Abstract:
One of the main purposes of the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (“NCA”), the consumer
credit enactment currently effective in the Republic, is to protect the consumer. This is
inter alia achieved by affording rights to a credit consumer to terminate a credit
agreement subject to the NCA in advance, in other words before the date agreed on
by the parties in the agreement for the agreement to come to an end. However, these
rights to terminate a credit agreement in advance, the right to rescind (also known as
the “cooling-off” right) or settle the agreement, or to surrender the goods in terms of
the agreement, only apply if the NCA is applicable to a particular credit agreement.
With this purpose in mind, a brief overview of the credit agreements the NCA applies
to, is provided. However, it will be indicated that some of these rights only have limited
application, inter alia regarding the type of credit agreement involved. The consumer
is protected by being allowed to terminate the agreement in advance in various
respects, for instance getting rid of a costly credit debt.
The aim with this dissertation is to investigate the provisions in the NCA affording the
early termination rights to the consumer, to compare their fields of application and the
protection afforded by each, and to make suggestions for improvement of the NCA’s
provisions, if any. It is finally concluded that the inclusion of these early termination
rights in the NCA must be welcomed.
