Civil judgments for debt non-payment has spiked: StatsSA

Data released by Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) shows that the total number of civil judgments recorded for debt increased by 7.4 percent in the three months ended February 2022 compared with the same period in 2021.

The figures further indicate that the total value of civil judgments recorded for debt increased by 13.3 percent in the three months ended February compared to the same time last year.

Head of Debtbusters, Benay Sager says a rise in civil judgement for debt is an indication that credit providers are increasingly taking action against non-paying borrowers.

Sager says, “Incomes really haven’t changed over the last three years and if you think about the pressures consumers are under. There is inflation, particularly when it comes to food and electricity, there’s interest rates that have gone up which generally impacts middle to higher income earners.”

“All of those are putting more pressure on the consumer in terms of their need to borrow, and as a result they borrow, and as a result they are tapping much more into their credit cards, tapping much more into personal loans,” says Sager.

Rising cost of living for South Africans: