COL3704/101/3/2020

Tutorial Letter 101/3/2020

Consumer Law
COL3704
Semesters 1 and 2
Mercantile Law

This tutorial letter contains important information

about your module.
Please activate your myUnisa and myLife e-mail addresses and ensure that you have regular
access to the myUnisa module site COL3704-2020-S1 (if you are registered for the first semester)
or COL3704-2020-S2 (if you are registered for the second semester).

Note: This is a blended learning module that is available on myUnisa. However, you will also
receive some study material in print format to support you in your learning process.

BARCODE
 CONTENTS

Page

1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Getting started .............................................................................................................................. 4
2 PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES ...................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Purpose ........................................................................................................................................ 5
2.2 Outcomes ..................................................................................................................................... 5
3 LECTURERS AND CONTACT DETAILS ..................................................................................... 5
3.1 The lecturers ................................................................................................................................. 5
3.2 The department ............................................................................................................................ 6
3.3 The university ............................................................................................................................... 6
4 MODULE-RELATED RESOURCES ............................................................................................. 7
4.1 Prescribed books .......................................................................................................................... 7
4.2 Other resources – printed support material ................................................................................... 7
4.3 Recommended book(s) ................................................................................................................. 8
4.4 Electronic reserves (e-reserves) ................................................................................................... 8
4.5 Library services and resources ..................................................................................................... 8
5 STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES ................................................................................................ 9
6 STUDY PLAN ............................................................................................................................... 9
6.1 What it means to study online ....................................................................................................... 9
6.2 The myUnisa tools you will use ................................................................................................... 10
7 PRACTICAL WORK ................................................................................................................... 10
8 ASSESSMENT ........................................................................................................................... 10
8.1 Assessment criteria..................................................................................................................... 10
8.2 Assessment plan ........................................................................................................................ 10
8.3 Assignments ............................................................................................................................... 10
8.3.1 Commentaries and feedback on assignments............................................................................. 10
8.3.2 Assessment and assignments .................................................................................................... 11
8.3.3 General approach to answering essay or problem-type questions in assignments ...................... 11
8.3.4 Assignment submission information ............................................................................................ 12
8.3.5 Due dates and unique assignment numbers ............................................................................... 13
8.4 Submission of assignments ........................................................................................................ 13
8.5 Other assessment methods ........................................................................................................ 14
8.6 The examination ......................................................................................................................... 14
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8.6.1 Examination period ..................................................................................................................... 14

8.6.2 Examination paper ...................................................................................................................... 14
8.6.3 Previous examination papers ...................................................................................................... 14
9 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ........................................................................................ 15
10 IN CLOSING ............................................................................................................................... 15

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Dear Student
As part of this tutorial letter, we wish to inform you that Unisa has implemented a transformation
charter based on five pillars and eight dimensions. In response to this charter, we have also
placed curriculum transformation high on the agenda. For your information, curriculum
transformation includes the following pillars: student-centred scholarship, the pedagogical
renewal of teaching and assessment practices, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and
the infusion of African epistemologies and philosophies. These pillars and their principles will be
integrated at both the programme and module levels, as a phased-in approach. You will notice
the implementation thereof in your modules, and we encourage you to fully embrace these
changes during your studies at Unisa.

1 INTRODUCTION
We are pleased to welcome you to this module and hope that you will find it both interesting and
rewarding. We will do our best to make your study of this module successful. You will be well on
your way to success if you start studying early in the year and resolve to do the assignments
properly.

This tutorial letter contains important information about this module. We urge you to read it
carefully and to keep it at hand when working through the study material, preparing the
assignments, preparing for the examination, and addressing questions to your lecturers.

Because this is a fully online module, you will need to use myUnisa to study and complete the
learning activities for this course. You will therefore need to visit the module site on myUnisa for
COL3704 frequently. The site for your module is COL3704-20-S1 (if you registered in the first
semester) or COL3704-20-S2 (if you registered in the second semester).

Right from the start we would like to point out that you must read all tutorial letters immediately
and carefully, as they always contain important information and, sometimes, urgent information.
You must be registered on myUnisa to be able to submit your assignments online, gain access
to the library functions and various learning resources, to “chat” to your lecturers and fellow
students about your studies and the challenges that you may encounter, and to participate in
online discussion forums on myUnisa.
1.1 Getting started

You will need to go online to access your study material and see what to do for the module. Go
to https://my.unisa.ac.za and log in using your student number and password. You will see
COL3704-20-S1 or COL3704-20-S2 in the row of modules in the orange tabs across the top of
the web page. If you cannot find it in the orange tabs, you could also check in the "More" tab.
Click on the module you want to open.

