Debtfree DIGI March 2012

Debtfree South Africa’s debt counselling magazine

Payment Distrubution Agencies March 2012 www.debtfreedigi.co.za

Debt Wise Solutions

Debt review and distribution software.

Proud Software provider to DC Partner, Payment Distribution Agency.

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CONTENTS 03

Editors notes

05

News

10

PDA’s

20

Consumer Petition

21

To PDA or not to PDA

24

PDASA

26

Letter from a reader

30

NPDA

35

The Consumer Protection Act

36

Letter to the industry

39

Service Directory

EDITOR As summer turns it’s tail and thousands of sweaty Argus cycle tour riders limp back to work, we really find ourselves deep into 2012.

If you are now still writing ‘2011’ in the date section on forms, then you really haven’t been paying attention.

March has generally been a good month for Debt Counsellors, with the launch not only of DCASA’s online forum but also a website revamp which makes navigating the useful info on the site so much easier. Consumers on the other hand have had a bit of a rough ride this month. With the petrol price going up, we

can soon expect to see the cost of everything else increase, placing more pressure on already stretched purses. 86(10) letters continue to pour out of computers at the banks and stress for consumers and Debt Counsellors follows hot on their heels. This termination frenzy has become such a focus in the industry, that consumer petitions have been started and group complaints by associations initiated.

Even the Banks are feeling the pinch in 2012.

Standard Bank is said to be retrenching over 1000 employees in weeks to come. One wonders if they will be stripping their debt review departments down and replacing staff with machines that auto print 86(10)s ? Let’s hope not.

This months magazine focuses in on the money side of the industry, namely the Payment Distribution Agencies. We take a look at each of them and what it is they do. Some people love ‘em and others... not so much. We hope this issue gives you a balanced look at what PDA’s can and cant do for you.

Whether you use a PDA or not, we hope that this month sees you one step closer to financial freedom and that beautiful debt free holiday you deserve!

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INDUSTRY

CONSUMER

NEWS FLASH For daily debt counselling news visit www.debtfreedigi.co.za Alliance of Professional Debt Counsellors now recognised by the NCR This month saw the Alliance of Professional Debt Counsellors (All Pro DC)- a representative body for Debt Counsellors -being officially recognised by the National Credit Regulator (NCR). All Pro DC members assist troubled consumers country wide and you can find help at www.allprodc.org For more information email info@allprodc.org

DCASA update website & launch online forum March saw the Debt Counselling Association of South Africa update the look and feel of their website www.dcasa.co.za. The site is now much more user friendly. DCASA have also launched an online forum - which is open to the public - the forum discusses all things debt review related. To visit the forum: http://www. dcasa.co.za/forum/

CPE Change Banking details If you are a consumer under debt review and your funds are being distributed via Consumer Protection Excellence (CPE) Payment Distribution Agency then be aware that they have changed their banking details as of the 1st of March 2012.

CPE have sent out SMS and email messages to all clients informing them of the new bank account and have provided Debt Counsellors

with a short confirmation letter from Standard Bank in this regard. CPE are in the process of changing all clients over to stop orders in order to minimize the amount of unallocated funds occurring from incorrect reference numbers used by clients when making cash payments.

They have asked Debt Counsellors if possible to start assisting their clients in changing over to stop orders to their new account number during the change over period.

Trouble at the NCR We all know that the National Credit Regulator (NCR) has taken a knock with all the investigations into ‌irregularities recently.

The past while saw Gabriel Davel former NCR CEO suddenly leaving and then Peter Setou soon under investigation. Now it seems that Sivo Pather, the Chief Financial Officer at the National Credit Regulator has got himself into trouble. He has now also joined the list of suspended NCR staff. The suspension follows shortly after NCR board chairman Trevor Bailey called in Ernst & Young (E&Y) auditors to investigate staff complaints about tender irregularities. Sivo has been accused (by his own staff) of unilaterally changing the terms of an IT contract and going contrary to the instructions of the NCR board. Apparently Sivo was authorised by the board to renew a tender

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NEWS CONT. with Praxis (an IT company ) for one year (Valued at R1.6-mil) but Sivo supposedly just went ahead and extended the contract to four years (with a value then of R4.6-million) instead.

To make things more juicy, the owner of Praxis is Yugasen Naidoo, who is Sivo’s wife’s cousin.

Sivo has now been suspended along with his nephew, Denver Naidoo, who originally joined the NCR as an IT officer and is now head of that department. Some of the staff in Sivo’s department are saying that when Sivo was told he was suspended he supposedly came into the office and threatened them, saying he would “deal with them” if they sold him out to the investigators. Maybe he did not realise who had made the allegations and asked for the investigation in the first place.

Besides nepotism there are other allegations that have been made about abuse of company resources. Supposedly Sivo has been accused of taking his extended family (of 20 or more) on a holiday to Spain at the NCR’s expense.

Ahhh family holidays...

That is not the end of the family connections it seems. It could be that Khesini Pillay the NCR’s management accountant is also a relative of Sivo’s…although that has to be confirmed – but allegations have been made and are now being investigated. It is hard to find out since Khesini is now also on suspension.

The offices must be quite quiet with all these suspensions or maybe they are busy with all these auditors and investigators walking around. Either way this can only inhibit the NCRs capacity at the moment.

How could someone get away with behavior like that (if it is true), you ask. Well, sadly some NCR employees have spoken to E & Y and accused Nomsa Motshegare (acting NCR CEO) of protecting him though they brought

complaints to her. The NCR are saying that no further information can be released till further investigations have been made. Who knows, maybe they will issue Sivo with a compliance notice?

National Credit Tribunal (NCT) presentation in Cape Town March 2012 Members of the National Credit Tribunal (NCT) team made their way to Cape Town during March to not only hear a matter regarding a statement entry dispute between one of the Big banks and a consumer but also to present information to Debt Counsellors and consumers. The presentation was made in Cape Town CBD on Monday 12th March. Attendance was poor. Though many Debt Counsellors had RSVP’d sadly only a third of those who said they would attend actually bothered to show up. When the same presentation was recently made in Pretoria there were 33 Debt Counsellors in attendance. If you would like to know more about the NCT or would like to download application forms to have matters heard by them then head over to their website at: www.thenct.org.za

March has a theme March is international Consumer Rights Month and the 15th of March is known as World Consumer Rights Day. Maybe you didn’t notice. The National Credit Regulator (NCR) has urged consumers to be aware of their rights when it comes to their credit agreements.

“It is your money and therefore, it is your right as a consumer to have full knowledge of all credit agreements you enter into,” says Education & Communications Manager at the

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NEWS CONT. NCR, Cornie Tema. Under the National Credit Act, consumers have the right to receive information and documents in plain, simple language. “This means that the content, meaning and importance of the documents must be easy to understand.

provider representative body - has, in the past, been accused of being set up by credit providers, such as the Banking Association of South Africa, to divert consumers away from debt review. Comments like this seem to lend credence to such speculation. It is hoped that with industry co-operation from creditors the cost and length of debt review applications New Western Cape All Pro DC committee will reduce. The NDMA can help consumers DC’s in the Western Cape met in Parow during try to make arrangements with their creditors March to choose a committee to organise and are currently helping many debt review activity in the Cape. 3 members were chosen consumers and Debt Counsellors resolve issues (as Chair person, Dept. Chair and Secretary). with creditors. www.ndma.org.za This follows after similar appointments were recently made in PE and Pretoria.

Nedbank to meet with Gauteng Debt Counsellors on 26th March 2012 Nedbank are hosting a meeting in Gauteng at their venue in Muldersdrift, on 26th March 2012. Two sessions have been scheduled: First session: 10h00 – 12h00, Second session: 13h00 – 15h00. This invitation is open to all registered Debt Counsellors. For more info please contact gerald@ggr.co.za

NDMA CEO makes seemingly disparaging comments about Debt Review NDMA CEO, Mz. Magauta, has recently made seemingly disparaging comments about the debt review process and who should make use of it, such as: “The debt counselling process can give relief in extreme cases of overindebtedness, but it is not meant for everyone and can be expensive and time-consuming.

We’d like to see consumers being offered alternative self-help and voluntary options that are more affordable.” The NDMA - a credit

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INDUSTRY

CONSUMER

PAYMENT DISTRIBUTION AGENCIES “What have you done with my money?”

This is a question Debt Counsellors hate to hear.

Why?... Mainly, because Debt Counsellors do not ever handle a consumers money. Yes, they help consumers budget their money. Yes, they help make proposals to creditors about money.

They then take those proposals and responses and make a recommendation to Magistrates who actually restructure consumer’s debts.

However they don’t touch consumers money.* If someone is handling money there is always the possibility that something can go wrong.

I am sure you have heard horror stories of people running away with consumer’s money. Debt Counsellors want to isolate and protect themselves from that danger (and temptation). Thus most DC’s make use of a Payment Distribution Agency to handle the money side of things for consumers. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that DC’s use software that links to Payment Distribution Agencies and helps them make proposals and arrangements regarding consumers payments however it is the consumers themselves who make use of a PDA to distribute their money.

The National Credit Regulator (NCR) has so far accredited and appointed 5 different Payment Distribution Agencies to assist consumers in making payments to their creditors as well as to their Debt Counsellors. At the moment four PDA’s are actively trading namely: CPE, DC Partner, Hyphen and NPDA. African Bank PDA, which was operational in the past, recently decided to close shop showing that running a PDA is not the same as “printing money”.

When a person enters debt review they are not taking a payment holiday or running away from their debt obligations rather they are making arrangements to regularly pay creditors a new reduced set amount each month. Through PDA’s consumers can make just one payment (which makes a consumers life so much easier) to the PDA and then sit back and let the PDA else worry about paying all their separate accounts.

It is not far fetched to see consumers with over 20 different accounts they need to pay toward each month. As you can imagine just running around arranging to make 20 payments can be stressful and time consuming. How easy it *Some Debt Counsellors do actually handle consumers would be for one payment to slip through the cracks and be missed. funds. However the NCR do not recommend this.

Debt review is all about consumers regularly repaying their debt obligations to creditors but who keeps a track of all those payments and account balances? After all, debt review can last several years. This is a HUGE issue as credit providers, strange as it may seem , often do not allocate funds they receive and sometimes have no idea of who is paying them. Sometimes money can sit in holding accounts for months or even years before been allocated to the correct accounts. Since some bad creditors stop sending consumers statements when they enter debt review consumers can’t see if funds are being correctly allocated. (This is often true even when using a PDA) Another issue is tracking account interest and payments to determine when the debt is actually paid up. Surely the Credit Provider will be able to figure this out you say. Well, sadly not always. As consumers go to court and obtain a Court Order which restructures their debt, the original rates and figures need to be changed on the Creditors side. Despite the fact that the Major banks are huge multi billion Rand corporations with software which tracks money, interest and payments, it has become evident in the past few years that they are often unable (or perhaps unwilling) to make adjustments on their computers to reflect the new arrangements. This results in huge differences between what the figures should be and what the banks computers say they are.

For example: Mr. Consumer has an account with x Bank for R100 which he is paying off at R10 per month. The account has an interest rate of 25%.

After negotiation with the DC x Bank agrees to reduce Mr. Consumers repayment amount to R5 a month instead of R10. They also agree to reduce the interest portion to: 10% (- thanks guys that was nice of you) So Mr. Consumer begins to pay R5 each month. However even though x Bank have agreed to the change strangely they don’t or can’t change their computers records regarding the interest rate.

Months go by during which time Mr. Consumer gets a court order showing that he must now only pay R5 at 10%. The Order is sent to x Bank but gets lost in the works or simply filed somewhere. x Bank because of their inability to change other parts of their computer program don’t even send Mr. Consumer a statement each month. He does however gets a monthly report from their PDA which shows how much money should still be owing on each of his accounts.

Finally the time comes when the debt will soon be paid off. The PDA report shows that only R5 remains to be paid. Yay!

Naturally Mr. Consumer gets happy and calls the bank to check on the figure. Now he gets a huge surprise (and not the good type) X Bank tells him he now owes R120 How can this be?

Well x Bank’s computers have still been adding 25% interest each month (instead of the agreed 10%) and showing Mr. Consumer is short paying by R5 each month.

What now?

Well, here is where the use of a PDA really comes into it’s own. If Mr. Consumer had been paying the bank directly himself and maybe sometimes keeping the slips... sometimes not, then how could he prove what had been paid? Could he use a calculator and work out the compound interest over all the months in between?

That can be real tricky. However with the assistance of the PDA (and normally the DC as well) Mr. Consumer can ask the bank to review its record and calculations.

If they get funny about it he can even ask the NDMA or NCT to get involved.

Creditors: ‘The credit providers have agreed to carry the costs of distribution at a set fee per amount being distributed. Consumers will not have to carry any costs of distribution.’ But ...that did not ever work out. Obviously the NCR spoke too soon and the Creditors were not prepared to pay to recover their debt. Maybe it was just to complicated for their computers to work out. (Debt Review is, by the way, the largest free collection service that creditors have access to in SA) Then the fees changed so that the consumer (rather than the creditors) would now have to cover the amounts as set out in NCR Circular #6. This went on for a while and recently there has been a new change to a flat rate of 3% of the monthly amount repaid by the consumer going to the PDA. There is a minimum of R50 and a maximum of R500 built into that 3%.

Normally a consumer will pay 5% of their monthly debt repayment to the DC and 3 % to the PDA. 8% is in fact much cheaper than charges for Administration which can add up to over 20% of the monthly repayment amount.

There has been conflict in regard to this fee structure as while it seems to benefits Do the PDA’s help consumers out of the love consumers at first later in the process- as they of their hearts? No, they are businesses and have less accounts left to pay - it then seems to they do charge fees. These fees have changed prejudice them. The subject is being discussed over the years. Originally the NCR published a and further PDA fee structure changes loom. circular (NCR DEBT COUNSELLING CIRCULAR No. 6 OF 2008) which said that the fees for such transactions would be covered by the

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NEXT: To PDA or not to PDA

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Consumer Petition We, the undersigned, debt counsellors and consumers, call upon all Financial Institutions to stop trying to undermine, demoralize, challenge and break the debt review process.

On behalf of our consumers, consumers who have been affected and consumers who believe in their rights and the rights of others, we ask that you stop with your intimidation, harassment and bullying tactics.

To stop with illegal termination tactics, to stop visiting consumers at their homes while you try to install fear that their debt counsellors have not done their job correctly. This being done while you try and force them to sign an AOD

and get them out of the debt review process.

To stop deceiving consumers by informing them that their debt counsellors are stealing money, that the debt review process is not working and that the consumers are incurring further debt pertaining to your interest charges.

To stop misleading consumers by pretending that you are allowed to offer a debt counselling service. Stop worsening any past, present or future consumers situation by misrepresenting the truth.

We insist that you start to act in Good Faith both towards the debt counsellors and all concerned consumers.

