What are the consequences of a provision in an agreement recording that the agreement itself contains the entire agreement and that the parties are not bound by any terms, conditions or provisions not contained in the agreement itself?
- In this context, the following basic principle was enunciated in Union Government v Vianini Ferro-Concrete Pipes (Pty) Ltd 1941 AD 43 at 47:
‘Now this Court has accepted the rule that when a contract has been reduced to writing, the writing is, in general, regarded as the exclusive memorial of the transaction and in a suit between the parties no evidence to prove its terms may be given save the document or secondary evidence of its contents, nor may the contents of such document be contradicted, altered, added to or varied by parol evidence.’
- This is what became known as the ‘parol evidence rule’.
