ANGELIQUE ARDÉ: Much-vaunted credit act not so useful in Satinsky scam
When mention is made of the 2008 global financial crisis, we are often told South Africa was "insulated" by the National Credit Act, a piece of legislation that is apparently lauded worldwide. Yet in the wake of our own much smaller crises, the act apparently has had little efficacy. The "Drive a New Car from R699" scam is a good case in point. When it imploded in July 2014, about 28000 consumers caught up in the scheme were still indebted to their banks, many of them overindebted. A great many have either had their cars repossessed by their banks or have surrendered them because they could not afford the full instalments when they stopped getting rebates for advertising the scheme. The banks that financed these deals - all of them did bar WesBank, which gave the scheme a wide berth - have denied that they included the advertising rebate in the consumer's income when assessing whether a consumer could afford the credit. WesBank reportedly decided against doing business with the Sati...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.