Outsourced debt collection in South Africa: what the law asks of the creditor, fees and choosing an agency

Handing accounts to an agency moves the work, not all of the responsibility. The agency must be registered with the Council for Debt Collectors, and so must its directors and the officers concerned with collecting, under section 8 of the Debt Collectors Act. It must follow the Council's code of conduct, which bars calls demanding payment on a Sunday, or between nine in the evening and six in the morning on any other day, unless the debtor or the debtor's spouse asks for it. What it may add to your customer's balance is capped by regulation. What it charges you is a matter of contract: the Council says collectors usually work for a fee, or for a percentage of the total amount collected.

You stay answerable for much of what happens: under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) you remain the responsible party for your customers' information. Choose an agency on its registration, its conduct controls, how it handles the money and what it reports, and put each in the contract.

This guide is for companies that collect in house and send part of the book out.

The Debt Collectors Act reaches further than the agency's name.

• The agency. The Act defines a debt collector as, among others, a person who for reward collects debts owed to another on that person's behalf, other than an attorney, an attorney's employee or a party to a factoring arrangement.
• Its directors and collecting officers. Under section 8(1), a company that collects must be registered, and so must every director and every officer concerned with debt collecting.
• The people who do the collecting. The definition also covers a person who collects as an agent or employee of a debt collector, or as an agent of an attorney, excluding an employee whose duties are purely administrative, clerical or otherwise subservient to the actual occupation of debt collector.
• A buyer of your debts. It also covers a person who, in the course of regular business and for reward, takes over such debts to collect them for its own benefit, unless it is a party to a factoring arrangement. The Act's factoring exception does not cover overdue debts or claims already demanded, so on our reading, if you sell a book of bad debts to a regular buyer, the buyer is in scope.

On our reading, your own staff collecting your own customers' debts fall outside the definition, because those debts are not owed to another. Ask your attorney to confirm it for your group, especially if one company collects for another.

Two consequences matter to the creditor. A contract with a collector that is incompatible with the registration rule is invalid to the extent of that incompatibility, and acting as a debt collector without registration is an offence, punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to three years. The Council's public register can be searched by registration number, company name, surname or postal code. Check the company and its people before you place an account.

The Council's code of conduct is binding on all debt collectors, and breaking it is improper conduct the Council can act on. On hours, the code says a collector may not make telephone or personal calls to demand payment on a Sunday, or between nine in the evening and six in the morning on any other day, unless the debtor or the debtor's spouse asks for it.

The code also sets limits that belong in any script your agency uses. Among them, a collector may not:

• make calls or send written communications that may constitute excessive harassment of the debtor, the debtor's spouse or family;
• contact the debtor's employer before final judgment to put pressure on the debtor, though it may verify employment or earnings;
• communicate with an employer, acquaintance, friend, relative or neighbour unless that person stands surety or it is to obtain the debtor's address or telephone number;
• demand payment without giving the name of the creditor, the balance of the account and the identity and basis of the claim of the person making the demand;
• keep contacting a debtor after the debtor's legal adviser has asked in writing to be contacted instead.

Where the debt is for goods or services supplied to a consumer and the Consumer Protection Act applies, it adds its own bar: a supplier or an agent of the supplier must not use physical force, coercion, undue influence, pressure, duress, harassment, unfair tactics or similar conduct in connection with any demand for, or collection of, payment. The Act does not reach every debt: it does not apply to a credit agreement under the National Credit Act, though the goods or services bought under it stay covered, or to a consumer that is a juristic person at or above the Minister's threshold.

POPIA's section 69 restricts direct marketing by electronic communication, which the Act defines as approaching a person to promote or offer goods or services, or to ask for a donation. By our reading, a reminder that a payment is overdue does not fit that definition, but a message that also offers a new loan or cover does. Keep collections messages to the debt.

In several ways, yes.

• Personal information. In our reading the agency will usually be your operator under POPIA, a person who processes personal information for you in terms of a contract or mandate, without coming under your direct authority. You must ensure that the conditions for lawful processing are complied with, and section 21(1) requires a written contract that makes the operator maintain the security measures in section 19. A customer, or the Information Regulator at the customer's request, may sue the responsible party for damages for a breach of the Act whether or not there is intent or negligence on the part of the responsible party, subject to the defences in section 99(2).
• Credit agreements. Under the National Credit Act, a credit agreement may not contain a clause that exempts or limits the credit provider's liability for any act, omission or representation by a person acting on its behalf.
• Consumer goods and services. Where the Consumer Protection Act applies, its bar on harassment in collecting payment covers the supplier or an agent of the supplier.
• The agency's own exposure. The Council can find a collector guilty of improper conduct for its own acts or those of a person for whom it is vicariously liable, and can then, among other things, withdraw or suspend its registration, fine it, or order it to reimburse a person prejudiced by its conduct.

How far a court would hold you to your agent's conduct beyond these statutes is a question for your attorney. Either way, write the conduct rules into the contract, keep the right to listen to calls, and make a breach a ground for ending it.

The Debt Collectors Act limits what a collector may recover from the debtor to the capital, interest legally due on it, and necessary expenses and fees prescribed by the Minister. Recovering more than the prescribed amounts is an offence under the regulations.

