www.debtfreedigi.co.za

South Africa’s debt counselling magazine

August 2014

WHAT IS DEBT REVIEW?

Debt review is your first step to financial freedom!

Do you battle to sleep at night stressing about how the month end bills are going to be paid? Can you afford your normal day to day living expenses? Do you come up with excuses if the creditors phone you for their money? Does your financial situation causes unnecessary stress at your workplace, which has a direct influence on your work performance? If you have answered yes to any of the questions above, the debt review process is for you!!

Debt review is a process where Debt Counsellors assess your entire financial situation. A new budget is calculated and the Debt Counsellor calculates the amount of money needed to pay your creditors. Once you have applied, the Debt Counsellor re-negotiates lower instalments with your creditors in

order for you to have more money on a monthly basis to pay for essential living expenses. In many cases you can save up to 50% on your monthly debt repayment amount. This is a formal process and a granted court order is obtained to protect you from legal action that creditors might take against you.

Having financial stress has a negative impact on you and your family. The debt review process deals with over-indebted consumers, battling to meet their monthly financial obligations. Debt review became active under the National Credit Act in 2007, specifically to assist consumers with repayment of their debts. There is no reason to feel ashamed to apply for debt review. You are one of the few that realized you need assistance and professional guidance to become debt-free!! Don’t delay, act today!

Debtfree asked Debt Counsellor Tania Dekker of Armani Debt to help explain the debt review process.

C O N T E N T S

NEWS

DEBT COUNSELLOR

PROFILE

DTI DRAFT REGULATIONS

DEBT REVIEW AWARDS WINNERS

AFRICAN BANK’S FALL FROM GLORY

PDASA SPEAK OUT ABOUT THE DRAFT

REGULATIONS

Administrators of the Debt Counselling Process

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If you are going through tough financial times you know how rough it can be when you suddenly find yourself ‘out of pocket’ with the sharks circling. Well, that is how African Bank feels this month after it’s ignominious crash into curatorship. We all have this image of the banks as very secure pillars of society and this month that image has, once again, been shown to be a lie as African Bank shares dropped to almost nothing over night. It gives you a clearer picture on how fragile the banking system really is and why they are so desperate to collect the money they loaned you. We have an in-depth look at what happened and what has since happened as two industry parties have got into a bit of a tussle over the matter with all sorts of accusations and threats flying back and forth.

This month we take a look at the crucial matter of the Draft Regulations as put out by the DTI in regard to the National Credit Amendment Act. Consumers and industry parties have only a short window of opportunity to influence what is and isn’t included in the regulations and that window is closing. Some red flags have been raised and we look at what has some parties concerned and if the current drafting of the regulations could mean the end of PDAs entirely if not amended.

As the matter with African Bank has shown it can take you years to get into financial trouble.

You can make bad decisions that take years before they come back to haunt you. When matters then come to a head, what matters is how you deal with the situation. If you are facing tough financial times then be assured you do have options and debt review is one of those options. Be sure to read the article about what it is and how it can help you, right at the front of the magazine.

This issue we also look at some of the risks in trying to help consumers by running a Debt Counselling business and how to mitigate them. We interview a Debt Counsellor and ask them what it is like being a DC and ask them about another challenge of being a DC: where they find new clients each month.

You may have it tough but... you probably don’t have it ‘African Bank- lose 8 Billion rand in 3 days’ tough. So... remember you are not alone and keep reducing your costs, keep shopping smart, keep paying your debts slowly but surely and keep on heading toward the goal of being debt free. You’ll probably beat African Bank to it.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Specialist Attorneys dealing with Debt Review matters

Magistrates Court and High Court Matters

TEL 021 913 2514 FAX 0866070940 EMAIL info@liddles.co.zaPHYSICAL ADDRESS 7 Chenin Blanc Street, Oude Westhof POSTAL ADDRESS PO Box 3407, tygervalley, 7536

It always seems impossible until it is done” - Nelson Mandela

“

INDUSTRY CONSUMER

NEWS FLASHFor daily debt counselling news in 3 minutes or less visit www.debtfreedigi.co.za

DRAFT REGULATIONS FOR THE NCAAThe DTI have released new draft regulations based on the National Credit Amendment Act for comment. They have asked consumers, industry and other interest parties to comment within a 30 day window. See more in this issue about the draft regulations

AFRICAN BANK SHARES PLUMMET IN VALUEFollowing two big announcements (one about ABIL’s poor projections of future earnings and the second about the CEO’s sudden departure) shareholders began a giant sell off of shares in African Bank (ABIL). Shares which had not too long ago been at R40 dropped over 3 days to only 31 cents. The reserve Bank had to step in and trading in the shares was stopped as the bank was put into curatorship. See more about that in this issue.

NCR AND THEDCI GET INTO MEDIA FIGHTIn the wake of the recent African Bank debacle theDCI released a press statement saying the NCR should have acted sooner based on concerns raised by Debt Counsellors for years about probable reckless lending at the creditor. The NCR did not take kindly to the press release

and stuck back telling the founder who is a Debt Counsellor to retract the statement or things could get ugly. TheDCI have refused to do so. See more in this issue about that.

SUMMARY JUDGEMENT REFUSED BASED ON LOST DOCUMENTSRecently the Gauteng High Court has refused to grant ABSA summary judgment against consumers (under debt review) based on documents that were ‘lost’ in a fire they claim happened a while back. While in the past courts have granted summary judgment based on ‘similar’ documents (not signed but the same types of documents from that time) it seems that if a reasonable defence is made and the documents are not available (fire or not) then the matter must go to a proper full court hearing in the future and that the Gauteng court won’t just be handing ABSA summary judgments.

ABSA VS MRS OBERHOLSTER60 year old Mrs Oberholster was under debt review when ABSA and their agents had her sequestrated (using the debt review as the reason). Not happy, she has taken the matter to the Constitutional Court. Ignoring that entirely ABSA’s agents went to her home (while she was sick in bed) en mass with all sorts of people and started going through her stuff and trying

South Africa’s largest Debt Counsellors

NEWS CONT.

to remove it (without proper legal permission). The matter has reach the press’s attention and now ABSA”s agents are apologising and trying to make amends. The NCAA2014 settles the matter but is not in effect yet. It says debt review is not an act of insolvency.

For daily industry and debt newss visit www.debtfreedigi.co.za. We will give you the latest news in 3 minutes or less so you can keep up.

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AFRICAN BANK’S FALL FROM GLORY

African Bank - What happened?

Just 18 months ago African Bank shares were worth R40. There was a boom in unsecured lending happening and all was hunky dory...or was it?

Even in the midst of the unsecured lending boom African Bank projected that they were in for a big loss. A big part of that was when the big drive they had done to source lending via Ellerines had started to backfire on them. So they began unsuccessfully to try sell Ellerines. Investors did not seem to mind too much though (even though Investec had sold off their +- 25% shares in ABIL). African Bank had run out and got additional investment and this had helped balance the books temporarily.

The NCR had come calling when they learned of reckless lending happening out of an African Bank branch in KZN. They threatened a big fine of R300 million for the +- 700 consumers matters that they themselves were already concerned about and had inadvertently let the NCR know about.

What is Reckless lending?While this is a broad term that can cover many things such as incorrectly completed documents, illegal terms and conditions or even a consumer not understanding the language of a form filled in, at it’s core reckless credit is when a creditor gives a consumer credit they probably can’t repay. Each creditor prior to granting credit has to do a check to see if a consumer can afford the credit. Some creditors are strict while others are very, very lenient. For example recently Wonga got into trouble for not verifying peoples salary claims.

What can happen though is that the person helping fill in the forms asking for credit can accept (or fill in ) ridiculous figures such as R300 for household expenses or R10 for transport for the month thus making it seem as if the person has available funds to get the credit. This is bad for the creditor since they will probably not get funds back from the consumer however some credit granting staff are incentivised and sell on commission and thus don’t mind blurring the lines to get the deal done.

