JOHANNESBURG - With the economy under pressure, South African households have less money to spend and, in turning to credit to get by, there has been a spike in debt management enquiries at debt counsellors.
In the SA Reserve Bank’s quarterly bulletin released this week, Ian Wason, the chief executive of Intelligent Debt Management (IDM), says: “We’ve seen an increased trend of consumers, who already have an average of seven credit agreements (with more than half being unsecured debt), seeking a consolidation solution so that they can free cash to keep up with increased living expenses. Both debt counselling entities in the IDM group - DebtBusters and Consumer Debt Help - are assisting more consumers with large pay-day and personal loans who are now having difficulty to make ends meet. September this year has seen an unusual spike in debt management enquiries - up to 20% more than last year this time .”