Proposed Amendments to Affordability Assessment Regulations – What It Means for Our Industry

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has shared draft changes to the National Credit Regulations (Government Gazette No. 53154 of 13 August 2025). People are invited to share their comments until 13 September 2025. A main focus is Credit Bureau reporting & Regulation 23A, which covers how lenders check if a borrower can afford credit. This is closely connected to preventing reckless lending, an important issue in debt counseling.

The suggested changes will require lenders to take clear and proven steps when assessing if someone can afford a loan. These steps include:

• Checking and confirming a person’s total income and financial outlook.
• Looking at their discretionary income (the money left after basic expenses) and overall finances.
• Using a set of minimum expense guidelines based on income levels when determining affordability.
• For small businesses, asking for honest reports of their actual operating costs instead of relying on standard consumer expense rules.

These updates are meant to tackle a big problem in South Africa’s credit market: reckless lending. By making it harder to approve loans without proper income checks and standard expense calculations, the goal is to prevent consumers from taking on too much debt and to encourage responsible lending.

Additionally, the proposed rules would widen the role of credit bureaus in gathering and sharing consumer financial data. This will directly affect the debt review process. Many banks wrongly claim that only consumers who are “over-indebted” qualify for debt review. However, broader reporting will show that some consumers who are not yet over-indebted still face financial difficulties and are being placed under debt review.

This new reporting system will help track financial struggles early on, revealing patterns that could indicate risk of over-indebtedness soon. Such data can help consumers and lenders spot financial problems early, before they turn into a crisis, even if the consumers aren’t yet defaulting on loans.

It’s disappointing that some credit providers continue to claim on social media that debt review is a “last resort” with many downsides. The truth is, many consumers are struggling for months before facing real financial disaster. When used correctly, debt review can be a helpful way to prevent a total financial breakdown long before it happens.

Although DCASA was asked to comment on the proposed changes to the National Credit Act, we are disappointed that our submissions have not yet been seriously considered. Still, DCASA will not give up. We will keep pushing to get urgent attention on issues within the Act that remain unresolved and are very important for both the industry and consumers.

As debt counselors, consumers, and industry players, it’s important that we stay involved in this process. These proposed rules about affordability and reporting will influence how credit is offered, how consumers are protected, and how our industry functions overall. We encourage members to review the proposed changes and send in their feedback before 13 September 2025. Comments can be sent by email to credit@thedtic.gov.za, by mail to the Department’s Director General, or delivered in person to the DTIC offices in Pretoria.

Here is a link to the proposed regulations: https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202508/53154rg11867gon6510.pdf

Are you a Consumer facing financial difficulties, we urge you not to wait get in touch with a registered debt counsellor, who is also registered with an association, we have a widespread of members all over South Africa: https://www.dcasa.co.za/debt-counsellor-near-me/

Together, let’s work towards creating a more responsible, fair, and consumer-friendly credit industry.

• Vanessa Johst (Operations Manager of DCASA)