NOTE: Credit Providers have to check the info provided and thus they cannot simply say the consumer lied to us and we believed them. Agents of theirs also have to apply their minds to figures provided. They even have to draw credit reports and bank statements and other such proof of claims made by consumers.

Did the R300 million fine make African Bank change its business model?Well, African Bank negotiated with the NCR and had the fine reduced. By how much? By an amazing R280 million. They ended up paying R20 million and sorting out the consumers effected and sorting out the branch in KZN where the problem had happened. At the time it was assumed that that was were the matter ended but recently in an interview on Radio702 the NCR’s Lesiba Mashaba revealed that the NCR had investigated much more than just the KZN Dundee branch. They had investigated African Bank as a whole.

What happened?In August 2014 African Bank let its investors know that they were not making a profit. In fact one of their companies Ellerines was really dragging them down and people simply were

not paying back the credit they had given them. In fact they projected that they would loose Billions of Rands and needed to get about R8.5 Billion in again to help out. This got investors unhappy since this was now the second time in recent history that the bank was going to be losing Billions of Rand and their investments were under pressure. People began to look elsewhere to put their money.

Then in a double whammy co founder and long time CEO Leon Kirkinis suddenly announced he was leaving. He had previously said he was leaving in about 2 years time but now had decided to leave immediately.

People freaked out. If he was leaving so suddenly after the announcement about the bank needing to go out and find about 8 Billion in investment to keep running they were worried something was terribly wrong and so they began to sell shares. As more and more people sold shares the value dropped more and more. Eventually over 3 days the share price dropped down to only +- 31 cents. This meant that the Bank was almost valueless. At this point the Reserve Bank stepped in to try save the day. They appointed a Curator (Mr Tom Winterboer) to help try rescue the sinking ship.

What the curator has done to save the dayWhile we may see future job loses at African Bank this is not immediately on the cards (but just wait). The main steps to date have been: Stopping trade in their shares, asking consumers to carry on paying their African Bank loans and arranging a rescue package from many of the other big banks, Investec

and the PIC. The package amounts to around a whopping R10 Billion. The curator has now also announced that they have written down the value of unit trusts held by R700 Million (about 10%). This has hit the money market and various banks (such as ABSA) have seen a drop as a result. There is a lot of fall out at ABSA about this since they were the most exposed of the banks and funds (+-3%). Ellerines is under business rescue (all the best with that) and they will soon be trying to save a small portion while sacrificing everything else. At present they have over 1000 stores and 6000 employees who are in for a tough time.

The NCR announced that they were happy with the steps taken saying:The National Credit Regulator (NCR) welcomes the measures announced by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) with regards to African Bank Limited which bring added stability to the South African credit market.

The NCR has for some time engaged African Bank due to concerns about their lending practices and their impact on consumers. We investigated the bank last year for reckless lending and entered into a settlement agreement in terms of which the bank paid R20-million.

The NCR has in 2011 expressed concern about the sustained growth in unsecured lending in an environment where many consumers had impaired credit records. Unsecured lending has been declining since the latter part of 2012.

African Bank’s recent growth in impairments and bad debts went a lot further than expected. Consumer over-indebtedness is not only

caused by reckless lending and borrowing, but also micro and macro economic factors that have a direct impact on the debt repayment capacity of consumers, some of which occur after the granting of credit.

The NCR has been and continues to work closely with the SARB in ensuring sound and fair lending practices across the full spectrum of banks providing credit. The NCR will engage the Curator of African Bank in an effort to ensure that the bank continues to serve its clients in a manner which is fair and equitable in terms of the National Credit Act.

As announced by the SARB, African Bank remains open for business. Consumers should act responsibly and continue paying off their loans.

The NCR vs. theDCIIn the wake of African Bank’s fall into curatorship theDCI ( a information portal about debt and debt review) made the following statement:

[Excerpt}“South Africa’s National Credit Regulator must be taken to task for its failure to properly investigate African Bank for its reckless lending practices that have left the bank with an R8.5 billion financial gap...

Solomon said debt counsellors had now received reliable information showing that the regulator had “seriously erred” in not launching a full-scale investigation into the lending practices of the bank’s 630 branches around the country at the time. “The reduction of the proposed R300 million fine of African Bank to just R20 million was also not acceptable and

amounted to a slap on the wrist,” she said.

“Over the past few years, Debt counsellors have lodged thousands of complaints, many relating to reckless lending and breach’s against the NCA against the country’s major credit providers, including African Bank. These complaints have repeatedly been sent to the Regulator who has chosen to ignore them and the plight of desperate consumers.”

“We are calling on the government to launch a high level investigation into the office of the NCR to establish exactly why the regulator is not doing its job properly,” Solomon said. “Sadly, in the midst of the illegal activity by credit providers, the consumer credit crisis and this bubble that has burst at African Bank, the NCR has remained the silent spectator as millions of consumers are financially ruined and their lives devastated. Reckless lending is having a devastating effect on millions of consumers and in the worst heart breaking cases has led to suicides, leaving families destitute and without their bread winners,” Solomon said.

“The National Credit Regulator is an accessory to the devastation that has occurred for millions of consumers as their only function has only ever been to enforce and uphold the National Credit Act, both of which they have sadly failed.”

Solomon said it appeared that African Bank relied on continued cash injections for its survival, which is exactly how a pyramid scheme survives. “Is African Bank’s business model perhaps relying on a pyramid scheme

where it requires repeated loans for new investors to sustain itself? What will happen if the bank does not get more investors this time around? Is African bank still solvent?” We have been stating obvious facts in the press for the past two and a half years, it’s sad for our entire economy and millions of affected consumers that our warnings were not taken seriously. Looking at facts, it’s time for the Regulator to now be held accountable,” Solomon said.

The NCR were not impressed and immediately issued a statement in which they seemed to treaten theDCI founder with losing her registration to practice as a Debt Counsellor if she did not retract her statement. They hold that reckless lending alone cannot be blamed for what happened at African Bank and that they did investigate and fine them.

[Excerpt]RESPONSE TO MEDIA STATEMENT BY Ms DEBORAH SOLOMON

The NCR is extremely disappointed with Ms Deborah Solomon’s disparaging comments about the NCR in her media statement entitled “NCR sleeps as African Bank consumers crash and burn”, which has been issued to the media. In the statement, Ms Solomon makes several accusations against the NCR which are unfounded, baseless and without substance.

The entire gist of Ms Solomon’s argument seems to be that the problems that African Bank has now were caused only by reckless lending and the NCR’s failure to investigate such reckless lending. Unfortunately no evidence

is advanced in the statement to substantiate this argument. Consumer over-indebtedness is not only caused by reckless lending, but also micro and macro-economic factors that have a direct impact on the debt repayment capacity of consumers, some of which occur after the granting of credit.

Ms Solomon’s view that the fine agreed to between the NCR and African Bank ‘is a slap on the wrist’ without providing any basis for this view in relation to that investigation is totally irresponsible and demeaning to the NCR. She is not privy to the factors which the NCR considered when agreeing to the settlement in relation to that investigation.

The NCR has not remained a silent spectator as millions of consumers are financially ruined and their lives devastated. It has conducted many reckless lending investigations which have resulted in enforcement action being taken against the credit providers. These investigations have also emanated from the pro-active country-wide investigations which the NCR has conducted. Many of these matters were finalised through the National Consumer Tribunal with the registration of some credit providers being cancelled.

In addition, the NCR has developed industry-wide affordability assessment rules for credit providers to use when conducting affordability assessments on credit applicants which have now been published as draft regulations by the Department of Trade and Industry for public comment.

Ms Solomon’s media statement has brought the NCR into disrepute and is a serious breach

of her conditions of registration as a debt counsellor. The NCR takes strong exception to this statement and implores her to desist from issuing public statements that are calculated to bring the NCR into disrepute.

The NCR has instructed Ms Solomon to withdraw her media statement by close of business today.

