Abstract:
The decision of the Constitutional Court in Ferris v Firstrand Bank Ltd
(2014 3 SA 39 (CC); (Ferris)) deals with the right of a credit provider to
enforce a credit agreement in terms of the National Credit Act 24 of 2005
(NCA) pursuant to a debt rearrangement order which was breached by a
consumer. The Constitutional Court held that the credit provider, in such
an instance, was in terms of the provisions of the NCA, independently
entitled to enforce the agreement without further notice. In Ferris, breach
of the rearrangement order thus immediately exposed consumers to
enforcement actions by their credit providers which would not only
automatically terminate the rearrangement order, but also the debt relief
afforded by such an order.