Abstract:
The National Credit Act which came into full effective operation on 1 June
2007 has introduced significant changes to the consumer credit landscape.
One such novel aspect is the provisions relating to over-indebtedness and the
debt relief that may be accessed by an over-indebted consumer. Section 86 of
the National Credit Act introduces a procedure called ‘debt review’ in terms
whereof a consumer can voluntarily apply to a debt counsellor to be placed
under debt review. The purpose of this process is for the debt counsellor to do
an assessment of the consumer’s financial situation with the view of
ascertaining whether the consumer is over-indebted and how his credit
agreement debt can be restructured. The National Credit Act does however
not provide detailed procedural rules for the conduct of the debt review
process. It creates rights for the credit provider to terminate such a process
and also protects the consumer by allowing for the resumption of a debt
review that was not justly terminated.
This lack of procedural guidance by the National Credit Act is problematic and
may compromise the rights of both consumers and credit providers. This
dissertation aims to identify selected procedural problems that manifest
themselves in the context of termination and resumption of debt review.
These problems are discussed and certain conclusions are drawn and
recommendations for future reform of these problematic aspects are made in
the hope that it would contribute to enhance the effectiveness of the debt
review procedure.