Issued by the National Credit Regulator

Debt Counsellor Support TheDCI is often identified with Debt Counsellors who choose not to belong to one association or another (many forum members do however belong to associations) and has acted as a voice for these unaligned DCs over time. In the current conflict with the NCR theDCI has received a lot of support from the forums members who agree that they have been telling the NCR about Reckless lending at African Bank for years. The 3 big DC associations have not been very vocal during this conflict. One has unofficially said they don’t support the statements made by theDCI’s founder, while another has said they don’t like the tone of the NCRs reply which seems to threaten all DCs if they voice an opinion contrary to that of the NCR. The other association has not made a statement as yet. Most Debt Counsellors agree though that they do see matters which might be reckless from creditors on a regular basis. However investigating and litigating these matters has been time consuming and often to the detriment of consumer’s debt review as a whole. Changes to the NCA will now hopefully make this process speedier and more affordable for consumers.

theDCI refuse to retract statementTheDCI then sent a legal letter to the NCR saying that they will not retract the statements made but were willing to publish a clarification if the NCR were to provide them with more info on the settlement with African Bank as to why R20 Million was a resonable reduction in the fine and not a “slap on the wrist”. TheDCI have ben outspoken in the media about a credit buble and about how Debt Counsellors have to turn to the NCR to report matters they find amiss in dealing with debt review matters.

At the that time the DA (political party) began to call for an investigation into the NCR’s actions surrounding these events and asked that the NCR to present info to Parliament about concerns raised in the press releases. The DA were successful in having the NCR brought to Parliament to speak before the portfolio committee for Trade and Industry during August 2014. However they hardly got to ask any questions as the matter was labelled too sensitive and provocative to really investigate by the chairperson and the hearing rather switched to a session of complimenting the NCR for all their recent hard work.

New Regulations set to reduce the incidence of reckless lendingThe DTI have now published draft regulations which set out further details on how credit providers must conduct the obligatory affordability assessments with consumers looking for credit. It is hoped that these regulations will help guide creditors to perform better assessments to help them avoid overburdening consumers and exposing themselves to non performing loans (such as African Bank have had to try deal with).

DEBT COUNSELLOR

PROFILE

TANIA DEKKERHow long have you been a DC? I have been in operation since 2009 – so this will be my fifth year.

What did you do before becoming a DC? I use to be the national sales admin manager at Barloworld. Thereafter we moved to KZN and opened ARMANI DAY SPA. I did the debt counselling course while in KZN and later when we moved back to Johannesburg, I became a full time Debt Counsellor.

Why did you become a DC?The truth!!! One of my husband’s best friends became a Debt Counsellor and he told my hubby one day that his wife (me!) will be an excellent Debt Counsellor. My hubby laughed and made a big joke saying that his wife can’t even balance her own budget – let alone anybody else’s. Well-well! Game on!!! I became a Debt Counsellor, learned everything to know about budgeting and love every minute!

What area (of SA) do you practice in? We have a small business operating in Benoni – East Rand - Gauteng

What makes your business a success? We have a passion for people and I have been there once myself. We treat each person with the necessary dignity and respect and set their mind at ease the minute they walk through our

Tel: 011 849 3654 / 7659

www.armanigroup.co.za

doors. We have no issue to travel to the client if they battle with transport. We often even do a consultation with a client at a local coffee shop.

Where do you find new business? We have tried everything! (Mail-shots, online marketing, flyers, newspaper, doctor’s room and gym TV ads, and Facebook). Most of our clients come from word-of-mouth from our other happy clients.

Who are your most co-operative and least co-operative credit provider at the moment? Most co-operative: the Easton Berry Group and least co-operative, without fail, ABSA!!!!

What is the biggest challenge facing Debt Counsellors at the moment? Credit providers are not lenient enough. The debt review process is tricky, especially when we redo proposals. We might have sent a proposal to a credit provider, which they accepted but if we have to redo a proposal at a later stage due to changed circumstances we can often not get that exact amount distributed to the creditors again. There might only be a slight difference (in most scenarios we pay more than what was originally allocated), but they still terminate. We also have issues with the NCR not responding quick enough if we lodged a formal complaint against a credit provider which often leads to unnecessary terminations and upset clients.

What is the biggest challenge facing your consumers at the moment? Debt Counsellors that abuse the system. The consumer looses faith in the system due to stories they hear about DC’s not acting according to the NCA. Those of us that are really trying to make a living out of this, battle to get the consumers to have faith in us and the process again!

What advice do you have for consumers under debt review? Please pay every month. The credit providers are getting stricter by the day and rightly terminate if no payments are made. The consumer must remember that they cannot default on payment whilst under debt review, and should they for whatever reason are unable to pay for a month, that payment must be made up soon thereafter.

DTI DRAFT REGULATIONSOn the 30th of July 2014 the DTI released a new set of draft regulations to do with the National Credit Amendment Act 2014 (NCAA2014) for comment. The draft regulations set out a few refined definitions and change a few phrases here and there in the previous regulations. The Draft regulations have a lot of info in about the NCT and the forms used in various matters. In total the draft regulations amount to more than 200 pages of excitement or boredom depending on how much each section will effect you. In an effort to let you know what is in the regulations we look at one or two highlights

Payment Distribution AgentsNow that PDAs are included in the NCAA2014 as an option for consumer to use the DTI feel it is important to set out how a person (or company) must apply to be a PDA, how much they must pay each year (R100 000) to be a PDA and who can be a PDA (ie. BEE compliant, have insurance, a computer program, be registered with SARS, not a criminal with a dodgy financial past, must have a trust account, etc). There is reference made to obligatory training for PDA staff via a NCR accredited trainer that would have to be undertaken within 6 months.

It is clearly stated that a Debt Counsellor must not collect or distribute funds for a consumer. Interestingly a Debt Counsellor can apply to be a PDA but must keep the two businesses very separate. The PDA and DC practice would have to have different managers and they (as a PDA) would not be allowed to distribute funds for their own debt review consumers (only other DCs)

A new set of PDA fees (including VAT) which come in at R2 a transaction for a payment up to R200 or R3 for payments of up to R500 or R5 for larger payments has been proposed. This has met with resistance from the various PDAs who are concerned that these prices will put them out of business. This would be a difficult situation for many DCs who would then not be allowed to help distribute funds or accept any payments (many DCs conditions of registration say they can only get paid via a PDA).

ADRASInformation on Alternative Dispute Resolution Agents is very skimpy in the draft regulations (and in the NCA itself). All we know is they are not allowed to offer debt review services but can help if you have a dispute about one of your accounts with a credit provider. Debt Counsellors are quick to point out that owing a credit provider money and not being able to pay on time is not a dispute (that is a debt review matter)

Registration as an ADRA will cost you R50 000 and then another R50 000 a year to help sort out disputes over accounts. No information is set out about what ADRAs can charge.

While a list of required training is set out for CPs, PDAs and DCs nothing is mentioned about ADRAs

Affordability AssessmentsCredit Providers must take ‘practicable’ steps to ensure the facts a consumer supplies and ask for documentation etc when deciding to grant a consumer credit or not.

The DTI also want to see that if a consumer borrows fund from one creditor to pay another form of credit that the creditor take steps to check if this is done. This might be a reference to so called “consolidation loans”.

Reporting Defaults & paid up debtsIt seems that creditors will only be able to make a negative listing on a credit bureau after 3 months and after warning the consumer they will do so.

If a consumer pays up the capital amount on a judgement then a creditor must remove any info on that judgement from the bureaus.

NCT There are lots and lots of new documents for use at the National Credit Tribunal including forms to use when a credit provider doesn’t supply you with a statement or CoB or if you disagree with what you see on a statement. For example, if you have a debt review in place and the creditor doesn’t send you a statement or if they have the wrong info on that statement you can go to the NCT for help.

It seems like the DTI are in for a pile of submissions from all over the industry in an effort to get and give clarity on various aspects of the industry. What they then do with those proposals/comments remains to be seen. New regulations don’t come around everyday and it is vital that all involved take some time to make comments.

