(1) Minutes of record shall forthwith be made of—
| (a) | any judgment given by the court; |
| (b) | any oral evidence given in court; |
| (c) | any objection made to any evidence received or tendered; and |
| (d) | the proceedings of the court generally, including the record of any inspection in loco. |
| (2) | The court shall mark each document put in evidence and note such mark on the record. |
| (3) | The minutes and marks may be made by the registrar or clerk of the court and, save as provided in subrule (4), by the presiding judicial officer. |
| (4) | The addresses of the parties, oral evidence given, any exception or objection taken in the course of the proceedings, the rulings and judgment of the court and any other portion of the proceedings, may be noted in shorthand (also in this rule referred to as "shorthand notes") either verbatim or in narrative form or recorded by mechanical, electronic or digital means. |
(5)
| (a) | Every person employed for the taking of shorthand notes or for the transcription of notes so taken by another person shall be deemed to be an officer of the court and shall before entering on his or her duties in writing take an oath or make an affirmation before a judicial officer in the following form: |
'I,________________________ , swear/solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that I will faithfully, accurately and to the best of my ability take down in shorthand or cause to be recorded by mechanical, electronic or digital means, as directed by the judicial officer, the proceedings in any case in which I may be employed thereto as an officer of the court and that I will similarly, when required to do so, transcribe the same or, as far as I am able to do so, any other notes taken by any officer of the court or recorded by mechanical, electronic or digital means.'.
| (b) | Such oath or affirmation shall be administered in the manner prescribed for the taking of an oath or affirmation. |
(6)
| (a) | Shorthand notes taken in terms of this rule shall be certified as correct by the shorthand writer and filed with the record of the case by the registrar or clerk of the court. |
| (b) | Subject to the provisions of subrule (7), no shorthand notes taken in terms of this rule shall be transcribed unless a judicial officer so directs. |
| (c) | The transcript of any shorthand notes transcribed in terms of paragraph (b) shall be certified as correct by the person making it and shall be filed with the record. |
(7)
| (a) | In any case in which no transcription was directed in terms of subrule (6) any person may on notice to the registrar or clerk of the court request a transcription of any shorthand note taken by virtue of a direction given under subrule (4) and shall pay, in respect of proceedings made by mechanical, electronic or digital means, the full cost thereof as predetermined by agreement between the contractor concerned and the State for such transcription. |
| (b) | One copy of the transcript of the shorthand notes referred to in paragraph (a) shall be supplied, free of charge, to the person at whose request the transcription was made. |
| (c) | The original copy of the transcript of any shorthand notes referred to in paragraph (a), shall be certified as correct by the person making it and shall be filed with the record of the case. |
| (d) | A sum sufficient to cover the approximate fee payable under paragraph (a) shall be deposited with the registrar or clerk of the court in advance. |
| (8) | Subject to the provisions of subrule (11), any shorthand notes, and any transcript thereof, certified as correct, shall be deemed to be correct and shall form part of the record of the proceedings in question. |
| (9) | Subject to subrule (7) (b), a copy of any transcript made simultaneously with the transcription of proceedings made by mechanical, electronic or digital means may, upon application to the registrar or clerk of the court, be supplied to any person upon payment of the full cost thereof as predetermined by agreement between the contractor concerned and the State, in the case of a copy of a transcript referred to in subrules (6) and (7). |
| (10) | Any reference in this rule to shorthand notes or to a transcription or transcript of such notes, or to a copy of such transcript, or to a person employed for the taking of such notes, or to a person transcribing such notes, shall be construed also as a reference to a record of proceedings made by mechanical, electronic or digital means, to a transcription or transcript of such record, or to a copy of such transcript, to a person employed for the making of such mechanical, electronic or digital record, or to a person transcribing such record, as the case may be. |
| (11) | Any party may, not later than 10 days after judgment, or where the proceedings have been noted in shorthand or by mechanical, electronic or digital means, within 10 days after having been notified by the registrar or clerk of the court that the transcript of the shorthand notes or mechanical, electronic or digital record has been completed, apply to the court to correct any errors in the minutes of such proceedings or in the transcript of such shorthand notes or mechanical, electronic or digital record and the court may then correct any such errors. |
| (12) | If, before the hearing of the application, all parties affected file a consent to the corrections claimed, no costs of such application shall be allowed; otherwise, costs shall be in the discretion of the court. |