TO SIGN UP http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sign-2-Unite/327470733965318 http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-banks-acting-in-bad-faith.html http://www.facebook.com/pages/theDCI/218268998238689

theDCI invites all Debt Counsellors, Debt Counselling associations and consumers under debt review to sign the petition. This petition is also for consumers who are not in debt review but who believe in rights of people that are in debt review. Any consumer who believes in this petition can sign and help us make a difference.

INDUSTRY

CONSUMER

TO PDA OR NOT TO PDA IS IT EVEN A QUESTION? Read the National Credit Act closely and you won’t find the term Payment Distribution Agency anywhere. It is unsure what the legislators had in mind when it came to paying debts but perhaps they thought they could not dictate to consumers how to pay their debts while under debt review. Maybe they thought consumers would pay their debts directly to creditors exactly as they had before entering debt review...who knows? However the National Credit Regulator has, for many years now, advocated the use of PDA’s.

handle their debt repayments, it is clear that both DC’s and consumers are in two minds about the subject.

The NCR continues to encourage Debt Counsellors to use PDA’s. The reasons seem obvious. It is much easier for the NCR to regulate a small number of PDA’s than thousands of individual consumers. They can monitor them for fraud as well as gather statistics from them.

Of course, there is also the possible interest portion which could go to the NCR’s coffers.

Extra funds which could then be used to Some Debt Counsellors willing make use of the supplement government funding allowing the services of a PDA and see incredible benefit in NCR to do more consumer education etc. not only the software that the PDA’s provide (which helps draft proposals to creditors) but The recent conflict regarding the industry code also the convenience of not having to handle of conduct for debt counsellors is about more consumers money. Handling someone else’s than which association a DC belongs to. After money is a weighty thing. One which makes all most industries have a code of conduct. most people nervous. So PDA’s provide peace Many DC’s object to the proposed code that of mind as well. the NCR sent out dictating the use of a PDA .

Other Debt Counsellors see PDA’s as a pet project of Gabriel Davel , former CEO of the NCR. They are not happy to see interest generated on consumers funds, held in the PDA’s account before they are distributed, slated to go to the NCR rather than to the consumer.

With only around half the consumers under debt review currently making use of a PDA to

Code of Conduct - Debt Counsellors Contentious points for some 2.1.16 Use the PDA’s accredited by the NCR 2.2.1 Adopt and implement... PDA payment Plan Summary...

2.3.6 load the repayment plan with a PDA...

The NCR has recently started to include the use of a PDA into the terms and conditions for new DC’s. The NCR is even incentivizing DC’s to sign the code by sending out new stickers to those who do. They have said they will indicate whether a DC has signed the code on their website database. The implication has been that the NCR would not recommend a DC who has not signed the Code of conduct to consumers.

However with many DC’s complaining that they never get recommended by the NCR anyway and the unreliability and inaccuracy of the NCR’s Debt Counsellor online database this seems an empty threat. If true though, some ask: would such a course of action be contrary to the Competition Act...maybe?

Some DC’s, who have been around for a long time now, face a renewal of their terms and conditions of registration. When they first became Debt Counsellors they were not required to make use of a PDA. It could be that their previous Terms and Conditions merely said that they - the debt counsellor - had to make use of a PDA and did not mention anything about consumers using one. Though the NCR has tried to pressure these DC’s to agree to use a PDA - and many have been happy to do so, due to the benefits - some DC’s have gone to the National Credit Tribunal to argue the point...and have reportedly won the right to choose whether to or not.

Several versions of the conditions of registration now exist and the wording of some versions can be a bit vague. The questions is: can the NCR (or DC), under the authority of the NCA, compel a consumer who is not regulated by the NCR (over whom they have no authority) to make use of any particular service provider

or method of payment or might they then be in contradiction of the precepts of the Consumer Protection Act (and maybe even the Competition Act). After all, it is the consumer who makes use of a PDA each month to distribute funds. (Other functions are used by Debt Counsellors eg. proposals and reporting functions)

Conditions on the Registration as a Debt Counsellor in terms of Section 44 of the National Credit Act no 34 of 2005 While older conditions of registration don’t mention use of a PDA some newer versions may say something like this: B. Specific Conditions: 1. The Debt Counsellor may not receive payments from consumers in respect of debt obligations that were re-arranged in terms of the Act or distribute such payments to credit providers. All payments from consumers in respect of debt obligations and/or debt counsellor fees must be received and distributed to the respective parties by a Payment Distribution Agency approved by the National Credit Regulator.

The Specific conditions are imposed for the following reasons: 1. To prevent a Debt Counsellor from being involved in payment distribution if such a Debt Counsellor does not have adequate staff, infrastructure, systems or procedures in order to safeguard the funds, efficiently distribute funds or account for such funds.

In this example, the specific reasons given seem to indicate that if a DC did have enough staff and infrastructure etc. they could approach the NCT to allow them to act in this capacity.

The CPA: A DC can suggest to their consumers that they use a PDA [ service provider] and they can show the benefits thereof. They can even say which PDA they would like the consumer to use and give all the reasons therefore but they need to allow consumers the right to choose a service provider or to even not make use of one.

Some DC’s are encouraging their clients to make use of the services of attorneys with accredited trust funds to distribute payments to credit providers. They claim they are dissatisfied with the services offered by PDA’s. Others suggest If we go even further down the “rabbit hole” that consumers pay their creditors directly. there are deeper issues relating to what fees can be charged as per the NCA and the legality What is of particular concern is where a DC is of any institution publishing fee guidelines accepting funds from a consumer and then etc. Do the PDA fee structures need to be charging them to distribute those same funds. revisited as they may prejudice consumers in Some DC’s have been called to book by the the long term? Can the NCR or a DC dictate to NCT for charging consumers 10% of their consumers as to how they must distribute their monthly debt repayment as a ‘handling fee’. own money to their own creditors? Can a Debt Some naughty DC’s were charging a total of Counsellor tell consumers they must make use 18% of the consumers distribution monthly of a particular PDA? toward various fees. (At present the PDA’s only charge around 3% with a built in cap).

Ask five different DC’s and you will get 6 different answers. Surely these are questions There are even horror stories about DC’s taking that only time and a few court cases will sort consumers funds, not doing the work and out. Ahh... to PDA or not to PDA? That is the even running away with the money. The value question. of PDA’s then seems clear. However PDA’s are not totally immune to this threat either . One PDA caught out an unscrupulous staff member who is now serving a 15 year jail sentence for stealing funds from consumers. The PDA decided to carry the cost of the lost funds even though for complicated reasons their cover refused to pay out. This selfless act obviously greatly assisted the consumers but the theft has caused a lot of complications with regard to their matters.

CONSUMERS, DEBT COUNSELLORS AND CREDIT PROVIDERS BENEFIT FROM ACCREDITED PAYMENT DISTRIBUTION AGENTS Recent media attention has thrown the debt counselling industry back into poor light.

But accredited Payment Distribution Agents say they’re working within the system to the benefit of consumers, debt counsellors and credit providers.

The National Credit Regulator (NCR) currently has four accredited Payment Distribution Agents through the Payment Distribution Agent Association of SA, PDASA. Accusations that accrued interest is being misappropriated by these agents have resulted in PDASA welcoming any investigation by government into the industry.

PDASA spokesperson, Abrie Duvenage says any interest accrued by funds within the distribution system are held on behalf of the NCR, and declared to them on a monthly basis.

Stringent service level agreements between accredited agents and the NCR don’t allow agents entitlement to any interest on their trust accounts. Agents derive their revenue from a regulated fee structure as stipulated by the NCR.

“All accredited and approved NCR Payment Distribution Agents were awarded their licences following a vigorous tender process by which systems, business processes and other capabilities were tested,” says Duvenage.

“All Payment Distribution Agents adhere to the industry code of conduct and our mandate is to collect funds from consumers in order to pay these to their creditors based on a revised payment plan as calculated by the Debt Counsellor.”

The accreditation of Payment Distribution Agents whose systems are tested prior to approval, have the ability to receive plans from Debt Counsellors, store these plans for the duration of the Debt Review, validate all the referencing according to the Bank’s Rules of Validation, collect funds by means of Debit Orders and Naedo, or receive deposits albeit Cash, EFT’s and Stop Orders, pay Creditors under the defined reference rules, report to Debt Counsellors, Consumers ,Credit Providers, The National Credit Regulator as well as rendering full Call Centre facilities to all stakeholders.

Registration conditions of the NCR accredited Debt Counsellors now specify the use of accredited Payment Distribution Agents as part of the Debt Counsellor’s conditions of registration. A previous court case (NCR vs.

DMSA, Gyor Pols) ruled that the National Credit Regulator has the power to appoint a Payment Distribution Agent.

Payment Distribution Agents currently collect funds for more than 65 000 debt review consumers on a monthly basis, distributing in excess of R230m a month to more than 3 000 credit providers. They are required to report monthly to the NCR, creditors, debt counsellors and consumers, while adhering to Reserve Bank regulations pertaining to third party payment agents and system vendors.

“The protection of Consumer Trust Funds is a highly regulated environment supported by means of comprehensive Fidelity Insurance in order to protect consumers,” says Duvenage.

“Streamlined processes and the convenience of a single payment to all creditors, along with stringent reporting requirements to the NCR, are major benefits of accredited Payment Distribution Agents. We work for the benefit of consumers, Debt Counsellors and Credit providers and will continue to provide the debt review fraternity with an effective and secure collections and payments mechanism”.

For more information please contact The Payment Distribution Agent Association (PDASA) on 012 674 1055 or email info@pdasa. org.za

Speak to us for effective, affordable & ethical Legal Services! Our Managing Director, Nicky Campbell, is an expert in Consumer and Credit Law, having co-authored “The Credit Guide” (Juta) and “A Guide to the National Credit Act” (Lexis Nexis).

Our Services include: • Consumer/Credit Law • Credit Record Rehabiliation • Contracts • Debt Collection • Debt Settlement Negotiations • General High Court and Magistrate Court Litigation • Trusts • Labour Law • Intellectual Property CONTACT info@legalrights.co.za, telephone (011) 367-0695, mobile 074-112-0076 or submit your query online at www.legalrights.co.za

LETTER FROM A READER The use of a PDA does not mean that a Debt Counsellor and consumers will have a problem free existence when it comes to making payments to creditors. We asked one Debt Counsellor to tell us about her experiences. She has made use of almost all the different PDA’s over the years.

Dear Debtfree

Fortunately Dave from DCM helped to rebuild my database, which took several days. I had to wait for a disc to reload my data, which was send to me via speed post.

Over the past few years, I have made use of several Payment Distribution Agencies. I was registered in Aug 2007 and my conditions do not mention anything about PDA’s but I have Original program had many flaws. for example made use of several now. it allowed the first month’s payment period to be different from the normal proposal, First I made use of NPDA (from Sept 2007 to allowing settlement of small outstanding April 2008) amounts. However these payments were Here were the problems i had: never done, thereby leaving you with a small Care - their Original Program caused several account not being settled and not being part serious problems . They had no backup in of the proposal. place for the software and the PDA itself did not have a separate backup for each DC. When Every time you made an alteration to the my computer crashed in February 2008 I proposal you had to run a new scenario. Some had no means to make a backup of my data. of my clients had more than 10 scenarios

in a very short time period, leading to total confusion, and these were sometimes used as an excuse as to why the payments were not distributed as per the intention of the Debt Counsellor.

I was therefore forced to do reconciliation on each of my clients and found, to my shock, that some distributions were totally incorrect. e.g. I had a client with a vehicle account and several other accounts of which Edgars was one. I found that one month, Edgars received the whole distribution and none of his other creditors received any payment including the Vehicle Account.

The program was also designed to allocate a higher installment to the creditors with the highest interest rate leaving Home bond accounts with little money. This created another problem: When creditors reduced the interest rate on counter proposals and this was adjusted on the program the installment also reduces, sending more money to the higher interest rate creditors - therefore changing the proposal again even the accepted installment of the creditor who reduced the interest rate.

Back in 2007/2008 we had to wait weeks for distribution reports

Although clients and creditors informed us and CPE that payments were not reflecting, CPE refused to admit there was a problem.

CPE blamed the creditors for not allocating the monies and changing the procedure ongoing.

Yet we had the same problem with small individual creditors as well. Something was wrong - the DC just did not know what or how to prove this. After many complains CPE told me to inform my clients that they would meet with them in Nelspruit and bring a full report and proof of payments to reassure them that their payments were being distributed. On 6 April 2009 two ladies came all the way from Potchefstroom to Nelspruit - My optimism was short lived however they brought the WRONG FILE. The info they brought belonged to another DC. So, the problem continued and again I had to move my clients to African Bank PDA. Proof of payments from CPE for the period NOV 2008 - FEB 2009 is an ongoing problem.

All DC should take note and request proof of payment for all their clients over this time period - I am still busy with this task and find to my horror that most of my clients payments were never done and are only done WHEN you ask proof of payment. Resulting in payments for Nov 2008 being done Dec 2011.

OK, we all know what happened to our clients Next was CPE from APRIL 2008 - MARCH 2009 money and the issues they had. The problem I must say the Debtpro system worked well is however that according to CPE they have and was user friendly. The big problem was corrected this. Unfortunately I personally with payments. found in many cases the money has still not been paid over to the creditors.

Next I moved my clients over to African Bank PDA (March 2009 - July 2011) The problem with African Bank is that they never had software or a program, resulting in manual spreadsheets where human errors came in on a regular basis. They were all very friendly and helpful but these errors made it impossible to continue using them as a PDA. The biggest problem is however that I have never received any actual Proof of Payment. Only distribution reports were sent out. African Bank PDA did however resolve any problems directly with a creditor when needed. There were some irritating problems due to the need for manual input. With two of my clients the incorrect creditors were loaded (e.g.: Capital Data instead of Capitec Bank). I am still struggling to rectify this. The PDA are still requesting a refund for the incorrect payment to then pay the correct creditor instead of taking responsibility and just paying the correct creditor in the mean time while they resolve the matter.

Another pivotal issue was that yearly escalation in the consumer’s payments were not activated, resulting in the creditors not receiving the correct installment after the first year. When we mentioned this we were requested to forward court orders to them. To my shock they reloaded payments to again start at period 1. African Bank PDA did not last though and I had to once again make a move to another PDA. This time to DC Partner. In Fact, even before African Bank informed us of their closure - From the end of 2010 onward I started to load new clients onto DC Partner’s system.

DC Partner All i can say is no real problems... yet. I only have bit of a problem when clients cannot pay the total installment in one go and make an additional payment a week later. They seem to have a problem to add the two payments together and keep on reflecting these payments as a default payments otherwise I enjoy using their program and there is no problem with the payments, proof of payments or reports.

I can only hope I will not have to make another move in the future as it is very stressful and causes complications for consumers.

Michelle

Debt Counselling Administration a nightmare?

We can help Consumer Assist Support Services is a unique service to accredited debt counsellors, which includes:  Legal administration, including attorney payment administration  Automated communication to debt counsellor and client  Full view of client interaction on web-based system  Informative work sessions for debt counsellors For more information, call us on 0861 628 628 or visit www.consumerassist.co.za.

Consumer Assist is a member of the DCM Group

NPDA A Secure, reliable and efficient PDA service.

That is what they offer at the National Payment Distribution Agency During 2007, the National Payment Distribution Agency (NPDA) became the first Payment Distribution Agency (PDA) to be accredited and approved by the National Credit Regulator (NCR). “Since then the business has been leading the market and today the majority of all registered NCR Debt Counselors depend on our secure, reliable and efficient collection and payment mechanism for their debt review practices”, says Abrie Duvenage, General Manager at the NPDA.

In doing so, the NPDA has successfully combined a cutting edge system with service excellence in a drive to provide our client base with the ultimate practice management solution.”

He further says “With our fully integrated frontend software Care Premier, offered via our partner company Debt Control Management (DCM), Debt Counselors can now do so much more than just calculate proposals and arrange secure payments to creditors.

The NPDA is part of the Tradebridge Group Designed as an integrated system, all payment of Companies (two major shareholders of the plans and collection mandates are forwarded Trade-Bridge group include Dimension Data electronically through to the NPDA, providing and Medscheme). us with the capability to seamlessly facilitate more than 2.5million secured EFT transactions As a member of the Payment Distribution per annum.”

Agent Association of S.A (PDASA) and Payments Association of SA (PASA) they are Secure Payroll deductions yielding 97% best positioned in the industry to meet the collection success rates, differentiate the NPDA Service Level Agreements prescribed by the from their competitors, as it is their view that NCR, and also to add value throughout the a payroll deduction is proved to be the most whole debt counseling process. successful collection method available. This service is currently provided through DCM , Duvenage says “We understand how the a specialist in the Garnishee collection and ever changing face of the industry can be Payroll environment for the past 10 years. challenging for Debt Counselors, therefore we Other NPDA collection methods also include, have adapted to the needs of our clients.

AEDO, Stop orders, EFT, Debit orders and cash.

As an additional service, their collections desk will follow-up on defaulted payments at no extra charge in order to ensure client retention for all stakeholders in the long term.

in systems in order to provide their clients with the ultimate practice management solution.

“Our aim is to partner for long-term sustainable growth”

An advanced Web portal query system works hand-in-hand with highly competent back office staff, meaning less time has to be spent dealing with queries and more time can now be spent growing your DC practice.

Various monthly reports pertaining to all financial transactions affected are available to the Debt Counselors, Creditors, Consumers as well as the National Credit Regulator. “Our fully automated daily practice management report pack empower our Debt Counselors to grow their businesses and manage key metrics within the process on a daily basis,” says Duvenage.

For more information on South-Africa’s largest Payment Distribution Agency, please contact Raleen Jooste, Public Relations Officer at the NPDA on 0861 628 628(213) or email Raleen@ debtcontrol.co.za.

Today The NPDA has a national footprint ensuring both large and small Debt Counselors receive impeccable service tailored to their specific needs.

What sets them apart is their commitment to provide individual service to each Debt Counselor, their specialized collection methods as well as their continued investment

NCR accredited payment distribution agency

As one of the five NCR accredited PDA’s (payment distribution agency’s) DC Partner has been part of the debt review industry since August 2008. Situated in George in the Western Cape, we are also the only PDA south of the Orange River.

The systems, infrastructure and staff of DC Partner have been exposed to collection and distribution of payments for the past decade.

DC Partner strives to render services of the highest standard to customers.

DC Partner makes use of excellent software, provided by Debt – Wise. The PDA module is locally based and inherently linked to the Debt – Wise Debt Counseling software, which is internet based. Consumer information seamlessly passes from the Debt Counseling System to the Payment Distribution Agency.

We are very excited to announce that we have integrated our PDA distribution system with the Debt-Wise front end software. The distribution system was developed to integrate into the Debt-Wise software in such a manner that the user will not need to change anything in their systems, but could just continue with their day to day work and would see the distribution side as an additional tab on their home screens.

At this stage we are systematically moving all our current clients to the new system and this goes hand in hand with in office training by one of our skilled training officers.

Our main focus during the planning and creating of this system was to maximize data availability and accuracy. The DC can log into the system from anywhere in the country and with the click of a button he/she will be able to see what is going on in their dedicated PDA trust account, which clients made payments within the last 1, 2, 8 or even 24 hours, what fees are due to be paid to him/her, which files have distributed, which clients are in default.

We do daily distributions on this system and it is therefore important to make the system as user friendly and interactive as possible as things happen very quickly.

This will enable the DC to always see and be on top off what is happening to all of their clients and react, if needed, immediately.

DC Partner offers free in house training at any location in the country and we will also give all interested DC’s free access to our system for a trial period of up to three months.

For any further queries please feel free to contact our offices at any time.

DC Partner George Office Willie Boshoff – pda27@dcpartner.co.za Arnold Steyn – pda28@dcpartner.co.za Herman Joubert – herman@dcpartner.co.za 044 873 4440, 044 873 4530, 044 873 4532 DC Partner Gauteng Office Francois Van Zyl – francois@dcpartner.co.za Konstant De Vos – vossie@debt-wise.co.za 012 348 7624

Remember Don’t forget to show your NCR Registration Certificate as a Debt Counsellor to all new consumers that you meet.

It clearly identifies you as authorised to opperate as a Debt Counsellor and is probably part of your terms and conditions.

INDUSTRY

CONSUMER

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 68 OF 2008 - PART 3 Pre – authorisation of repair or maintenance Gone are the days where a service provider could give you an estimated cost and then later claim a higher price. eg. Mr. Audi takes his car for service to Mr. Mechanic. Mr. Audi asks for a quote from Mr. Mechanic, and receives an estimate of R2,500.00. Later, when Mr. Audi goes to collect his car, Mr. Mechanic informs him that the actual cost is R 7 500.00.

The CPA clearly states that Mr. Mechanic should have obtained a per-authorised order to continue with the work (if it would cost more than quoted). A lot of consumers are now in dire straights because of such behaviour (especially when it comes to vehicle repairs) and it is interesting that this requirement of the CPA was included to protect consumers against ruthless service providers.

So, if on the day you are informed that you can collect your vehicle but discover that for some reason the quoted amount has changed and now exceeds your budget, you now have legal recourse. Unfortunately, the service provider would have a retention right on the vehicle.

However, with the original signed quote in your pocket, you can approach a court for help. The CPA now protects consumers against these kinds of unscrupulous practices. I am sure that a court would favour the consumer in a case like this (if it even got that far - the threat of legal action might be enough to resolve the situation).

The moral of the story is to get a signed quote for any repair work on the vehicle. Where additional work is necessary (and you are informed in advance) why not agree to it. If the new increased quote is reasonable, that is. That way, both parties are sure of where they stand in advance.

Section 15(2) of the CPA does not apply where the consumer, in writing, authorised the service provider to act accordingly. The service Adv Hennie v Rensburg provider may however not change the value of advhvr4580@gmail.com the service provided, unless the consumer has www.legalissues.co.za been informed of the change in the price and has authorised such extended service by the service provider.

One often finds that service providers will bend backwards to get the work, but beware of the day that payment is actually required – then you could get a total different story about the price.

