So many South Africans have a bad credit record and more often than not...some of them had absolutely no control over it! Those who work in Credit Management or Financial Management can't get a job because of their bad credit record... so how do they earn money to pay off their debt? It's a catch 22 don't you think? Surely someone's credit record should only be used when applying for credit? Some companies say: "If they can't manage their own money...then they can't manage the companies money!" This is actually quite unreasonable because how many of them actually bothered to find out WHY someone has a bad credit record?
Sometimes companies have incompetent staff who aren't trained properly and they list someone in error and don't even realise it. Some consumers have medical bills that were authorised prior to treatment but because the medical service providers charged 200% and the medical aid will only pay 100%...they're listed because they can't afford the high charges!
What about the single parents who don't receive maintenance who battle to pay their expenses every month and just don't earn enough?
Over the years, petrol, food, rent, electricity...etc have all increased at an alarming rate but sadly salary increases have not kept up with this trend and 5 to 10 years down the line the average person in the street just can't keep up and are forced to live on credit which they eventually, with the vicious cycle, can't afford to pay back the debt because the cost of living is just too high!
According to the Employment Act of South Africa... it's discriminatory to use age, religion, HIV status...etc against someone when applying for employment... Then why are people's confidential financial information allowed to be used when applying for a job? It's ridiculous to say that people with a bad credit record will steal and people with a good credit won't...it purely depends on the individual and their integrity, honesty and situation of that person at that time. Anyway...with computers and technology as well as segregation of duties, surely companies protect themselves against fraud and embezzlement?
So...where does one draw the line? The unemployment rate is so high and is being compounded by the fact that people with bad credit records (whether through their own doing or not) are denied the chance to earn money to pay off their debts and to support their families! Is this perhaps, not a contribution to the extremely high crime rate in South Africa?
Let me ask you this:
If you had a bad credit record and it wasn't your fault and all attempts at getting it cleared failed and you were unable to get a job because of this... and your children hadn't eaten in 3 days... would you steal a loaf of bread at a supermarket... or... what would you do? Tell me!!! Because I know hundreds of people out there that are in this boat and they are at a loss as to how to solve their problem. In fact, there are hundreds of thousands of South Africans out there that are just not pulling through and it gets worse as prices go up and salaries don't keep up!
I approached the DA in February this year and even though they were enthusiastic and agreed with me....they did NOTHING and instead told me to go to the media... so I tried other avenues first with no success...so here I am!
I approached the ANC at the beginning of this week and sent my email to the average ranks and worked my way up from there to include the ANC Youth League, The President's Office, Thabo Mbeki, Beryl Baker, Gill Marcus among others including the ANC Media Office and got plenty of "read receipts" but NOT one response from any of them!
In 10 years time when our economy collapses due to consumers not being able to survive on their salaries and living on credit and then not being able to pay it back... AND then not even being able to get a job because of the bad credit record... what will everyone say then: "If only we'd known this was going to happen.". Let me tell you... it's only a matter of time before it all caves in... so wouldn't it be a good idea to do something about it now?
I suppose the government is not too worried because THEY all have jobs and even if you have a criminal record it doesn't matter in government... so a bad credit record means even less to them! BUT....when the tax payers don't have jobs to generate their tax revenue.... then what?!
Everyone has be warned! It's coming... it's just a matter of time... and when?!!!
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
