This article deals with the written forms of contract, more specifically when one party tries to resile from (or get out of) a contract because he/she/it did not understand the contract’s terms or did not know that he/she/it was signing an actual contract. In South African law the principle Caveat Subscriptor – signor beware – applies. This means that a party who signs a contract consents to be bound by its terms and conditions, irrespective if such party did not read the contract or understand its terms. The fact that you did not read the contract, did not understand its terms, or did not know what you were signing, is not an excuse which will help you escape the legal consequences of said contract. I refer to the case of Smit v Hughes where it was explained that: “ If, whatever a man’s real intention may be, he so conducts himself that a reasonable man would believe that he was assenting to the terms proposed by the other party and that other party upon the be