South Africans have racked up quite a bit of debt over the years – ZAR1.63 trillion to be precise. This amount equates to US$118 billion, which is larger than the total GDP output of some other African countries such as Angola (US$107 billion).
A report by the National Credit Regulator shows there are now 19 million credit-active citizens (out of approximately 23 million) who have impaired credit records. What’s worse is that more than 11 million of these consumers are categorised as over-indebted.
With 56% of South Africans struggling to pay off home loans, roughly 10 000 homes are repossessed by banks each year, according to a Business Tech report. Meanwhile, nearly 60% cannot meet their credit card repayments, increasing the need for debt counselling.
By March this year, over 660 000 consumers had applied for debt counselling and nearly 350 000 were placed under debt review.