In addition, you will receive this tutorial letter and printed copies of the online study material for
your module. While this printed material may appear to be different from the online study
material, it will be exactly the same and will have been copied from the myUnisa website.

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2 PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES

2.1 Purpose
Unisa’s tuition rationale is directed at facilitating mature, responsible learning with a view to the
acquisition of sound knowledge and the ability to apply and develop knowledge and
competencies in the workplace and other contexts.

This module is useful for those of you who wish to gain knowledge, skills and applied
competence in the principles relating to consumer credit law, consumer protection, insurance
and debt collection. In addition, the module will also discuss the legal principles relating to
friendly societies and buying clubs/stokvels. This module will be useful to persons who are
currently (or who wish to be) employed either as paralegals at community based organisations
or who are employed to assist attorneys with legal work.

The module will be delivered by means of printed study material, myUnisa, the internet, and
peer group interaction. Your lecturers will interact with you on myUnisa and via e-mail.

2.2 Outcomes
There are a number of outcomes that we hope you will be able to achieve by completing this
module successfully:

Specific outcome 1: Understand the general principles relating to consumer credit law,
consumer protection, insurance, debt collection, friendly societies and buying groups/stokvels in
South African law.

Specific outcome 2: Interpret, analyse and apply the legal principles relating to consumer
credit law, consumer protection, insurance, debt collection, friendly societies and buying
groups/stokvels appropriately.

Specific outcome 3: Formulate legal arguments and apply their knowledge to unfamiliar
concrete and abstract problems.

3 LECTURERS AND CONTACT DETAILS

Please note the important contact details below.
3.1 The lecturers
There are four lecturers teaching different sections of this module.

The National Credit Act and the Debt Collectors Act:

Ms AI Leonard (module co-ordinator)
Building and office number: Cas van Vuuren Building 6-69
E-mail address: [email protected]
Telephone number: (012) 429 8473

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The Consumer Protection Act:
Mr R van Niekerk
Building and office number: Cas van Vuuren Building 6-75
E-mail address: [email protected]
Telephone number: (012) 429 8394

Consumer Groupings and Insurance:

Adv MA Mthembu
Building and office number: Cas van Vuuren Building 6-142
E-mail address: [email protected]
Telephone: (012) 429 8489

Mr JM Kgakwa
Building and office number: Cas van Vuuren Building 4-96
E-mail address: [email protected]
Telephone: (012) 429 6040

3.2 The department

Letters to lecturers may not be enclosed with or inserted into assignments.
The general contact and fax numbers for the Department of Mercantile Law is as follows:

Telephone number: +27 12 429 8460

Fax number: +27 12 429 3343

3.3 The university

To contact the university, follow the instructions in the Study@Unisa brochure. Remember to
keep your student number at hand when contacting the university.

The most important contact details are listed below.

Unisa website (http://www.unisa.ac.za & http://mobi.unisa.ac.za)

All study related information is now available on the new Unisa corporate website in both web
and mobi formats.

myUnisa (http://my.unisa.ac.za/portal&http://my.unisa.ac.za/portal/ pda)

You can access your own information via the myUnisa website or mobi site.

Email ([email protected])

You may send an email to [email protected] for information on how to contact Unisa via e-mail.

SMS (32695- only for students in South Africa)

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You may send an SMS to 32695 for more information on how to contact Unisa via SMS. You
will receive an automatic response SMS with various SMS options. The cost per SMS is R1, 50.

Fax (012 429 4150)

Enquiries can be faxed to 012 429 4150 where after it will be distributed to and processed by
the relevant department

4 MODULE-RELATED RESOURCES
4.1 Prescribed books
If you have access to a computer that is linked to the internet, you can access resources and
information offered by the university quickly and easily. The myUnisa learning management
system is Unisa's online campus, which will help you to communicate with your lecturers, with
other students and with the administrative departments – all through the computer and the
internet.

To access myUnisa, start at the main Unisa website at http://www.unisa.ac.za, and then click on
the myUnisa orange tab. You could also just go to https://my.unisa.ac.za directly. When you are
on the myUnisa website, click on Claim Unisa Login on the left-hand side of the screen. You will
then be prompted to give your student number to claim your initial myUnisa and myLife login
details. You can also watch a videoclip of the joining process by clicking on the “"New
myLife/myUnisa joining process” icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

Please consult the brochure Study@Unisa, which you received with your study material, for
more information on myUnisa.

We recommend that you access the module’s website regularly in order to do the following:

 Check for new announcements. You could also set up your myLife e-mail in such a way
that you will receive the announcement e-mails on your cellphone.

