More than R2.5 trillion in outstanding personal debt owed by South Africans can be released to the local economy, according to the National Debt Counsellors’ Association (NDCA).
According to the organisation, which represents some of the debt counsellors operating in South Africa, around R70-R100 billion of this outstanding debt belonged to consumers who were in debt counselling, with an estimated R15bn currently being paid back annually.
NDCA chairperson Benay Sager said: “South Africa has a world-class debt-counselling system, which has been proven to work. It’s conceivable that if more people sought help to manage their debt, the R15bn being returned to the economy annually could be increased to R25bn,” Sager said.
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