You can down load the Draft regulations here:

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Consumers Educated & Nudged

Consumer Support Provided(24hr Stress Helpline; Bank Account Facilitation; Creditor Support)

Consumer Protection Provided(DCM Protector Card™)

INCREASE IN 1ST PAYMENTS OF 20%

Better Payment Behaviour

Immediate Improvement in Collections

YOUR CASHFLOW & REVENUE

INCREASES

WITH US, YOU MAKE MORE MONEY

Adding value through innovation and partnership.

To increase your revenue, contact us on 0861 628 628 or info@dcmgroup.co.za www.dcmgroup.co.za

DRIVE YOUR BUSINESS SUCCESS WITH THE DCM PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM™

Consumers Educated & Nudged

Consumer Support Provided(24hr Stress Helpline; Bank Account Facilitation; Creditor Support)

Consumer Protection Provided(DCM Protector Card™)

INCREASE IN 1ST PAYMENTS OF 20%

Better Payment Behaviour

Immediate Improvement in Collections

YOUR CASHFLOW & REVENUE

INCREASES

WITH US, YOU MAKE MORE MONEY

Adding value through innovation and partnership.

To increase your revenue, contact us on 0861 628 628 or info@dcmgroup.co.za www.dcmgroup.co.za

DRIVE YOUR BUSINESS SUCCESS WITH THE DCM PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM™

PDASA SPEAK OUT ABOUT THE DRAFT REGULATIONSWith regard to the proposed PDA fees in the draft National Credit Act Regulations, the PDA Association of South Africa (PDASA) makes the following comment:

PDASA is currently in discussion with both the NCR and the DTI regarding the proposed fees and it is sincerely hoped that a common understanding and agreement is reached. Pity that there was no consultation with the PDA’s prior to the draft regulations, especially since the PDA’s have collected and distributed R14.7 billion to Credit Providers since May 2008.

The proposed fees, in their current form, are uninformed and could lead to the immediate demise of the PDA’s for the following reasons:

The fees are below the very basic transaction costs that the banks themselves charge to the PDA’s to process their transactions, without making provision for any of the other services that the PDA’s provide to Industry in order to meet the minimum Service Level Agreements required by the NCR. At the inception of the PDA’s, it was envisaged that the Credit Providers would pay the PDA costs (which would have been the case if they had collected their own debt!). The projected losses for the

PDA’s as things stand are enormous and their closure could create a very serious situation for Industry in respect of the PDA and payments systems, as well as the withdrawal of all the available Debt Counselling systems and software provided and funded by the PDA’s.

The proposed fee, based on the cost of a Credit Provider distribution, does not recognise the cost of a collection from the Consumer or the costs of any of the other systems and services.

The fees per distribution were changed by the NCR in February 2011 to a fee per Debt Review plan in order to accommodate the DCRS system because that system could not accommodate tiered pricing (and still can’t). The alternative would be to close the DCRS. So in effect, tiered pricing just couldn’t work practically.

The proposed fees start with a distribution between R100 and R200. Either it is assumed that this was an oversight, or that there will never be distributions between R1 and R100 or that these payments must be made by the PDA

free of charge, even though the actual bank cost will be the same to the PDA irrespective of the amount distributed.

Stakeholders should be aware of some of the costs that a PDA has to bear in order to carry on it’s business:

1. Fixed costs:a. IT development and support of the PDA system (which has huge complexity especially when integrated with Debt Counsellor systems).b. IT development and support of the payments engine. Where the PDA does not develop its own proprietary payments engine, the PDA would pay for the IT development and support of bank Host to Host payments systems in order to make its collections and payments.c. Staff costs, including finance and marketing.d. The provision of a fully staffed Call and Support Centre which is utilised by Debt Counsellors ( and all their individual staff), Credit Providers (again, and all their individual staff) and Consumers.e. Rental accommodation and infrastructure facilities (including regional offices, where this is a requirement).f. The costs of training, both with regards to the PDA and the Debt Counselling system.g. Other costs such as audit, governance and compliance, human resources services, management oversight and so on.

2. Debt Counsellor Software systems:a. While not commonly known, the Debt Counsellor software systems are fully funded and supported by the PDA’s since without a DC software system, it would be difficult for a PDA to function (and vice-versa).

b. The costs here are the development of the DC system, the integration of the system with the PDA, the support and maintenance thereof to the Debt Counsellor and most importantly, the messaging between the PDA system and the DC system so that the DC system accurately mirrors the successful payments and payment failures and reversals at the PDA (not to speak of the under and over payments by the Consumer and the apportioning of plans under those circumstances).

3. Processing Costs:a. The costs of collecting funds from a Consumer using all the available payment channels. In particular, the costs of just two of these channels are highlighted:1. The cost of cash payments. As an example, if a deposit of R5,000 is made to the PDA Trust Account in respect of a debt review plan, a 1% bank cash fee will amount to R50 which could equate to half the PDA’s income on the plan.2. Aedo collection costs on average amount to a third of the PDA’s income.b. The cost of distributing funds to Credit Providers; additionally the cost of repaying returned funds (unlimited times) because of faulty reference numbers.c. The cost of all deposit referencing identifiers at all the major Banks (and even at the tellers of the banks in respect of cash deposits) in order to identify the pay or and prevent unidentified funds

4. Bad Debts:a. PDA’s carry the cost of Consumers’ reversing successful collections after the Credit Providers have been successfully paid, which if one thinks about it, amounts to unjust enrichment. The PDA’s are not successful in the recovery

of these funds, compounded by the fact that the range of non-bank Credit Providers is so widespread that the task is impossible.b. Banks too are loath to repay funds distributed in respect of cards, unsecured debt (and even secured debt, we might add!).c. One can argue that the most practical solution is to discontinue all Debit Order and Naedo collections in order to prevent such reversals.

From the explanation above, one can gain some insight into the daunting task that the PDA’s face on a daily basis – their service to the Industry is so critical to the smooth functioning of Debt Review. Two PDA’s have tried their hand at this role, but have failed. All the more reason to support the 3 existing PDA’s!Most important of all, the PDA’s provide a safe and secure payment mechanism thereby instilling a level of confidence and trust that the Consumer’s funds will be properly and professionally handled (without any fear of misappropriation). And, the NCR themselves and their appointed agents, Bowman Gilfillan, audit the PDA’s data and plans covering every single day of the calendar year.

Lastly, the PDA’s reporting to the NCR of all the Consumers’ transactions on a monthly basis means that the NCR takes and manages Consumer safety extremely seriously! Prepared by Chris van der Straaten on behalf of the PDA Association.

the PDA’s provide a safe and

secure payment mechanism thereby

instilling a level of confidence

and trust that the Consumer’s funds

will be properly and professionally

handled

All professionals have professional indemnity if the unforeseen happens. Do you as a professional Debt Counselor have

professional indemnity as stipulated by the ethical code?

contact us today for more information011 622 9460

TELEPHONE 0861 112 882 FACSIMILE 086 605 9751 MOBILE 082 449 6856 EMAIL andre@in2insurance.co.za

www.in2insurance.co.za

telephone +27 (0)21 462 7533email info@wcca.co.zawww.wcca.co.za

ACCOUNTING | TAX | AUDIT | CONSULTING

CONSUMER

Times are tough and we all need to make our money stretch these days. As the cost of living increases it seems that, come the end of the month, there is always a little less cash left to enjoy life with.

The Living on Less is a section of Debtfree DIGI which looks at ways wise consumers can keep their living expenses down and save funds. We also consider ways to still have some fun for less.

Living on Less is about spotting a great deal and letting others know. It’s about changing our mind set to reflect the reality that times are tough and we need to get savvy.

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LIVING ON LESS

MOVIE REVIEW

AT THE MOVIESWITH LEIGH

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STARS:Chris Pratt (from Everwood, Parks & Recreation and Moneyball)Zoe Saldana (Avatar & Star Trek)Dave Bautista (WWE/WWF, Riddick)Voices of Vin Diesel & Bradley Cooper

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?Young Peter Quill (Star Lord) is abducted from his life on earth and thrown into a life of a relic hunting and questionable trading. After discovering the “Orb”, he becomes very popular with an evil warmonger, but with the help of some unlikely frenemys (a raccoon, a tree and a green assassin) he can save the Orb from the baddies and keep the whole universe safe.

