Ramaphosa signs National Credit Amendment Bill into law at the worst possible time
15 August 2019
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is dismayed that President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the deeply flawed and possibly unconstitutional National Credit Amendment Bill, drawn up by the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry (PCTI) in the fifth Parliament.
The Amendment Bill, will increase the cost of credit for low income earners, weaken the fight against illegal lenders and negatively disrupt the credit market while posing a financial risk to the state, when South African consumers are already under enormous financial strain.
This is why I petitioned the President in April 2019 to give due consideration to the very real issues related to this Act as well as it’s constitutionality.
To make matters worse, the State has no idea what cost to the economy and credit market will be and has been unable to clarify the cost implications for the state in implementing the Bill, including where the R100 million will come from to fund the National Credit Regulator and National Consumer Tribunal to fund their new mandates to process Debt Relief applications.