• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home Lifestyle

Debt counselling enquiries grew by more than 32%: DebtBusters

1 May 2022, 1:45 PM  |
Naledi Ngcobo Naledi Ngcobo |  @SABCNews
A table with coins and calculator depicting financial strain

A table with coins and calculator depicting financial strain

Image: Pixabay

A table with coins and calculator depicting financial strain

South Africa’s working population is under financial pressure due to a rise in monthly expenses compounded by a weak economy, rising inflation and interest rates.   

This is according to a Cape Town-based debt Review Company. 

Their research shows that while food inflation and transport costs continue to rise, wages remain flat, forcing consumers to take on a lot more unsecured debt.  

Experts say the financial pressure workers suffer is taking a toll on their overall mental wellbeing.  

According to DebtBusters, evidence of the financial pressure workers are experiencing can be seen in the increase in the number of debt counselling enquiries. The company’s Debt Index shows that debt counselling enquiries grew by more than 32% in January 2022 compared to January 2021.   

Chief Operating Officer at Debt Busters, Benay Sager, says, “Incomes really haven’t changed over the last three years and if you think about the pressures consumers are under … there’s 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 their tapping much more into their credit cards, tapping much more into personal loans.” 

Annaline van der Poel, Business Manager at Debt Rescue, says debt counselling is the most effective way of elevating the financial stress that indebted workers suffer. 

“It cannot be overstated how important a factor a person’s finances are in the bigger picture of their life. It’s significant and it really carries a lot of weight on your mental health. So, if you’re constantly having to be worried about ‘I don’t know if I can pay my bills’? ‘how am I gonna pay my rent?’; ‘how am I going to buy food for my kids?’; ‘how am I going to pay school fees?’, and so forth, especially if you start being hounded by collectors, who are calling all hours of the day, while you’re at work, etc. the impact is enormous. And knowing that with the debt counselling, it’s a legal process, it’s binding, everybody respects the process and knows that it’s a sustainable solution.” 

A 2020 study by the University of Cape Town into emerging literature on debt and mental health shows that being highly indebted is stressful and it leads to psychological problems.  

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.

Rising cost of living for South Africans:

Share article
Previous Post

VIDEO: Cosatu’s Workers’ Day celebrations at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium

Next Post

Working conditions for ordinary South Africans have worsened: Vavi

Related Posts

Models present creations at the Gucci Fall/Winter 2023/2024 menswear show in Milan, Italy January 13, 2023.

Gucci names De Sarno as creative director with the task of reviving the brand

28 January 2023, 10:01 PM
Cast member Andrea Riseborough arrives at the premiere for 'Matilda the Musical' in London, Britain, November 21, 2022.

Film academy reviewing Oscar campaigns after surprise nomination

28 January 2023, 5:05 PM
[File photo] A Gucci sign is seen outside a shop in Paris, France, January 27, 2023.

Kering appoints De Sarno as Gucci creative director

28 January 2023, 1:09 PM
FILE PHOTO: Institute of Political Studies (IEP) or "Sciences Po" main entrance at the Institute in Paris, France, May 28, 2013. Picture taken May 28, 2013. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo

Top French university bans use of ChatGPT to prevent plagiarism

27 January 2023, 9:22 PM

VIDEO | 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day celebrates its 9th anniversary

27 January 2023, 6:40 PM
Hands sign language circle 'I love you'.

Sign language closer to becoming SA’s 12th official language

27 January 2023, 6:04 PM
Next Post
South African Federation of Trade Unions' General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.

Working conditions for ordinary South Africans have worsened: Vavi

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Scorcher predicted in Northern Cape for two weeks
  • Gas leak shut, isolated in Pretoria North
  • Limpopo man arrested after discovery of his wife’s body in water-filled pit toilet
  • Residents shut down Komani over power woes
  • ANC slams DA’s march to Luthuli House
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • VIDEO | St Benedict College’s Matric learner gets 11 distinctions
  • Limpopo matriculant from child-headed household attains diploma pass
  • Female circumcision practice thriving in Eastern Cape
  • Premier denies claims that KZN government spent millions on Mampintsha’s funeral
  • Gas leak shut, isolated in Pretoria North
  • Limpopo man arrested after discovery of his wife’s body in water-filled pit toilet
  • EFF cuts ties with IFP in KwaZulu-Natal
  • KZN Shark Board bans bathing at beaches amid cyclone Cheneso
  • Stolen cars recovered near Mozambican border

LATEST

  • Politics

VIDEO: ANC NEC Lekgotla | Resolving the energy crisis is ANC’s immediate challenge – Ramaphosa


File image: Water being poured into a bucket.
  • Sci-tech

Water supply reduced as Joburg Water experiences power interruption


Nakia, Daniel 5, Darius 11 and Devonte 8 take part in a protest after the release of the body cam footage showing police officers beating Tyre Nichols, who then died three days later after he was pulled over while driving during a traffic stop by Memphis police officers, in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, US, January 28, 2023.
  • World

Memphis disbands police unit after fatal beating


File image: Small communities, environmental groups and civil society are opposing Shell's plans to explore on the coast off the Eastern Cape.
  • Sci-tech

Russia’s polar seismic vessel docks in Cape Town despite protests


Minister of Police Bheki Cele
  • South Africa

Cele reacts to arrest of police mom charged with of rape of her child


Workers harvest sugarcane in a field.
  • Business

Rolling blackouts could cost cane farmers millions


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2022

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous VIDEO: Cosatu’s Workers’ Day celebrations at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium
Next Working conditions for ordinary South Africans have worsened: Vavi