DOES IT NEED TO BE SEEN AT THE CINEMA?

This is a great action comedy, lots of fun on the big screen in 3D. The extra cost of a 3D movie is not necessary though and waiting for it on DVD to watch at home with a big bowl of popcorn is cheaper. For those who have discounted movie cards, watching it in 2D will not disappoint.

“Watch this if you liked Iron Man & Avengers"

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LETTER FROM A READERThe lack of transparency regarding what is going on at the meetings between the NCR and representatives from all the DC Associations is troubling. Why are we (non associated DCs) not informed of the agenda and matters under discussion? When this first came to our notice we asked to be included in these discussions. The NCR informed us that due to lack of space we cannot be included, even though we all will have a say. I asked why these issues (those being discussed at these meetings) are not brought forward at NCR meetings held country wide or sent out via circulars asking for our opinions. The recent email from the NCR that was sent out informing the association representatives that what is discussed is not be disclosed to other (relevant) parties is problematic.

We (non associated DCs) should at least receive copies of the agenda and given opportunity to think about and opportunity to comment. Supposedly there are only 750 active DCs. Surely it will not be that difficult to have all of us representing the industry to formalise serious matters. Perhaps via surveys.

It has also come to my notice that creditors do not ‘finalise’ COB’s (providing a fixed figure to work with for restructuring purposes) and that some courts have refused to grant debt

review orders because the amount on the COB changes daily. This matter is very serious and all DCs should have the opportunity to discuss this in a public forum.

We have a window of opportunity to address this matter in the Regulations that are currently being reviewed. Debt review stands or falls by the COB and if that is not a finalised document(with a fixed amount which can be used for all calculations) no proposed repayment arrangement can be properly drafted. The initial COB should cap the outstanding amount owed. There are many other similar matters that we might not be aware of due to this secrecy in the NIC meetings and it is, in my opinion, not favourable to the industry or consumers.

Concerned DC

Dear Debtfree

ONE Financial Services Holdings (Pty) Limited Reg no: 1998/005199/07 is a juristic representative of: One Commercial Motor and Liability (Pty) Ltd. FSP: 8783

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Mobile 082 729 3833 Email marijke.w@one.za.com

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“I believe that SA now has the best consumer debt rehabilitation process in the world...”Ian Wason of DebtBusters

1

DEBT REVIEW AWARDS WINNERSDebtfree recently helped organise the 2014 Debt Review Awards. Role players from all over the industry and country got to vote and be evaluated by industry panels. One of the night’s big winners was DebtBusters. Debtfree got to speak to Ian Wason about the company and winning an award.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?I am originally from the UK. After graduating in Economics at Bristol University, I spent 3 years at Deloitte in London, where I qualified as a CA. I moved out to SA immediately after this and spent a year doing voluntary work for an NGO helping people set up and manage small businesses, an experience I found hugely rewarding, and I still do a fair amount of voluntary mentorship for young entrepreneurs. It was during this year, that I decided to stay in Cape Town and set up a business here. I live in Higgovale, Cape Town, with my wife and one year old daughter. When I am not at work, I can be found running or cycling on the mountain with my dogs, playing golf, tending to my vegetable garden or cooking. I do travel a lot, so I really like to try and spend as much time with my family as I can when at home.

Congratulations to DebtBusters who won one of the “Big” Debt Review Awards this year. Can you tell us a bit about DebtBuster’s history? Given my background in financial services

and NGO work, I wanted to be a ‘social entrepreneur’, to affect society positively, by creating a business that used innovation to solve social problems, to help people first and foremost, but also to be a profitable and sustainable enterprise. I originally started the business 10 years ago, helping consumers manage their debt, and educate themselves about money management in general. When the NCA came out, the business was perfectly positioned to start a debt counselling arm. Before the NCA was launched I did a road trip round the UK, to visit many of the debt management businesses there. I learnt a huge amount from them as to what worked and what didn’t, but mostly I learnt how not to do debt counselling. I was incredibly shocked at how little they cared for their clients, and how poor their processes where. Hence I decided to build DebtBusters as a ‘values driven’ organisation to care about our clients first, and to invest heavily in systems and processes. I believe that it is because of this, that we have avoided many of the mistakes of other debt counsellors by focusing on working together with the credit

providers to reduce interest rates so that we can get 100% acceptances for the vast majority of our clients, and hence our clients have an extremely high propensity to repay their debt. The credit providers, particularly the larger banks and retailers have done a huge amount over the last few years to help us get to this point. We also believe that debt counselling is all about transparency and communication. With our clients and credit providers and we pride ourselves on the substantial client services teams that we have built, to enable us to ‘hand-hold’ our clients through the typically 5 years of debt counselling.

Tell us a bit about DebtBusters clients/consumers: Who is applying, Why?Our typical client is the middle to upper income bracket. The average age of the clients are 34 years old and they have over 11 credit agreements each. The most concerning statistic from DebtBusters is that our average client is spending over 100% of their net monthly income on debt repayments when they apply for debt counselling with us. We have assisted over 25,000 clients to date.

Do you feel that in the future we will see larger numbers of consumers (in general) apply for debt review? Or do you feel that the numbers we see now (+-10 000 a month) are about as high as we should expect it to go for a while.I have visited a lot of debt management businesses around the world and I can emphatically say that SA has a debt crisis far worse than any other country. Those who compare the debt to income ratio of 78% in SA to the likes of the UK with 135% are missing the point entirely. An enormous proportion of SA consumers’ debt is short term, expensive,

unsecured debt (unlike the UK where it is predominantly mortgage debt with interest rates as low as 1%). It is the short term expensive nature of this debt which is causing so many millions of South Africans to default on their repayments. In my opinion, there are only three ways that a consumer can get financial stability back and manage their debt once they have become over-indebted; firstly sequestration, which is unaffordable and unworkable for the vast majority, secondly, they ‘out earn’ their debt, but with interest rates as high as 60% on short term loans this is impossible, or thirdly, they can apply for debt counselling. Therefore the numbers applying for debt counselling will continue to grow from this 10,000 level, and this will be driven by the tightening of lending by credit providers, either forced on them by market conditions, or by regulations and regulators. I believe that SA now has the best consumer debt rehabilitation process in the world, but unfortunately, the major reason why these numbers of consumers applying for debt counselling has not increased more dramatically is due to the historic reputation of the debt counselling industry. I do not believe that debt counselling has a good reputation. In fact, I think it has a terrible reputation, largely due to its history. With nearly 600,000 consumers having applied for debt counselling over the last 7 years, and only 100,000 (est) of them still paying proves the point. Debt counselling was a completely new industry in 2007, we had the framework of the (well intentioned, but not terribly well written) NCA, and that was about it. Credit Providers frustrated the process, either intentionally, or just due to a lack of systems and personnel. Debt counsellors where underqualified for this critical job, had little regulatory support, no

systems to help them, and of course there were no PDAs (the first PDAs that did eventually start in 2008 where extremely weak and only exacerbated the problems). The casualties of all of this (aside from the nearly 2,000 debt counsellors who have left the industry) were the consumers. The landscape for debt counselling changed completely when the NCR launched the Task Team in 2010, and the introduction of DCRS revolutionised our business. All of a sudden we effectively had mandates from credit providers as to what they would accept, rather than just guesswork that we were forced to use previously. The service the best debt counsellors now offer

clients is a 100 times better than what it was in the early days of debt review, purely because all parties are now working together to make debt counselling work. There are still some smaller credit providers who are still frustrating the process, but the intention from the vast majority is overwhelmingly positive.