LETTER

A letter to the Industry regarding the NCR and PDA’s from Raynard McLaren

required in terms of Section 18? (In the event that the CEO did in fact report to the Minister said is deemed to be public information as 1. Section 19 Governance of National Credit per PAIA and should be made public to all concerned parties.)

Regulator Some thoughts regarding the Industry To quote the NCA:

(1) The National Credit Regulator is governed It is clear that all negotiations and forums (eg.

DRAC), as well as, guidelines (Industry Code and by a Board, consisting of a Code of Conduct) that have been instituted by (a) member designated by the Cabinet the previous CEO was done without following member responsible for finance, to serve until the correct procedure. substituted by that Cabinet member; (b) member designated by the Cabinet member It can therefore, be submitted that no effect responsible for housing matters, to serve until should be given to any of his decisions nor can any of said decisions be forced onto any substituted by that Cabinet member; (c) member designated by the Cabinet member person. Only a board has authority to make a responsible for social development matters, resolution and instruct its sub-ordinate (CEO) to serve until substituted by that Cabinet to enforce it. member; I refer again to the NCA as well as the CPA and (d) Chairperson appointed by the Minister; (e) Deputy Chairperson appointed by the Constitution: Minister; and (f) not more than six other members, at least 2.1 Section 12 Establishment of National Credit two of whom must be knowledgeable on Regulator consumer matters, appointed by the Minister.

(1) There is hereby established a body to be Question: Was there ever a Board as required in known as the National Credit Regulator, which terms of Section 19?

Question: If the NCR did not previously have a (a) has jurisdiction throughout the Republic; Board but only had a CEO (i.e. Gabriel Davel) (b) is a juristic person; were the decisions of the CEO correct? What (c) is independent and subject only to the power did the CEO have/had and where did Constitution and the law; he get his instructions from? Who did the CEO (d) must exercise its functions in accordance report to? Did the CEO report to the Minister as with this Act;

(e) must be impartial; and (f) must perform its functions – (i) in as transparent a manner as is appropriate having regard to the nature of the specific function; and (ii) without fear, favour, or prejudice.

exclusive access to any goods or services offered by the supplier; (c) assign priority of supply of any goods or services offered by the supplier to any person or category of persons; (d) supply a different quality of goods or services to any person or category of persons; 2.2. Section 3 Purpose of Act (e) ... (f) target particular communities, districts, The purposes of this Act are to promote and population or market segments for exclusive, advance the social and economic welfare of priority or preferential supply of any goods or South Africans, promote a fair, transparent, services; or competitive, sustainable, responsible, efficient, (g) exclude a particular community, district, effective and accessible credit market and population or market segment from the industry, and to protect consumers, by - (a) - (i) supply of any goods or services offered by the supplier, on the basis of one or more grounds 2.3. Constitution of South Africa Chapter 2 Bill of unfair discrimination contemplated in of Rights section 9 of the Constitution or Chapter 2 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of • Section 9 Equality Unfair Discrimination Act. Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law. (2) Subject to section 9, a supplier must not directly or indirectly treat any person differently • Section 33 Just Administrative action than any other, in a manner that constitutes Everyone has the right to administrative action unfair discrimination on one or more grounds that is lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair... set out in section 9 of the Constitution, or more grounds set out in Chapter 2 of the 2.4. Consumer Protection Act (Debt Counsellors Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair are suppliers of services) Discrimination Act, when • Section 8 Protection against discriminatory marketing

(a) assessing the ability of the person to pay the cost, or otherwise meet the obligations, of a proposed transaction or agreement; (1) Subject to section 9, a supplier of goods or (b) deciding whether to enter into a transaction services must not unfairly or agreement, or to offer to enter into a transaction or agreement; (a) exclude any person or category of persons (c) determining any aspect of the cost of a from accessing any goods or services offered transaction or agreement to the consumer; by the supplier; (b) grant any person or category of persons Taking the above into consideration and

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to add value n save them Debt Counsellor number

FSP 30490

referring to no. 1 above, it is clear that the NCR (CEO) did not fulfill its Constitutional duty (sec 33 of Constitution). The CEO acted on his own whim, was influenced and prejudicial by promoting the CODE OF CONDUCT! Thus I say that the proposed Code is Unconstitutional (sec 9 of Constitution): 1. It only reflects the view of one Association (DCASA) (refer Competition Commission Act) 2. Is “nitpicking” in the sense that only certain people can qualify for Debt Review (refer 2.4, 2.5 and 2.6 of said Code) despite the provisions of the NCA 3. Exposes Debt Counsellors to potential administrative fines and civil suites (which we cannot afforded).

other property belonging to or ordinary under the control of a consumer, the supplier (PDA) (a) must not treat that property as being the property of the supplier; (b) in the handling, safeguarding and utilization of that property, must exercise the degree of CARE, DILIGENCE and SKILL that can reasonably be expected of a person responsible for managing any property belonging to another person; and (c) is liable to the owner of the property for any loss resulting from a failure to comply with paragraph (a) or (b)

From the above, it is clear that the money which a consumer pays to a PDA still belongs to the respective consumer until payment is made, according to the proposal/court order, even the interest accrued to the money belongs to Another aspect of the industry that needs the consumer! to be taken into consideration is the use of PDA’s.

Question: What is happening to consumer’s interest?

There is no mention of a PDA or that one MUST be used in the NCA. (Once again the previous The question one needs to further ask is: Why CEO was influencial here i.e. when a DC MUST a PDA be used? applied for registration he/she HAD to sign an Why not a firm of Attorneys, who by the agreement to use a PDA. I would like to draw way, must have a fidelity certificate. Another the readers attention to the following: and maybe better alternative is to have the consumer arrange debit orders in relation with Consumer Protection Act the proposal to be deducted from his/her bank account?

Section 65 Supplier to hold and account for consumer’s property (here the supplier is a I officially request that the NCR respond to PDA) this letter and that they forward this letter to the Department of Trade and Industry and (2) When a supplier has possession of any that they too respond. Please note that any prepayment, deposit (consumers distribution response or comments can be sent to: payment), membership fee or other money raynard@dputh.co.za (again consumers distribution payment) or any

SERVICE DIRECTORY DEBT COUNSELLING AA Debt Counselling Centre Anthea Johannes NCRDC531 Tel: +27 (0) 21 982 0522 Cell: +27 (0) 84 402 7032 Alan Watts NCRDC 962 NCR registered Debt Counsellor Tel: 084 4448439 Fax: 086 6501954 alan@active-debt-counselling.co.za www.active-debt-counselling.co.za Central SA Debt Counsellors 082 950 7806 Fax: 086 563 1621 Consumer Assist Johann Vermeulen Tel: 0861 628 628 Credit Matters 021 431 9100 info@creditmatters.co.za CS Debt Counselling Bernidene Smith NCRDC 764 057 352 4115/352 5000 Welkom - Free state Darran Manikam NCRDC704 debt@mailbox.co.za Debtbusters 0861 663 328 (NO DEBT) Debt Budget Tel: 021 824 8885 Debt Solve Debt Counsellors Office: 033 397 0945

DEBTINC NCRDC’s 1071, 1188, 1189.

