Affidavit (Form 12)

Rule 31.7(1) of the Uniform Civil Rules 2020 (SA) requires an affidavit to be in the prescribed form, which is Form 12, with exhibits behind a single exhibit front sheet in Form 14. An affidavit is written evidence: the person making it (the deponent) swears or affirms before an authorised witness that its contents are true. Rule 31.7 sets the content and signing requirements, rule 31.8 deals with large affidavits, and rule 31.9 lists who may witness it. An originating application must usually be supported by a Form 12 affidavit (r 82.1(2)), and a respondent who wants to rely on different or extra facts must file one within 14 days after service (r 83.2).

When you need it

• You need to put evidence before the court in a civil proceeding, for example in support of an originating application (Form 2) or an interlocutory application.
• You are a respondent or interested party responding to an originating application with facts of your own (r 83.2).
• You need to prove service of a document by affidavit of proof of service.
• The proceeding is a civil matter in the Supreme Court, District Court, Magistrates Court (including minor civil) or Youth Court, the courts named in the Form 12 heading.

1. 1

   Complete the heading

   Name the deponent and the date in the title, delete all but the correct court, and add the list or minor civil jurisdiction if applicable. Insert each party with their full name, capacity (for example liquidator or trustee) and party number, and the case number if the proceeding already exists. The court fills in the filed date and FDN.

2. 2

   Fill in the lodging party and deponent panels

   Give the lodging party and any law firm, then the deponent's full name, address, email and phone. Rule 31.7(2) requires the deponent's address and occupation; a business address is allowed, and if disclosing the address would endanger someone it may be given care of a law firm or on a restricted document.

3. 3

   Choose swear or affirm and write the evidence

   Mark whether the deponent swears on oath or affirms. Set out the evidence in separate numbered paragraphs, confined to facts and not submissions. If the affidavit relates to an application, identify it and state the material facts. Hearsay, where permitted, must say the deponent believes it and identify its source (r 31.7(12)).

4. 4

   Deal with exhibits

   Mark each exhibit with the deponent's initials and a number, starting at 1 and continuing on from any earlier affidavit by the same deponent (r 31.7(9)). Put one Form 14 exhibit front sheet in front of all the exhibits, followed by an index if there are two or more. Do not exhibit a document already on the court file; describe it by name, date and filed document number instead (r 31.7(8)).

5. 5

   Number and sign every page

   Use one pagination sequence from the first page of the affidavit to the last page of the last exhibit (r 31.7(11)). Each page must be dated and signed at the foot by the deponent and the witness (r 31.7(4)), and the signing clause must follow straight on from the text, not sit on a separate page (r 31.7(5)(c)).

6. 6

   Have it witnessed properly

   Sign before an authorised witness: the Registrar, a justice of the peace, a notary public, a Commissioner for taking affidavits, a police officer (not a probationary constable) or another person authorised by law (r 31.9(1)). The witness prints their name and qualification and, if applicable, stamps and adds their identification (for example a JP number). If the deponent is blind or illiterate, or needs an interpreter, follow r 31.7(6) or (7).

• File the affidavit through the CourtSA portal (the court's Electronic System) or at a registry. An affidavit uploaded electronically must be a scan of the original bearing the original signatures, not a scan of a copy (r 13.7(3)).
• Whoever files it must keep the signed original until the proceeding and any appeal are finished and the appeal period has expired (r 31.10), and produce it if the court asks.
• If the affidavit has 5 or more exhibits or the exhibits run to 50 or more pages, rule 31.8 applies: do not staple or bind a paper version, tag each exhibit, and upload a scanned version as separate files under 20 megabytes each.
• Serve the affidavit on every other party in accordance with the rules. A responding affidavit to an originating application is due within 14 days after service of the application (r 83.2).

• Nothing can be changed once the affidavit is sworn or affirmed. Check every page before you sign, and swear a further affidavit if you need to correct something.
• Do not have the affidavit witnessed by the party filing it or that party's employee or agent, unless the witness is the party's lawyer, a police officer who is not the party, or the party is the Crown (r 31.9(2)).
• Keep to facts within the deponent's knowledge. Argument belongs in submissions, and repeating material already filed only adds pages; refer to it instead.
• A sequence of related documents, such as a chain of emails, should be one exhibit, not many (r 31.7(10)).