28 March 2012
South Africa’s National Credit Regulator has joined forces with the police to crack down on credit providers, both registered and unregistered, who use unlawful, bullying tactics to collect money from debtors.
Fifteen people were arrested this week following a two-day operation in the Northern Cape targeting credit providers who unlawfully retain the pension cards, bank cards, identity documents and personal identity numbers (PINs) of their clients as surety.
“This was a contravention of the National Credit Act,” Advocate Zweli Zakwe, acting manager for investigations and enforcement at the National Credit Regulator (NCR), said on Tuesday.
Of the 15 people that were arrested, seven were working for credit providers. The suspects were found in possession of an accumulative number of over 577 pension cards, 114 ID books and 620 bank cards.
The operation took place in De Aar, Petrusville, Noupoort and Colesberg, where searches were done on the premises of registered and unregistered credit providers.
“The exploitation of vulnerable and unsuspecting consumers by credit providers will not be tolerated,” Zakwe said, thanking the police for their assistance.
The NCR’s previous blitz was conducted in Port Elizabeth in October, and similar operations will be extended to other parts of the country.
Source: BuaNews
