POLITICS

Adverse credit info on paid up judgments must be removed from April 1 - SACP

Party says this will free up households constrained by unscrupulous enlisting by credit bureaux

Removal of adverse credit information: A good story to tell

Starting 1 April 2014, all registered credit bureaux must remove adverse consumer credit information and information relating to paid up judgements. This is according to the ‘Removal of Adverse Consumer Information and Information Relating to Paid Up Judgements Regulations, 2014'. The regulations were gazetted in Government Notice, No. 37386 last Wednesday, 26 February 2014 by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Comrade Rob Davies.

The SACP congratulates our democratic government for making these regulations which we also welcome as the new fruit of the Party's Financial Sector Campaign. The campaign seeks to achieve an overhaul transformation of the financial sector to serve the people. It has been one of the strategic objectives in the campaign to achieve credit amnesty. True to our history, we have been in the forefront of this struggle.

Our other achievements through the Financial Sector Campaign include Mzansi Account, which opened to millions who were denied before access to banking; National Credit Act; and the National Credit Regulator.

As the SACP we are certain the removal of adverse consumer credit information and information relating to paid up judgements will go a long way in unlocking the socio-economic potential of many households that has either been constraint or completely inhibited by unscrupulous enlisting by credit bureaux. This stands to help address many problems, such as access to housing for instance, which many who would otherwise have been eligible for home loans were denied access because of the adverse credit information and information on paid up judgements held and used against them by credit bureaux and financial services providers.  

As the SACP we will deepen our Financial Sector Campaign to achieve more, including the struggle to address the problem of compounded interest rates which make the cost of housing prohibitively exorbitant. The cost of these interest rates in many instances is more than the cost of a single home. 

Statement issued by the SACP, March 4 2014

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter