There is a report on News24 that magistrates are to be trained in “debt counselling on Sunday as part of efforts to clear up bottlenecks in the debt review system, the National Credit Regulator (NCR).”

The report goes on to quote Paul Slot, Octogen director and debt counsellor and member of the Debt Review Task Team, saying:

“….a methodology and standard is needed to guide the process. He cited the necessity for a rapport based on trust between parties involved in the debt review as crucial. ‘We need a methodology where the credit provider agrees with the review by the debt counsellor even before (it goes to) court,’ he said.

Slot said this was because courts need to hear the review as quickly as possible, especially if the credit provider terminates the debt review.

“That is a serious and massive problem in the review process – and there is one bank that is not helping us in this regard,” he said.

There have been huge delays, with many magistrates unwilling to take on any debt review cases because they are unclear about the procedure.

He said when cases do appear, they may be postponed numerous times which creates the need for greater court capacity.

“The quicker debt review cases can be dealt with in the magistrate’s court, the quicker over-indebted consumers can get back on their feet,” said Peter Setou, senior manager: education and strategy at the NCR.

He added that without the protection of the debt review process or the matter appearing in court, consumers face the risk of forfeiting assets to credit providers seeking to recover their debt.”

I agree with what Setou and Slot have said but I go back to my drum of “the poor drafting and the urgent need to amend the National Credit Act” . We are trying to create  systems and norms out the NCA that should have been laid out within the Act and Regulations. When will the National Credit Regulator and the Department of Trade and Industry publicly admit that their is an urgent need to this legislation to be over-hauled and take steps to create a legally capable committee to over see the process?