Debtfree Magazine November 2018

only left with a bond, can leave
debt review and continue with
reasonable payments towards
their bond. They can then have
the debt review status removed
at the credit bureaus and can
access credit again (if they can
afford to do so).
The Debt Counsellors
Association of South Africa
(DCASA) is currently preparing
a report on how effectively
the various large banks are
managing this process. There
are some who say that the
process is being inconsistently
dealt with and some consumers
are getting the short end of the
stick.
The purpose of the changes to
the NCA was to make it easier
and safer for consumers with
bonds to make use of the debt
review process to sort out their
short term credit issues while
keeping their assets safe. If
some banks are now making
requirements of consumers which
threaten their assets this would
be defeating the purpose of those
amendments. DCASA hope that
the report will help inform the
NCR and industry and assist with
future implementation of this
Section of the NCA.
Certain consumers who wish to
make use of this provision are
told to first leave debt review
entirely and only then will
the bank negotiate with them
about the required monthly
repayment amount. This
poses a danger since once the
consumer has left the safety
of debt review then the bank
could demand a much higher
payment than the consumer
can afford.