s 55 / s 56) cannot be contracted out.

Parallel authority

The National Consumer Tribunal reached the same conclusion in Vonk v Willow Crest Motors CC [2019] ZANCT 63. The site now cites both as parallel authorities, each correctly attributed to its own body.

Full judgment text

Not yet mirrored. Primary source: https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACONAF/2018/3.html (HTML) / https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACONAF/2018/3.pdf (PDF)