What are your thoughts on the Awards?I have long thought that the industry needed awards. At DebtBusters we have our quarterly ‘Debtometer’ which could be considered as our awards for credit providers, but we felt we were obviously not independent enough to start an industry awards! I was delighted

when Debtfree took the initiative. As with any inaugural awards there were teething issues, but we are confident that these will be ironed out and the awards will go from strength to strength.

You won in the Large Debt Counsellor firm category in the Debt Review Awards. What do you feel that a large DC firm can bring to consumers that a smaller debt review firm perhaps can’t?I do believe this that there is a place for both large and small DCs. Although I am not convinced that a medium sized DC is viable. As a large DC, we have invested vast amounts on IT, staff training and processes, with 60% of our staff compliment focused on maintaining our book of business through client services. Hence smaller DCs can very effectively look after their clients if they keep their book to a manageable size, large DCs can be extremely effective through their economies of scale with credit providers, IT and infrastructure, but for me, medium sized DCs are stuck in the middle as the worst of both worlds. As any DC will tell you, the job doesn’t finish when you have a court order...at DebtBusters we speak to our clients every three months on average, and are constantly communicating through email, SMS and our Smartcents portal (www.smartcents.co.za).

Where/in what ways do you feel larger Debt Counselling firms need to improve?Too many large DCs are focused on collecting the ‘negotiation fee’ to cover their costs, rather than trying to build their business based on sustainable paying clients, who they help get debt free in the fastest possible time. There has also been a poor practice of not actually

trying to negotiate interest rate reductions from credit providers, with some DCs not even bothering, but putting on the original interest rates on the court orders and sending them off to the magistrate. As debt counsellors we have a moral obligation to help our clients, and this is certainly not helping them.

How has/does the reduction in after care fees at 24 months (5%-3%) effect you? Do you feel this needs to be looked at or does debt review get easier after 2 years?As I alluded to above, debt counselling does not get easier for debt counsellors after their clients have been with them for 24 months. There is also a huge amount of work to be done at the end of debt counselling with ensuring all the balances are correct. For me this fee reduction is nonsensical, and needs to be looked at as soon as possible. The NCR, and the credit providers, should be trying to incentivise debt counsellors as much as possible to focus on keeping their clients making their rehabilitation payments every month. If they wanted to do that they should increase the 5% after 24 months, not reduce it!

What do you see as the way forward over the next year for DebtBusters?We are still investing heavily in technology. As we predominately deal with the middle to upper income brackets, they have internet and smart phone access. We are constantly working on new ways to communicate and help our clients through this technology. My ambition in the in the next year is to get 100% COBs, 100% proposal acceptances for 100% of our clients. By achieving this we will get closer to 100% monthly client repayments, and 100% of clients getting to debt freedom!

Contact us for fast, accurate and effective payments:

gerhard@dcpartner.co.za

www.dcpartner.co.za

Winner of the 2014 Debt Review Award "Payments"

for excellence in regard to our core function Why Not Switch To Easy?

DEBT REVIEW AWARDS

1

2014

DON’T WORK WITH AN OUT DATED VERSION OF THE ACT

When the National Credit Amendment Act 2014 comes into effect along with new regulations you will want to make sure you have an up-to-date copy of the Act.

Pre-order your Revised National Credit Act Booklets now

ORDER NOWhttp://debtfreedigi.co.za/product/pocket-sized-national-credit-act-booklet/

The Multi-Skilled Debt CounsellorThe Accountability of Professional adviceThere is a lot more to Debt Counsellors than just having an overall understanding of the National Credit Act. They are also expected to render services of the highest objectivity, integrity and good faith and are expected to balance the interests of all parties involved, from credit providers, to the consumer, while being fair and honest at all times.

Debt Counsellors are required to explain important components, rights and obligations regarding the debt process to a debtor before proceeding with an application. In addition, there is an obligation to maintain a proper set of accounting records for all the money handled by the DC. Any of the above obligations place a duty of care on the Debt Counsellors and an allegation of a breach of this duty can trigger a claim of professional negligence against the DC. In order to avoid allegations of negligence, Debt Counsellors need to be multi-skilled. They need to be able to deal with difficult business and administrative tasks such as the management of the debtor’s file through specialised software and a backdrop of complex rules. They have to be able to handle and manage debtors who have financial difficulties while simultaneously managing both the creditors’ and debtors’ expectations successfully.

Debt Counsellors must also try ensure that the information they use, such as account numbers,

are accurate or this may lead to unnecessary termination of accounts in debt reviews.

Even if the DC is very competent at what they do, if an allegation of negligence is laid against them, the cost of defending the action can be extremely high, which could ultimately lead to the emotional and financial ruin of the counsellor. It is therefore, not advisable for any professional Debt Counsellor to ignore this risk when carrying out their work.

Just like all other professional service providers, there is a way to minimise and transfer this risk by way of an insurance policy. An Errors & Omissions Insurance policy (also referred to as professional Indemnity) covers DCs against the financial consequences of making a mistake. When mistakes are made, it often leads to allegations of negligence. Typically, this will end up in demands being made and eventually litigation, if the demands are not met. These policies pay both legal defence costs incurred, as well as any settlement agreed to by the DC or award, which could be handed down by the Courts.

No matter how skilled DCs are, even if they continually carry out their duties to the best of their ability, they cannot always 100% guarantee their work or that of someone who works for them. After all, let’s face it, mistakes do happen.

The next DCASA meeting dates: 5 SeptemberWestern Cape Credit Provider Expo.10:00 at Parow Golf Club. 5 SeptemberKZN DCASA Branch Meeting.10:00 at Health Haven, Westville.

For more information on the meetings or becoming a member, e-mail dcasa@dcasa.co.za.

DEBT COUNSELLORS ASSOCIATIONS ANNOUNCEMENT BOARD

www.dcasa.co.za

This interview with Ursula Gouws explains the concept of sequestration, or declaring yourself insolvent (bankrupt). Before the chill sets in, just listen to what she has to say. It is very interesting.

http://downloads.newera.org.za/TheNews/

Just right click on Episode 18 and choose “save target as.”

www.newera.org.za

Be on the look-out for the BDCF training program starting in September.

All DC’s (from any association) will be invited to attend and benefit.

Training workshops will be presented in Gauteng, KZN and Western Cape

www.bdcf.co.za

Our AGM will be held on 17 OCT 2014 at KWV Paarl - Please confirm attendance by 15 Sept - marie@allprodc.org

We are busy with our response to CIF on issues of circular 10 due by 22 Aug - for input email legal@allprodc.org

We are also busy with our response to DTI on the draft regulations due 30 Aug - for input emaillegal@allprodc.org

www.allprodc.org

Credit Industry Forum The recent African Bank crisis has brought some important matters to the fore and we have written to the NCR about the matter and asked them to answer some of our primary concerns. We have made the NCR aware that we feel that although the CIF is in principal an excellent idea it’s formation has lead to little change in the industry to date. We still feel that CIF is not fully representative of consumers interests or even that of other DCs who do not belong to our or any association. This mistake was also made by DRAC and should not be repeated. We have raised concern that our objections in this area were not even added to the minutes of the CIF meetings.

DCRS - Very few of our members are using the DCRS system for their cases (in fact only about 17% of all debt review matters country wide are done via DCRS) and yet some creditors will not issue final acceptance letters if the matter is not done via DCRS. Meaning that in 83% of all matters these CPs are resisting the debt review process.

CoBs & Court orders being ignored - The entire matter of CoBs and the balance shown being

used for court orders being ignored by some CPs has raised our concern and we are taking the matter further. We feel that there is abuse here and this goes contrary to the intentions of the NCA. This matter needs clarification from the NCR with all due haste as this ‘loop hole’ needs to be closed. Consumers are suffering and Debt Counsellors are been given the run around. It is unacceptable.