Tel: (022) 713-2021 Fax: (022) 713-2028 Share Call: 0861 20 21 20 E-mail: Info@debtinclusive.co.za Website: www.debtinclusive.co.za SMS: HELP to 35075 DebtSafe 0861 100 999 Debt Serious We are serious about debt Vida Scheepers NCRDC1792 Po box 394, Garsfontein, Pretoria 0042 Fax no: 086 553 9403 vscheepers@mweb.co.za Debt Rehab Colleen Van Wyk(BCom, LLB) Debt Counsellor NCRDC2619 Tel: 083 290 0848 Tel: 011 740 7374 Fax: 086 716 9694 Website: http://debtrehab.co.za

Debt Rescue Neil Roets NCR DC 474 Cell: 083 644 7406 Tel: 0861 800 009 Fax: 086 523 0617 E-mail: admin@debtrescue.co.za www.debtrescue.co.za Derry Burge Tel: 021 855 5997 Durban Debt Counselling Services Suite 112, 1st floor Union Club Building 353 Sm ith Street Durban, 4001 Tel: 031 301-7893 Fax: 031 301-5809 phumla.ngema@telkomsa.net Debt Counselling South Africa Cape Town Branch Tel: 021 919 66 94 Rod De Witt NCRDC831 Visit: www.debtcounsellingsa.co.za Debt Knowledge Debt Counselling 082 379 2337 Debtonators 041 585 0276 Fincorp debt Counsellors cc Cecilia Zwarts fincorpdc@yahoo.com Holistic Debt Counsellors info@holisticdc.co.za

Helpdesk Debt Counsellors Allan Hoffman Tel: 0861 000 754 Help-U-Debt (Vaal Triangle) Wanine Tel: 082 445 3967 Help-U-Debt (Potchefstroom) Madra 083 390 3275 Help-U-Debt (Parys) Marilouise 082 920 6249 Help-U-Debt (Vanderbijlpark) Herma 083 320 8303 MG Consulting NCRDC 1403 Strand - Helderberg Area Telkom : 021 853 4537 Mobile Phone: 082 450 7459 / 082 782 0595 Fax Number: 0866 220 690 E-Mail: info@mgconsulting / cambouris.christina@gmail.com www.mgconsulting.co.za NDA Debt Counsellors Your Trusted Debt Counsellors Gary Williams (NCRDC 143) Tel: 034 315 3880 Fax: 086 612 4112 gary@ndad.co.za www.ndad.co.za Think Green Debt Counselling Sandi Pauw sandipauw@mweb.co.za Tel : 012 991 6638 Cell : 082 460 7800 Fax : 086 219 2615

Incentive Debt Counselling “Paving the way to a Debt Free Tommorrow” Darran Manikam NCRDC704 Tel: (031) 409 9379 Fax: (031) 409 1327 Cell: 0845898286 Branches: Phoenix and Shallcross Indigo debt counsellors CC Tel: 087 808 9734 Fax: 086 580 8675 indigodc@iburst.co.za Zuné Coetzer Debt Counsellors NCRDC 1599 24 van der Stel Street Dan Pienaar Bloemfontein Tel: 051-4364515 Fax: 086 5870 845 Email: zunecoetzer1@gmail.com 2nd Chance Debt Counsellors Tel: 0861 00 225 0

DRS KING WILLIAMS TOWN Herman Marais Cell: 082 378 3743 Email: herman@drssa.co.za DRS CRADOCK Office: 043 721 0652 DRS QUEENSTOWN Herman Marais Cell: 082 378 3743 Email: herman@drssa.co.za DRS MTHATHA Herman Marais Cell: 082 378 3743 Email: herman@drssa.co.za EASTERN CAPE: DRS ALBANY Office: 041 373 9693 Email: dcfull@drssa.co.za DRS ALGOA Marius Weyers Cell: 083 497 3219 Email: marius@drssa.co.za

BORDER REGION:

DRS BOND CHOICE P.E. Andrea Atkinson Office: 041 393 7000 Email: andrea.atkinson@drssa.co.za

DRS BEACON BAY Johan Pretorius Cell: 082 324 4038 Office: 043 748 1139

DRS CENTRAL EXPRESS Derryn Fish Office: 041 373 9693586 2020 Email: derrynfish@drssa.co.za

DRS BUFFALO CITY Herman Marias Cell: 082 378 3743 Office: 043 7210652

DRS DESPATCH Isabe Landman Cell: 072 337 3328 Office: 041 933 1189 Email: isabe@drssa.co.za

DRS HUMANSDORP Morne Steyn Cell: 083 298 8182 Office: 042 291 0135 Email: Morne@drssa.co.za DRS NKONKOBE (Fort Beaufort) Bernadine von der Decken Cell: 083 2859289 Office: 046 645 1898 Email: bernadine@drssa.co.za DRS KIRKWOOD Keith Le Roux Cell: 073 207 1675 Office: 041 451 0474 Email: keith@drssa.co.za DRS PORT ELIZABETH Derryn Fish Cell: 084 515 6135 Office: 041 453 8961 Email: derryn@drssa.co.za DRS SIDWELL EXPRESS Keith Le Roux Cell: 073 207 1675 Office: 041 451 0474 Email: Keith@drssa.co.za DRS SOMMERSET EAST Luther De Bruyn Cell: 082 568 2970 Office: 042 243 1107 Email: luther@drssa.co.za DRS UTENHAGE Lynn Lindoor Cell: 083 7174 183 Email: Lynnl@drssa.co.za

FREESTATE:

GAUTENG:

DRS GOLDFIELDS (Welkom) Irvin Billy (Derryn Fish) Cell: 072 114 4427 Office: 081 319 0083 Email: Billy@drssa.co.za

DRS CENTURION EXPRESS Amanda Johnon Office: 041 373 9693 Email: dcfull@drssa.co.za

DRS MANGAUNG Amanda Johnson Office: 041 373 9693 Email: dcfull@drssa.co.za DRS FOREISTATA EXPRESS (Bloemfontein) Derryn Fish Office: 041 373 9693 Email: dcexpress@drssa.co.za DRS SOUTH FREESTATE Nelmarie De lange Cell: 079 236 3615 Office: 053 591 0734 Email: nelmarie@drssa.co.za GARDEN ROUTE: DRS DE AAR Veronique Louw (Derryn Fish) Cell: 076 382 2020 Office: 053 631 1189 Email: deaar1@drssa.co.za DRS GEORGE Francois Van Zyl Cell: 079 522 1930 Office: 044 874 2820 Email: francoisv@drssa.co.za DRS EDEN (Hartenbos) Bruno Mertsch Tel: 042 291 1083/4 Email: brunom@drssa.co.za

DRS LYNNWOOD Junique Julius Office: 012 807 4339 Email: lynnwood1@drssa.co.za DRS PRETORIA EXPRESS Ben Vermeulen Cell: 082 442 8654 Office: 012 331 2145 Email: bverm@lantic.net DRS PRETORIA NOORD Office: 041 373 9693 Email: dcfull@drssa.co.za DRS ROODEPOORT EXPRESS Derryn Fish Office: 041 373 9693 Email: dcexpress@drssa.co.za DRS RUSTENBURG Amanda Johnson Office: 041 373 9693 Email: dcfull@drssa.co.za KWA ZULU NATAL: DRS GREYVILLE Vyas Juggernath Cell: 083 206 0300 Office: 031 309 8716 Email: vyas@drssa.co.za

DRS KOKSTAD Melanie Louwrens Cell: 083 269 0424 Office: 039 727 1430 Email: melanie@drssa.co.za

DRS WEST COAST Marius Coetzee Cell: 082 978 4407 Office: 022 713 3766 Email mariusc@drssa.co.za

Staff Line Ndizani Executive Recruitment Cell no: 083 3028163 Direct Line: (011) 468 - 2150 E- Mail: saki@staffline.co.za

