What this hub covers
Credit and finance law in South Africa is dominated by one statute — the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 — wrapped around a body of common law on loans, suretyship, cession and interest. This hub explains, in plain language and grounded in the actual words of the Act and the leading judgments, how that law works for the people who use it: lenders and credit providers, businesses raising or giving finance, and borrowers who owe.
Everything here is built around a simple sequence of questions — does the Act apply?, what kind of agreement is this?, what does it cost and what is recoverable?, and what happens on default? Each guide is plain-language first and backed by a verbatim source quote, so you can see the law for yourself. Money figures are verified and dated (last reviewed 26 June 2026); where a figure tracks the repo rate, we say so.
The first question: does the National Credit Act apply?
Almost every credit-law problem starts here, and the answer is rarely the obvious one. The Act looks past the label on the paperwork to the substance of the deal, and then asks who the consumer is and how big the agreement is. A company above the R1 million threshold is outside the Act entirely; a “discount” that is really a loan may be pulled inside it.
The newest and clearest illustration is the Supreme Court of Appeal’s 2026 decision in The Profit Hub (Pty) Ltd v Zuwon Consultants (Pty) Ltd [2026] ZASCA 88, which we unpack in the discounting-vs-loans guide and use as the anchor for when the Act applies.
If you lend or extend credit
Lending into South Africa carries compliance duties that are easy to miss. You may need to be a registered credit provider (the registration threshold is now nil), you must keep interest and fees within the statutory caps, you may owe a duty to assess affordability, and you must follow the section 129 procedure before enforcing. Skip a step and the agreement can become unlawful and void.
If you borrow or owe
Borrowers — and the sureties who stand behind them — have real protections and real exposures. Know what makes a loan, suretyship or acknowledgement of debt binding, how much interest a creditor can actually recover under the in duplum rule, and what a creditor must do before it can sue. Start with the application guide, then follow the cluster below.
This hub is general legal information for South African readers, not advice on your specific facts. Credit law changes — and several figures track the SARB repo rate — so confirm the current position before you act.