African Bank - Recently when a Debt Counsellor spoke out about the African Bank matter (in another capacity) the NCR seemingly threatened the DC’s registration for saying what they felt were negative things about them. We are very concerned about this type of threat. We are worried that the NCR might threaten deregistration and thus loss of livelihood of any DC who expresses an opinion that they do not like. We are of the opinion that freedom of speech and a free media should always remain each and every individual’s constitutional right and should not be threatened in any way. We have thus written to the NCR about this matter and feel they could be using their time and energy better in solving the problems that lead to African Bank’s current situation.

NEWSLETTER

AUGUST

CONTACT DETAILSFORUM: www.debtconcern.webs.com / WEBSITE: www.allprodc.org /

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/AllProDC / TWITTER: www.twitter.com/AllProDC

DEBT COUNSELLING

AA Debt Counselling CentreAnthea JohannesNCRDC531Tel: +27 (0) 21 982 0522Cell: +27 (0) 84 402 7032

Alan Watts NCRDC 962NCR registered Debt Counsellor Tel: 084 4448439 Fax: 086 6501954alan@active-debt-counselling.co.zawww.active-debt-counselling.co.za

Armani Debt CounsellingTake the First Step to Financial Freedom Tania DekkerTel: 011 849 3654 / 7659www.armanigroup.co.za

Cape Debt ClinicYour Guide to Financial Wellness and RecoveryKarin Augustyn 021-828-2658 073-903-6942 karin@capedebtclinic.co.zahttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Cape-Debt-Clinic

Central SA Debt Counsellors082 950 7806Fax: 086 563 1621

Consumer AssistTel: 0861 628 628

Credit MattersSouth Africa’s Largest Debt Counsellors14th Floor, The PinnacleCnr Strand & Burg StCape TownTel: 086 111 6197Fax: 021 425 6292info@creditmatters.co.za

CS Debt CounsellingBernidene Smith NCRDC 764057 352 4115/352 5000Welkom - Free state

Darran ManikamNCRDC704debt@mailbox.co.za

Debt BudgetMAXIMISE YOUR LIFE, MINIMISE YOUR DEBTBruce Leslie BorezRegistered Debt CounsellorNCRDC164348 Church Street “Medical Mews” Wynberg, Cape TownTel: 021 824 8885/021 820 4946Fax: 086 607 6429www.debtbudget.co.za

Financial Synergy Group Credit Awareness & Rescue ServicesDEBTINC0861 20 21 20enquiry@debtinc.co.za Financial Planning & GrowthCONFIDO022 713 20 21planning@financialsg.co.za Legal012 643 1423legal@financialsg.co.za Employer Group & Wellness Services012 643 1423wellness@financialsg.co.za Call Centre Services0861 20 21 20reception@financialsg.co.za

SERVICE DIRECTORY

SERVICE DIRECTORYDebtSenseGroupFor Professional, Responsible and Effective Debt Restructuring ServicesJohn Harvey NCRDC 1370Newcastle – KZNTel: 034 312 1767 Fax: 034 315 3441Email: debtsense@newcastle.co.zaWeb: www.debtsensegroup.co.za

Debt Solve Debt CounsellorsOffice: 033 397 0945

DebtSafe0861 100 999Debt SeriousWe are serious about debtVida Scheepers NCRDC1792Po box 394, Garsfontein, Pretoria 0042Fax no: 086 553 9403vscheepers@mweb.co.za

Debt TherapyHans Pettenburger-Perwald NCRDC49Tel: +27(0) 21 556 4935Fax: +27(0) 21 556 4937Toll Free: 0800204728Cell: 0823358232www.debt-therapy.co.zaEmail: info@debt-therapy.net

Debt RehabColleen Van Wyk(BCom, LLB)Debt Counsellor NCRDC2619Tel: 083 290 0848Tel: 011 740 7374Fax: 086 716 9694

Debt eezyYour Debt Solution made EasyAshley Carstens NCRDC858 Tel: 021 839 2809 Fax: 083 512 4160 / 086 665 9125 Email: debt.eezy@gmail.comWebsite: www.thedci.co.za

Debt RescueNeil RoetsNCR DC 474Cell: 083 644 7406Tel: 0861 800 009Fax: 086 523 0617E-mail: admin@debtrescue.co.zawww.debtrescue.co.za

Debt Management & Counseling Services“The greatest glory in livinglies not in never falling,but in rising every time we fall.” - Nelson MandelaDerry Burge NCRDC108140 Irene Avenue, La Concorde,Somerset West, 7130 Tel: 021 855 5997 Cell: 074 177 5375 Fax: 021 855 1195 or 0865413200E-mail: dburge@telkomsa.net

The best angle to approach debt is the Triangle

Caledon - Western CapeContact Person: Yolande8 Hoop Street, 7230 Caledoncaledon@triangletrust.co.zaTel: 028 212 2537

Ceres - Western CapeLeyll str 61, 683 Ceresandre@triangletrust.co.zaTel: 023 312 1292Fax: 023 312 2119

Worcester - Western Cape71 Porter Street 6850 Longitude: 19.44305Latitude: -33.64942worcester@triangletrust.co.zaTel: 0233420576Fax: 086656801

Bloemfontein - Free State94 Zastron, 9301 BloemfonteinContact Person: Yolandebloemfontein@triangletrust.co.zaTel: +27 51 448 2828Fax: +27 51 447 9481

Viljoenskroon - Free State35 Denyssen Street, 7230Contact Person: Johann Olivierviljoenskroon@triangletrust.co.zaPhone: +27 56 343 0352Fax: +27 56 343 035

Welkom – Free State329 Stateway, 9460 WelkomContact Person: Susan RouxEmail: welkom@triangletrust.co.zaTel: +27 57 352 6117Fax: +27 57-352 2355

Durban Debt Counselling ServicesSuite 112, 1st floor Union Club Building353 Sm ith StreetDurban, 4001Tel: 031 301-7893Fax: 031 301-5809phumla.ngema@telkomsa.net

Fair Finance SolutionsYour debt is our priorityAmanda FairRegistered Debt Counsellor NCR946553 Jacqueline DriveGarsfontein PretoriaTel: 0861 26 26 32Fax: 082 921 7093Cell: 086 564 3674amanda@fairdebtcounselling.co.zawww.fairdebtcounselling.co.za

Fincorp debt Counsellors ccCecilia Zwarts fincorpdc@yahoo.com

Finesse Debt CounsellorsNCR Registration No: DC1262Address: 478 Windermere Road, Morningside, Durban, 4001Phone: 031 209 2356/ 084 250 2356 / Fax: 086 5732433e-mail romie@debtfinesse.co.za www.debtfinesse.co.za

Holistic Debt Counsellorsinfo@holisticdc.co.za

Helpdesk Debt CounsellorsAllan HoffmanTel: 0861 000 754

Help-U-Debt (Vaal Triangle) WanineTel: 082 445 3967

Help-U-Debt (Potchefstroom)Madra083 390 3275

Help-U-Debt (Parys)Marilouise082 920 6249

Help-U-Debt (Vanderbijlpark)Herma083 320 8303

Incentive Debt Counselling“Paving the way to a Debt Free Tommorrow”Darran Manikam NCRDC704Tel: (031) 409 9379Fax: (031) 409 1327Cell: 0845898286Branches: Phoenix and Shallcross

Indigo debt counsellors CCTel: 087 808 9734 Fax: 086 580 8675 indigodc@iburst.co.za

Christina Cambouris NCRDC1403StrandWestern CapeTel: 0824507459

Mzansi Debt CounsellingOctavia HlatshwayoTel: 011 868 1185Fax: 0861 00 22 70octavia@mzansidc.co.za www.mzansidc.co.za

NCR DEBT (PTY) LTDNational Counselling and Review of debtAmelia HaywardTel: (012) 364 2490Cell: 0877 201 057amelia@ncrdebt.co.zawww.ncrdebt.co.za

NDA Debt CounsellorsYour Trusted Debt CounsellorsGary Williams (NCRDC 143)Tel: 034 315 3880 Fax: 086 612 4112gary@ndad.co.za www.ndad.co.za

