Renke, Stefan2023-02-142023-02-142023-042022*A2023https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/89508Mini Dissertation (LLM (Mercantile Law))--University of Pretoria, 2022.The National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (“NCA”) applies to a credit agreement that is concluded between the parties to the agreement “at arm’s length”, in South Africa, or having an effect in South Africa, provided that no exclusion applies. The legislature opted not to define the concept “at arm’s length”, but rather to provide an open list of arrangements in section 4(2)(b) in terms whereof the particular credit agreement is entered into “within arm’s length”, with the implication that the consumer in any of these arrangements is not protected by the NCA. The arrangements related to within arm’s length in section 4(2)(b) form the focus of my dissertation, and all the section 4(2)(b) arrangements centre around dependency between the credit provider and the consumer. In the absence of dependency between these parties, in other words, where each is independent of the other, the consumer needs protection, the transaction is at arm’s length, and the NCA applies. The provisions in section 4(2)(b) and their interpretation by the courts are addressed, together with conclusions. The introduction of the principle of at arm’s length as a prerequisite for the NCA’s application to a credit agreement is endorsed.en© 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.UCTDArm's lengthField of applicationNational Credit ActCredit agreementMini Dissertationu17220302