Almost one-third of the people in South Africa with credit are struggling to repay their debts. That’s 10-million people who are 3 months or more behind in debt repayments, or who are facing legal action and adverse listings, according to Credit Bureau Monitor data for September 2023. That’s 10-million out of the 27-million South Africans with credit.
Part of the increase is because more people have access to credit today than they did previously. In 2007, for example, 16.8-million people had credit and 6-million were behind with their repayments. That’s nearly 36%, marginally lower than today’s ratio of 37%.
Most of money owed is for mortgages and vehicle loans, as well as debt on credit and store cards. The Credit Monitor Bureau collects the data from credit providers, courts and utility service providers.