SERVICE DIRECTORY

SERVICE DIRECTORYNew Deal Debt CounsellingJason Riley (NCRDC868)B.Com (Financial Management)Cell 0723792108Fax 0866628789info@newdeal.org.zawww.newdeal.org.za

SA DEBT HELP010 593 0422Block 4, 1st FloorBoskruin Office Park(Behind Boskruin Shopping Village)Boskruin / Randburg

SFA Debt Relief Consultants Adri de BruynNCRDC99811 Market Street / Markstraat 11, Paarl, 7646Tel: 021 872 1968Fax: 021 872 2678adri@sfadebtrelief.co.za

Specialist Debt Management CentreBeverley Ludick, NCRDC948PretoriaTel: 012 377-3557Email: obligco@gmail.comEmail: dc@obligco.co.zawww.obligco.co.za

Penny Wise Debt CounsellingCathy Foster Debt Counsellor - NCRDC1977Tel: (011) 794 9912Fax: 086 719 3378Mobile: 083 298 4467Email: cathy@pennywise.co.zawww.pennywise.co.za

Rihanyo Debt Counselling(012) 804 50 57

Think Green Debt CounsellingSandi Pauwsandipauw@mweb.co.zaTel : 012 991 6638Cell : 082 460 7800Fax : 086 219 2615

U-Win Debt CounsellorsCoreli Roos - NCR DC 509Aliwal North, Burgersdorp, Bethulie, GariepDam, Smithfield, SpringfonteinCell:079 626 66241croos@global.co.za

Zuné Coetzer Debt CounsellorsNCRDC 159924 van der Stel Street, Dan PienaarBloemfonteinTel: 051-4364515Fax: 086 5870 845Email: zunecoetzer1@gmail.com

SUPPORT SERVICES

Staff Line Ndizani Executive RecruitmentCell: 083 3028163 Tel: (011) 468 - 2150saki@staffline.co.za

Information resources & serviceswww.thedci.co.za

DesigntimesSouth Africa’s creative resourcewww.designtimes.co.za

TRAINING

Compuscan Academy 0861 51 41 31www.compuscanacademy.co.za

You & Your MoneyNCR ACCREDITED DEBT COUNSELLOR TRAINING COURSES:Training and mentoring since 2007Want to make a contribution as a registered debt counsellor?Need to empower and upskill staff in your debt counselling business?Courses devised to suit all needs: Flexible timeframes to accommodate workflows. On site/inhouse training for staff.Contact Dawn JacksonDawnjackson.training@telkomsa.netCell: 072 1769789

FINANCIAL

ABSA Customer Debt Repair Line0861 005 901

Credit Ombudsman0861 662837

Experian011 799-3400 debtcounsel@experian.co.za

Eric StresoFinancial PlannerB Juris LL B CFP MBATel: 0833273358Fax: 086 612 7912

Fair Debt0829019788 or 012-3772558ray@fairdebt.co.za

PACFIN Financial Solutions Head OfficeTel: +27 11 9757445Fax: 086536878336 Van Riebeeck roadKempton Park 1619pieter@pacfin.co.zaMonte Carlo BuildingNo 8 VoortrekkerstreetKempton Park 1619

Kempton ParkContact: Reyno CoetzeeTel: +27 11 3945363Fax: 0866048002Cell: +27 73 3690884kemptonpark@pacfin.co.zaBoksburg / GermistonContact: Armand PosthumusTel: +27 11 8921911Fax: 0865620378

NelspruitContact: Ann BakerTel: +27 13 7415559Fax: 0880 1374 15559Cell: +27 82 9024236jeleroux@telkomsa.netSpringsContact: Wynand MclachlanTel: +27 11 8113728Fax: +27 11 8113728Cell: +27 83 2754014/5wynmc@telkomsa.net

Gooseberry Business AdvisoryTel: 012 644 0589

NedbankDebt Rehabilitation & Recoveries Services0860 109 279

STD BankDebt review HelplineTelephone: 0861 111 402

TransUnion0861 482 482

ThinkmoneyFinancial comparison websiteContact: Gareth MountainTel: 079 0996 798www.thinkmoney.co.za

WIZARD Vereeniging Making Mortgage MagicWanine SmitTel:+27 16 454 1132Fax:+27 86 686 3678 Cell:+27 82 445 3967 www.wizard.za.com

FINANCIAL PLANNING Eric StresoFinancial PlannerB Juris LL B CFP MBATel: 0833273358Fax: 086 612 7912

LEGAL

Karen van Staden Tel: 012 998 9117 / 012 993 2132Fax: 086 721 6467 / 086 662 1153Email: karen@hauptearle.co.zaoffice@hauptearle.co.zawww.hauptearle.co.za

Liddles & Associates“It always seems impossible until it is done” N. MandelaTel: 021 913 2514Fax: 0866070940Email: info@liddles.co.zaPO Box 3407, tygervalley, 75367 Chenin Blanc Street, Oude Westhof

LUCID AttorneysTel: 011 880 1100Fax: 011 880 1101Email: info@lucidsa.comwww.lucidliving.co.za/attorney

Is it time to expand your Debt Counselling practice?

Do you need specialist Attorneys with a national footprint?

Do you need expert advice on how to protect your practice and your clients?

Are you informed about recent statutory and legal developments within the industry?

Attorneys servicing individual needs

Pretoria: +27(0)12 998 9117 www.hauptearle.co.za Nelspruit: +27 (0)13 752 7084

SERVICE DIRECTORY

SERVICE DIRECTORYO’Connell & AssociatesAttorneys at LawKeegan O’Connellk.oconnell@oalaw.co.zaTel 021 462 1663Fax 0866 504 550303 Millborough, 70A Upper Mill Street, Vreedehoek, Cape Town,8000

Prinsloo & AssociatesAttorneys and conveyancersNanika Prinsloo Farm Bergamot, Paarl 7620P O Box 6199, Paarl 762014 Laing Street, Barrydale 6750Cell: 072-8558-106Fax: 086-623-5986nanika@vodamail.co.zawww.empowerlaw.co.za

RM Brown and Associates 16th Floor, The PinnacleCnr Strand & Burg StCape TownTel: 021 431 9127, f: 021 425 0875 Email: oliver@rmbrown.co.za

Scheepers AttorneysGerhard Scheepersschlaw@iburst.co.za

Steyn Coetzee Attorneys / ProkureursAdri de Bruyn11 Market Street / Markstraat 11, Paarl, 7646Tel: 021 872 1968Fax: 021 872 2678adri@steyncoetzee.co.za

Thinus DreyerCandidate AttorneyOffice: 011 326 0347Office Cell: 071 658 9438Cell: 082 471 3625Fax: 086 509 3548thinus@stokesattorneys.co.za

Thomson Wilks inc.Meet Thomson Wilks Meet ExcellenceTel 021 671 6935 / 021 820 4319 / 021 424 4599Cell 072 554 0935Fax 086 570 8741Website www.thomsonwilks.co.zaSuite 14, 3rd Floor, SunClare Building, Dreyer Street,Claremont, 7708The Chambers, 3rd Floor, 50 Keerom Street, Cape Town, 8001

Agiliti CCColleen Van Wyk(BCom, LLB)Tel: 083 290 0848Tel: 011 740 7374Fax: 086 716 9694Website: http://agiliti.co.za

CREDIT BUREAUS

Compuscan 0861 514 131www.compuscan.co.za

Experianwww.experian.co.zaConsumer- 0861 10 5665

TransUnion 0861 886 466www.transunion.co.za

XDS 0860 937 000 www.xds.co.za

Switch to easy

Gerhard Dyzel gerhard@dcpartner.co.za 082 828 7595 / 044 873 4532 (ext 110)

Yolandi Meyer pda25@dcpartner.co.za082 338 2680 / 012 348 7624

www.dcpartner.co.za

• Individual, dedicated business bank account per Debt Counsellor

• National Representation - regular office visits by skilled, trained agents

• 24 hour access to system, including distributions data - from any PC, cell phone or tablet with internet access

• Dedicated account managers for EACH Debt Counsellor