The buyer is obliged to pay the price at the place specified in the contract. If no location has been specified, the buyer must ensure that payment is received by the creditor no later than the due date. The natural consequence of this rule is that the full price must be paid by the buyer, even if the item sold will be damaged or destroyed before delivery. The National Credit Act[167] excludes the possibility of a valid Voetstoots clause in a sale subject to this Act. [168] In South African law, despite all the differences between diktat and promise in Roman law, the term refers to “a statement or promise or promise of the seller to which the parties should respond.” [170] The main case on the dictum promissumve is Phame (Pty) Ltd v. Paizes,[171] Holmes J. asked one of the questions raised by the case as follows: “Can an innocent misrepresentation ever entitle a buyer to a price reduction under the actio quanti minoris? […] If so, under what circumstances? In other words, what factual basis is required? [172] The general rule also applies when certain goods must be weighed, measured or counted. A distinction must be made between ad quantitatem sales and per aversionem sales. If the sale is made ad quantitatem, there is a sale of some goods, but the price depends on counting, weighing or measuring: for example, R300 per sheep for the flock. In this case, the risk only passes when the price has been determined by counting the herd. I think it is clear that there can only be a valid purchase contract if the parties have expressly or implicitly agreed on a purchase price. They must either set the amount of this price in their contract, or agree on an external standard through the application, which will allow the price to be determined without further reference to them. `[35] I find nothing in Romano-Dutch law to prevent an order in favour of a buyer from cancelling a contract of sale and reimbursing the price because of the defendant`s refusal to deliver the goods sold.
[110] The buyer has the right to demand the item sold to him (of course, subject to the court`s discretion to refuse this). The remedy is available to a buyer who rejects the offer of goods as inappropriate. As we have seen, a buyer who has received less than what he has contractually agreed may prefer to accept the offer but demand the balance. [107] [108] Kerr asserts that a buyer who is entitled to the guarantee is entitled to a refund of the purchase price (or a portion paid) and, if a loss in excess of the amount can be proven, to compensation for that loss. [127] [128] This is a contractual action brought by means of actio empti. While this is a question of fact, a price is often not considered real or serious if it is absolutely disproportionate to the value of the item being sold. This is, for example, the situation in which the price is really nominal or illusory – as in circumstances where the seller does not intend to demand the so-called price. [32] Some parties may also disguise a contract as a “sale,” when in reality it is conceived as a completely different form of contract. [33] It is possible to buy the expectation or hope that something might happen, whether it happens in the future or not. The legal judge Pomponius is said to have stated: The parties are not prevented by this requirement from entering into a difficult agreement and obtaining the thing at a very low price or selling it at a very high price, since the intention is to buy or sell at that price. It follows that the price does not necessarily have to be fair or equivalent to the value of the thing, but that it must be an actual price that the seller must set precisely and that the buyer intends to pay. Zulman and Kairinos say: The legal effect of conditions precedent in the law of sale is controversial, but in fact the position is as follows: Unlike other contracts, a contract subject to a condition precedent does not become a purchase contract until the condition is met.
As this is contrary to the point of view of the common law (and also of logic), the essential types of contracts having the character of a sale, which are subject to conditions precedent, have been covered by legislative amendments, so that the anomaly is not applicable. Most of its significant impact in practice has been mitigated by legislation. A sale can take place if it is something that does not yet exist, provided that the thing can occur in the normal course of events. [16] Pothier says the following: Various laws regulate how certain common forms of purchase contracts must be entered into and executed. [185] These laws offer a sparkle (and in some cases a substantial change) in the Common Law of Sale discussed so far. In most cases, this legislation aims to protect consumers. They note the formalities in the contracts and determine which types of clauses are lawful or illegal. The seller must sell the property in violation of the decree; in other words, must withstand the requirements of the edict by not revealing the existence of the defect […].