 Participate in the discussion forum activities. For some of the learning or study units in
this module, you will be given activities to do. We would like you to discuss these with
your fellow students and your lecturers. Although you could check the instructions about
the activities here and even prepare your answers without logging on, you would need to
go online to post your messages.

 Complete other online activities. For some of the learning unit activities, you need to post
something or take a quiz or complete a survey under Self-Assessment. Do not skip these
activities, because they will help you to complete the assignments and activities for the
module.

4.2 Other resources – printed support material

We want you to be successful in this online module, so we will also provide some of the study
material to you in print format. This will allow you to read the study material even when you are
not online. Please note the following:

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 This printed study material will be sent to you at the beginning of the semester, but you
need not wait to receive it before you start studying. You can go online as soon as you
register and you will find all your study material there.

 Therefore, the printed material will be hard copies of the formal content of the online
module.

 Having the printed material on hand will make it possible for you to study your material
for this module WITHOUT having to go on the internet or to an internet cafe. This will
save you money, of course, and will enable you to read – and reread – the material and
do the activities whenever and wherever you wish to do so.

We hope that this system will help you to succeed in this online module by providing you with
extra ways in which to study the material and complete all the activities and assignments. You
MUST, however, go online to complete the activities and assignments on time, and to get the
most from the online course.

Remember, the printed support material forms only a backup to everything that you will find
online on myUnisa. It will not contain any additional content. In other words, you should NOT
wait for the printed support material to arrive before you start studying.

4.3 Recommended book(s)

There are no recommended books for this module.
4.4 Electronic reserves (e-reserves)
There are no e- reserves for this module.
4.5 Library services and resources
The Unisa Library offers a range of information services and resources:

 For brief information go to: https://www.unisa.ac.za/library/libatglance

 For more detailed Library information, go to
http://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Library
 For research support and services (e.g. Personal Librarians and literature search
services), go to http://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Library/Library-
services/Research-support

The Library has created numerous Library guides: http://libguides.unisa.ac.za

Recommended guides:

 Request and find library material/download recommended material:

http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/request/request
 Postgraduate information services: http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/request/postgrad
 finding and using library resources and tools:
http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/Research_skills
 Frequently asked questions about the Library: http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/ask
 Services to students living with disabilities:
http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/disability

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Important contact information:

 https://libguides.unisa.ac.za/ask - Ask a Librarian

 [email protected] - technical problems accessing library online services
 [email protected] - general library related queries
 [email protected] - for queries related to library fines and payments

5 STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

The Study@Unisa brochure is available on myUnisa: www.unisa.ac.za/brochures/studies
This brochure has all the tips and information you need to succeed at distance learning and,
specifically, at Unisa.

6 STUDY PLAN
We would like to support you in your learning process. We can support you, however, only if
you take responsibility for your own learning. You have to work through the tutorial letters and
the learning material and plan a schedule for your learning process to ensure that you submit all
the assignments and prepare for the examinations in time. We suggest that you follow the
following steps in your learning process:
Step 1: Work through the overview in your study guide and Tutorial Letter 101. This step
will provide all the important information that you need to complete the learning
process successfully.
Step 2: Start working through the study units in Tutorial Letter 102 (which, together with
the information in this tutorial letter, contains the study material for this module).
Study the relevant chapters and cases in the textbook and casebook. The
readings that you have to study for each study unit are indicated in a box. Do all
the activities and self-test questions in your study guide.
Step 3: Complete and submit the relevant assignments.
Step 4: Prepare for the examination by revising the study units in your study guide and the
activities and self-test questions. In addition, study all the tutorial letters that you
receive during the semester.
6.1 What it means to study online

This module is taught partially online. This means the following:

 All your assignments must be submitted online. In other words, you do all your
activities and submit all your assignments on myUnisa. You cannot post them through
the South African postal service.

 All the communication between you and the university will also take place online,
by e-mail, on discussions forums and through questions and answers. You can use all
these ways to ask questions and contact your lecturers. This also means that your
lecturers will communicate with you in the same ways, through e-mails, by means of
announcements, questions and answers, and on discussion forums.

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6.2 The myUnisa tools you will use

You will find all the information about how to use the myUnisa tools on the module site, in Unit
0. However, we thought it important to stress the tools that you will use for your formal
assignments and activities.

In this module, there are two different types of assessments for which the following myUnisa
tool is used:

 Self-Assessments: You are required to complete a survey as well as assignment 01 on

the module site on myUnisa. The survey and assignment 01 can be found under the
“Self-Assessment’ tab on myUnisa.

