South Africans are among the most indebted people in the world, with as much as 73% of disposable household income servicing debt repayments. Credit abuses and frailties in the legislative framework, compounded by financial illiteracy, leave borrowers vulnerable to manipulation by lenders. This is according to a SA Law Journal article by Stephan van der Merwe, senior attorney at the Stellenbosch University Law Clinic.
Read: Capitec FY profits jump 15%, but credit book points to distressed consumer More clients have become financially distressed, Nedbank says One of the key reforms introduced in the post-apartheid era was the overturning of jail time for debtors, previously allowed under the Magistrates’ Court Act. In 1999, the Micro Finance Regulatory Council was created to encourage increased access to credit for all South Africans, and to combat abuses.