Section 129 notice: free template and writer

What section 129 requires

Section 129(1)(a) of the National Credit Act lets a credit provider draw the consumer's default to their attention in writing and propose that they refer the credit agreement to a debt counsellor, an alternative dispute resolution agent, the consumer court or the ombud with jurisdiction, to resolve any dispute or agree a plan to bring the payments up to date.

Section 129(1)(b) makes it compulsory: you may not start legal proceedings to enforce the agreement until you have given that notice (or a debt review termination notice under section 86(10)) and met the conditions in section 130. Skip it and the court must adjourn the case and set out the steps you must take first (section 130(4)(b)).

You can send the notice the day after a missed instalment. The 20 business days in default are a condition for going to court, not for sending the notice. Section 129(1) does not apply to an agreement under a debt restructuring order (section 129(2)).

What courts have added since 2018

The Act prescribes no form, but judgments now set a clear floor:

• State the amount and the nature of the default. The Constitutional Court in Amardien v Registrar of Deeds [2018] ZACC 47 said this is a necessary requirement, and that the notice must list the referral options and state their purpose.
• Get the arrears right and show the breakdown. A Pretoria full bench in FirstRand v Reineke [2025] ZAGPPHC 57 held the notice must reflect the correct arrears with a breakdown. In Nedbank v Tshivhase [2025] ZAGPJHC 1183 a wrong arrears figure made the notice defective, and a fresh notice sent after summons did not fix it.
• Prove delivery to the right post office. In Viljoen v FirstRand [2025] ZAGPPHC 612 a default judgment was rescinded because track and trace showed the wrong post office and nothing proved an email arrived.

That is why the writer asks for the instalment and builds the breakdown for you, and why it does not offer email as a delivery method for this notice.

Sample section 129 notice

This is what the writer produces, with sample details. Use the writer above to fill in your own.

Delivery, in short

Since 13 March 2015 the notice must go by registered mail or to an adult at the location the consumer designated, and the consumer chooses the method in writing (section 129(5) and (6)). Proof is the Post Office's written confirmation that it reached the relevant post office, or the receiver's signature or mark (section 129(7)).

The Constitutional Court in Sebola [2012] ZACC 11 said mere posting is not enough: you need a track and trace print-out showing the notice reached the correct post office. In Kubyana [2014] ZACC 1 it added that the Post Office must have notified the consumer that a registered item was waiting; a consumer who ignores the slip must then explain why. More, with a checklist: delivering a section 129 notice and proving it.

If the consumer is under debt review

• Once a debt counsellor notifies you of an application, you may not enforce the agreement until the consumer defaults under a re-arrangement or the review ends (section 88(3)).
• If the consumer is in default and at least 60 business days have passed since they applied, you may give notice to terminate the review to the consumer, the debt counsellor and the National Credit Regulator (section 86(10)(a)), but not once the application has been filed in a court or the Tribunal (section 86(10)(b)).
• That termination notice takes the place of the section 129 notice, and the 10 business days run from its delivery (sections 129(1)(b)(i) and 130(1)(a)).
• Section 129(1) does not apply to an agreement under a debt restructuring order (section 129(2)).

Paying up: section 129(3) and (4)

Until you cancel the agreement, the consumer may remedy the default by paying all overdue amounts, your prescribed default administration charges and reasonable enforcement costs to date (section 129(3)). The agreement then carries on. In Nkata v FirstRand Bank [2016] ZACC 12 the Constitutional Court held this happens by law, without your consent, and that legal costs count only once they are reasonable, agreed or taxed and the consumer knows of them.

Default administration charges are capped by regulation 46 of the National Credit Regulations: per letter, no more than the Magistrates' Courts tariff for a registered letter of demand, plus reasonable delivery costs. After a sale of goods under an attachment order or a section 127 surrender, another court order enforcing the agreement, or termination under section 123, the agreement cannot be revived (section 129(4)).