 Assignments: The other two assignments for this module are written assignments. You
must submit these typed assignments using the online Assignments tool on myUnisa,
as a PDF document. You will find the instructions for submitting these assignments in
Unit 0.

Under the Discussions tab, you will find several other discussion forums where you can share
ideas and post your discussions online. You could also simply chat socially with other students
registered for the course. We call this the Student Lounge. You could also use the Questions
and Answers tool to ask questions. If it is a good question that may interest other students, it
may be published for the whole group.

7 PRACTICAL WORK
There is no module practical work or work-integrated learning in this module.

8 ASSESSMENT
8.1 Assessment criteria
There are no assessment criteria in this module.
8.2 Assessment plan
During the course of this module, you will be assessed as follows:

 You will be required to submit THREE assignments; and

 You will be required to write a 2-hour venue-based examination

8.3 Assignments
Assignments are seen as part of the learning material for this module. As you do the
assignments, study the reading texts, consult other resources, discuss the work with fellow
students or the lecturers or do research, you are actively engaged in learning. Looking at the
assessment criteria given for each assignment will help you to understand what is required of
you more clearly.

8.3.1 Commentaries and feedback on assignments

The commentaries on assignments 02 and 03 will be uploaded on myUnisa. As soon as you
have received the commentaries, please check your answers. The assignments and the
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commentaries on these assignments constitute an important component of your study material

for the examination.

To obtain the full benefit of completing the assignment, you should, after receiving it back, also
go through the process of self-assessment in accordance with the memorandum that will be
provided in Tutorial Letter 201/2020.

8.3.2 Assessment and assignments

PLEASE NOTE:
Although students may work together when preparing assignments, each student must write
and submit his or her own individual assignment. In other words, you must submit your own
ideas in your own words, sometimes interspersing relevant short quotations that are properly
referenced. It is unacceptable for students to submit identical assignments on the basis that
they worked together. That is copying (a form of plagiarism) and none of these assignments will
be marked. Furthermore, you may be penalised or subjected to disciplinary proceedings by the
University.

8.3.3 General approach to answering essay or problem-type questions in assignments

In order to answer your assignments satisfactorily, you must work through the prescribed study
material carefully. The following basic guidelines can be of help:
• To complete your assignment satisfactorily, you must consult your study guide,
prescribed textbook, prescribed cases and tutorial letters. Read the questions carefully,
ascertain what they deal with, and then use only the relevant information from your study
material to answer the questions.
• Students normally complain that they cannot rewrite the study material in their own
words. Unfortunately, you have to get used to doing this, since you will not have your
textbook at hand during the examination. However, there are three easy steps towards
accomplishing this:
o Study the relevant study material until you understand it. While you are reading the
particular section or chapter, make notes or lists of the key words and concepts.
o Put away your study material and try to summarise that particular study unit in your
own words by using your notes and list of key words.
o Use the study material to finalise your summary with references to case law and
other relevant authority.
You are often expected to consult textbooks and cases when answering an assignment, and
then to cite these materials as authority in your answer. Case law must be cited in full when
used for the first time in the text (eg, Kanhym Bpk v Oudtshoorn Munisipaliteit 1990 (3) SA 252
(C)); thereafter an abbreviated reference is sufficient (eg, Kanhym). Criminal-law cases may
simply be referred to by the name of the accused (eg, Mokgethi). Textbooks can be referred to
in your answer by merely giving the author’s name and the page number (eg, Snyman 20). The
full bibliographical details are then supplied in a bibliography at the end of your assignment (eg,
Snyman CR Criminal law (1995) Butterworths). Do not refer to sources you have not
personally consulted.
• Note that it is necessary to provide full references in the examination.
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• Quotations from case law and other sources must be kept to a minimum.
• If you do use quotations, they must be accurate and you must give proper attribution.
The use of other sources, without the necessary acknowledgement, amounts to
plagiarism. Plagiarism takes place when you use words, ideas and thoughts of other
persons and represent them as your own. Plagiarism is a form of theft that can
materialise in various dishonest academic activities.
• Names of cases and Latin expressions must typed in italics.
• Neatness is a prerequisite. Plan your answers in advance. For essay-type answers, you
should do a number of rough drafts before you write the final answer.
• We restrict the length of assignment answers to teach you to write concise and logical
legal arguments. It is very easy to write long, rambling answers, but these answers do
not earn good marks. You must learn to summarise your study material so that you can
answer a question in a factually correct, concise and logical manner. This will also teach
you to give similar answers in an examination.
8.3.4 Assignment submission information
There are THREE assignments for each semester.

 Assignment 01 is a multiple-choice assignment that you must answer online.

 Assignments 02 and 03 are written assignments.