DRS MORNINGSIDE DURBAN Erica Mtshali (Amanda Johnson) Cell: 076 578 8660 Office: 031 301 5990 email ericah@drssa.co.za

DRS SALDANHA Marius Coetzee Office: 022 713 3766 Email: mariusc@drssa.co.za

Information resources & services www.thedci.co.za

DRS PHOENIX Vyas Juggernath Cell: 083 206 0300 Office: 031 309 8716 Email: vyas@drssa.co.za DRS PIETERMARITZBURG Sanele Zulu Cell: 083 543 3487 Office: 033 394 8319 Email: sanele@drssa.co.za WESTERN CAPE: DRS BELLVILLE Patricia Bekker Office: 021 948 8523 / 4 Email: patricia@drssa.co.za DRS DIAMOND Clive Palmer Office: 021 421 8563 Email: clive@drssa.co.za DRS TYGERBERG Craig Lakey Cell: 082 627 0957 Office: 021 945 4062 Email: craiglakey@drssa.co.za

DRS SOLUTIONS Christelle de Villiers Cell: 084 586 5600 Email: cdv@vodamail.co.za

U-Win Debt Counsellors Coreli Roos - NCR DC 509 Aliwal North, Burgersdorp, Bethulie, GariepDam, Smithfield, Springfontein Cell:079 626 66241 croos@global.co.za Rihanyo Debt Counselling (012) 804 50 57 SUPPORT SERVICES

Business and Personal Website and Software, Design and Development Services.

Contact Number: +27 76 382 0933 Email: info@myecommerce.co.za Web: http://myecommerce.co.za

Designtimes South Africa’s creative resource www.designtimes.co.za TRAINING Compuscan Academy 0861 51 41 31 www.compuscanacademy.co.za You & Your Money Western Cape: NCR Debt Counsellor Training: For a Cutting Edge Course with practical input contact: You & Your Money Dawn Jackson Dawnjackson.training@telkomsa. net Cell: 072 1769789 (021) 761 3287 FINANCIAL ABSA Customer Debt Repair Line 0861 005 901 Credit Ombudsman 0861 662837 Experian 011 799-3400 debtcounsel@experian.co.za

Eric Streso Financial Planner B Juris LL B CFP MBA Tel: 0833273358 Fax: 086 612 7912 Fair Debt 0829019788 or 012-3772558 ray@fairdebt.co.za PACFIN Financial Solutions Head Office Tel: +27 11 9757445 Fax: 0865368783 36 Van Riebeeck road Kempton Park 1619 pieter@pacfin.co.za Monte Carlo Building No 8 Voortrekkerstreet Kempton Park 1619

Gooseberry Business Advisory Tel: 012 644 0589 Nedbank Debt Rehabilitation & Recoveries Services 0860 109 279 STD Bank Debt review Helpline Telephone: 0861 111 402 TransUnion 0861 482 482 Thinkmoney Financial comparison website Contact: Gareth Mountain Tel: 079 0996 798 www.thinkmoney.co.za

Kempton Park Contact: Reyno Coetzee Tel: +27 11 3945363 Fax: 0866048002 Cell: +27 73 3690884 kemptonpark@pacfin.co.za Boksburg / Germiston Contact: Armand Posthumus Tel: +27 11 8921911 Fax: 0865620378

WIZARD Vereeniging Making Mortgage Magic Wanine Smit Tel:+27 16 454 1132 Fax:+27 86 686 3678 Cell:+27 82 445 3967 www.wizard.za.com

Nelspruit Contact: Ann Baker Tel: +27 13 7415559 Fax: 0880 1374 15559 Cell: +27 82 9024236 jeleroux@telkomsa.net Springs Contact: Wynand Mclachlan Tel: +27 11 8113728 Fax: +27 11 8113728 Cell: +27 83 2754014/5 wynmc@telkomsa.net

Eric Streso Financial Planner B Juris LL B CFP MBA Tel: 0833273358 Fax: 086 612 7912

FINANCIAL PLANNING

LEGAL Brett Carnegie Attorneys Tel: +27 (21) 4470332 Fax: +27 (21) 4470338 Mobile: +27 (0)82 320 6099 www.carnegielaw.co.za

Suite 23(B) Unit 8 Waverley Business Park Mowbray 7700

Karen van Staden Tel: 012 998 9117 / 012 993 2132 Fax: 086 721 6467 / 086 662 1153 Is it time to expand your Debt Counselling Email: karen@hauptearle.co.za practice? office@hauptearle.co.za Do you need specialist Attorneys with a national www.hauptearle.co.za footprint?

Scheepers Attorneys Do you need expert advice on how to protect Gerhard Scheepers your practice and your clients? schlaw@iburst.co.za

Are you informed about recent statutory and legal developments within the industry?

Legal Rights Affordable & ethical Legal Services Tel: (011) 367-0695 Attorneys servicing individual needs Cell: 074-112-0076 info@legalrights.co.za www.legalrights.co.za Pretoria: +27(0)12 998 9117 www.hauptearle.co.za Nelspruit: +27 (0)13 752 708 LUCID Attorneys Tel: 011 880 1100 Fax: 011 880 1101 Email: info@lucidsa.com www.lucidliving.co.za/attorney Ludick Attorneys bev.ludickattorneys@gmail.com Prinsloo & Associates Attorneys and conveyancers Nanika Prinsloo Farm Bergamot, Paarl 7620 P O Box 6199, Paarl 7620 14 Laing Street, Barrydale 6750 Cell: 072-8558-106

Fax: 086-623-5986 nanika@vodamail.co.za www.empowerlaw.co.za RM Brown and Associates 601 Pier House, 13 -17 Heerengracht, Cape Town Docex 138 Cape Town t: 021 431 9127 f: 021 425 0875 e: lodea@rmbrown.co.za Agiliti CC Colleen Van Wyk(BCom, LLB) Tel: 083 290 0848 Tel: 011 740 7374 Fax: 086 716 9694 Website: http://agiliti.co.za CREDIT BUREAUS Compuscan 0861 514 131 www.compuscan.co.za Computer Profile Bureau 0861 28 7328 www.c-p-b.co.za Experian www.experian.co.za Business- 0861 63 60 70 Consumer- 0861 10 5665 Micro Lenders Credit Bureau 0861 28 7328 www.mlcb.co.za TransUnion 0861 886 466 www.transunion.co.za XDS 0860 937 000 www.xds.co.za

OTHER Association of Debt Recovery Agents: 011 781 3337 www.adraonline.co.za Banking Ombud 0860 800 900 www.obssa.co.za Credit Bureau Association 011 463 8211 www.cba.co.za

Motor Industry Ombud 012 841 2945 www.miosa.co.za National Credit Regulator 0860 627 627 Ombud for Short term Insurance 011 726 8900 www.osti.co.za

Credit Providers Association 011 789 6825 www.cpa.org.za

Pension Funds Adjudicator 021 674 0209 www.pfa.org.za South African Fraud Prevention 0860 101 248 www.safps.org.za

Department of Trade and Industry 0861 843 384 www.thedti.gov.za

The Banking Association 011 370 3500 www.banking.org.za

Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Ombud 012 470 9080 www.faisombud.co.za

SA FRAUD PROTECTION SERVICE (FREE SERVICE) www.safps.org.za 0860 101 248

Financial Services Board 012 428 8000 www.fsb.co.za Furniture Traders Association 011 789 6770 Legal Resources Centre 011 836 9831 www.lrc.org.za Long Term Insurance Ombud 021 657 5000 www.ombud.co.za Micro Finance South Africa 012 345 0809 www.mfsa.net