Assignment 01 will count 20% towards your year mark whereas assignments 02 and 03 count
40% each.

All students who submit assignment 01 in time (before or on the date of submission) will be
admitted to the examination regardless of the mark obtained for the assignment. Students, who
do not submit the compulsory assignment before or on the due date, will not receive admission
to write the examination. The mark obtained for the compulsory assignment will count towards
your final mark.

Submission of assignments 02 and 03 is not compulsory in the sense that their submission will
not grant you admission to the examination. However, the mark obtained for these assignments
will count towards your year mark (and final mark). The questions for Assignments 02 and 03
can be found under the relevant Learning Units on myUnisa.

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8.3.5 Due dates and unique assignment numbers

Please remember to allocate the same unique number to the assignment as the one given in
this tutorial letter or that appears online.

FIRST SEMESTER:

Assignment number Due date Unique number

Assignment 01 28 February 2020 698098

Assignment 02 27 March 2020 580580

Assignment 03 24 April 2020 505187

SECOND SEMESTER:

Assignment number Due date Unique number

Assignment 01 14 August 2020 642703

Assignment 02 11 September 2020 576060

Assignment 03 01 October 2020 526732

8.4 Submission of assignments

The questions for Assignment 01 can be found under the “Self-Assessments” tab on myUnisa.
The assignment is timed and you will have three opportunities to submit this assignment. The
highest mark obtained will count towards your year mark.

You MUST submit your assignments 02 and 03 electronically via myUnisa. Assignments 02
and 03 may not be submitted by post, fax or e-mail. For detailed information and
requirements as far as your assignments are concerned, see the brochure my Studies @
Unisa that you received with your study material.

When you submit your assignments online via myUnisa, then please note the following:

• Type your answers to the assignment in a document in a computer programme such as,
for example, Microsoft Word.

• When you have finished your assignment, check that it states the law correctly and that
the content is spelt correctly. To check the spelling, use the spell-checker (shortcut in MS
Word: Press the F7 key).

• Save the final version of your assignment in a document that is formatted in PDF.

• Submit your PDF document online via myUnisa.

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Saving your document in PDF format

You can use various computer programmes to save your assignment in PDF format. A variety of
these programmes can be downloaded from myUnisa. Go to the web page entitled “Electronic
resources” at https://my.unisa.ac.za/portal/site/!gateway/page/c919799a-6cdd-4ec2-0019-
839c23c198f8 .

8.5 Other assessment methods

There are no other assessment methods for this module.

8.6 The examination

All students who submit the compulsory assignment 01 in time (before or on the date of
submission) will be admitted to the examination regardless of the mark obtained for the
assignment.

8.6.1 Examination period

This module is a semester module. This means that if you are registered for the first semester,
you will write the examination in May/June, and the supplementary examination will be written
in October/November. If you are registered for the second semester, you will write the
examination in October/November, and the supplementary examination will be written the next
May/June.

8.6.2 Examination paper

You will write one two-hour paper. The paper counts 100 marks. During the course of the
semester, the Examination Section will provide you with information regarding the examination
in general, and the examination venues, and confirmation of the examination dates and
examination times.

The allocation of marks in the examination paper will be as follows:

 the National Credit Act will account for 25% of the examination paper;

 the Debt Collectors Act 5%;

 the Consumer Protection Act for 40% and

 consumer groupings and insurance together account for 30%.

8.6.3 Previous examination papers

Previous examination papers available on myUnisa. Please note that we will not be
making the answer guidelines available to you.

However, you may also accept that examination questions will be similar to the questions asked
in the activities in your study guide.

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9 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Question: Where can I submit assignment 01?
Answer: Assignment 01 is a multiple-choice assignment that you must answer online.

Question: Are there discussion forums for this module?

Answer: There are discussion forums for this module that are available on myUnisa.

Question: I haven’t studied for the exam tomorrow. Can you give me some “tips” or the
“scope” about what to concentrate on and what to leave out?

Answer: We do not give “tips” or “scope”. We inform you clearly at the beginning of each
study unit in the study guide, which study material to study and which parts of the
study material you may omit. We include activities and self-test questions. We
emphasise the importance of studying the prescribed cases. You can find a
previous examination paper that is also available on myUnisa, under “Official
Study Materials”.

10 IN CLOSING
We hope that you will enjoy this module, and we wish you success with your studies. Don’t
hesitate to contact any of us by e-mail if you are experiencing problems with the content of this
tutorial letter or with any other aspect of the module.

We wish you a fascinating and satisfying journey through the study material, and trust that you
will complete the module successfully.

Kind regards
THE LECTURERS

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