The current table was published in the Government Gazette on 6 March 2026. Among its items:

• a necessary letter, registered letter, fax or email: R25.00, plus the registration fee for a registered letter;
• a necessary phone call that is not a consultation: R25.00 a call;
• other electronic communication: R3.50 each, for no more than ten a month;
• a necessary consultation with the debtor: R60.00;
• a necessary registered credit bureau search: R16.00, for no more than four a month;
• on receipt of an instalment (one or more) in redemption of the debt, including instalments paid directly to you: a fee of 10% of the instalment received, subject to a maximum of R610.00.

Leaving out the instalment fee and the fee for attending taxation, the fees in the table may not together exceed the capital amount of the debt or R1,225.00, whichever is less. The prescribed amounts exclude VAT, which may be added where it is chargeable.

If the debt arises from a credit agreement under the National Credit Act, that Act applies too. Section 101(1)(g) allows collection costs only up to the prescribed maximum and only to the extent Part C of Chapter 6 permits. The National Credit Regulations, as published in 2006, say collection costs may not exceed the costs the credit provider incurred in collecting the debt, under whichever of the court rules, the attorneys' legislation or the Debt Collectors Act applies. And the in duplum rule in section 103(5) caps the interest, fees and charges, collection costs included, that accrue while the consumer is in default: together they may not exceed the unpaid balance of the principal debt at the time of default, so the agency needs to see what you have already charged.

Before you or your agent sue, section 129(1)(b) requires the credit provider to give the consumer notice of the default first and to meet the further requirements of section 130.

We found no neutral source for what South African agencies charge creditors. The regulations cap what may be recovered from the debtor, not the commission you agree with the agency. The Council says collectors usually work for a fee, or for a percentage of the total amount collected.

Public tenders show how the public sector writes the fee. A North West municipality's bid, issued in January 2026, set the collector's fee at a commission of 15% of amounts collected, excluding VAT, on accounts 90 days or more in arrears, with debtors paying straight into the municipality's own bank account rather than the collector's trust account. A Gauteng provincial department's bid in 2024 asked bidders to state a percentage, on a no collection, no fee basis, for debtors 60 days or more in arrears, and said no contract would go to a bidder asking a commission above 25%. Those are two buyers' terms, not market rates. Yours will depend on the age of the accounts, the work already done on them and the volume you place.

The common structures:

1. Contingency commission: a percentage of what is collected, nothing if nothing is. Agree whether it applies to payments your customer makes straight to you after placement. The regulations let the agency charge your customer its instalment fee on instalments paid directly to you as well, so agree how those payments are reported to it.
2. Tiered commission: a lower percentage on younger accounts, a higher one on older or previously worked accounts.
3. Fixed fees: a fee for each account or action, often for early-stage reminders.
4. Debt sale: you sell the accounts outright. A buyer that does this as regular business is itself a debt collector under the Act's definition.

To compare quotes, work out what each leaves you on the same accounts: the expected recovery, less commission and fees, against what collecting them in house would cost. Ask each agency what it will also recover from your customers under the regulations: it is not charged to you, but your customers feel it.

Debts prescribe. Under the Prescription Act, a debt not covered by a longer period prescribes after three years, save where another Act provides otherwise, while a judgment debt or a debt secured by mortgage bond takes thirty. In general, prescription starts to run as soon as the debt is due, but it starts later where the debtor wilfully prevents the creditor from learning of the debt, or the creditor does not know, and could not with reasonable care have known, who the debtor is and the facts behind the debt. An express or tacit acknowledgement of liability by the debtor interrupts it, so that it runs afresh.

For credit agreements, the National Credit Act goes further. Under section 126B, no person may sell a prescribed debt, and no person may continue to collect or reactivate one where the consumer raises prescription, or would reasonably have raised it had the consumer known of it. Send the agency the due date, the last payment and the last acknowledgement for every account, and agree that it stops on any account that has prescribed.

Put these to every agency in writing and compare the answers.

1. Registration. Ask for the registration of the company, each director and each officer and agent who will collect on your accounts, then check them on the Council's register.
2. The money. A collector who practises for its own account must keep a separate trust account and give the person it collects for a settlement account at least once a month, and must have its accounting records audited every year and report to the Council. Ask for the latest audit report, how quickly collections reach you, and whether your customers can pay you directly instead.
3. Conduct. The scripts, the calling hours its diallers allow, how it handles disputed debts and complaints, and your right to listen to recordings.
4. Fees. The commission, any fixed fees, what it recovers from your customers under the table above, and whether VAT is included.
5. Personal information. Whether it will sign your operator agreement, which subcontractors such as tracing services touch your data, and how it will notify you immediately of a suspected breach.
6. Prescription and caps. How it tracks prescription dates, and how it keeps what it adds within the in duplum cap when you have already charged interest and fees.
7. Legal handover. Who takes an account to court, on whose instruction, and at whose cost. Attorneys and their employees sit outside the Debt Collectors Act's definition of a debt collector, but a person who collects as an agent of an attorney is inside it. Ask who will collect for the attorney, and how the attorney's fees will be charged and recovered.
8. Reporting. Right-party contacts, promises to pay kept, amount collected against amount placed, and complaints, by placement batch.
9. Exit. What happens to accounts in progress, money in trust and your data when the contract ends.

Then place a test batch: split comparable accounts between two agencies, or an agency and your own team, and compare recoveries and complaints before you commit the rest of the book.

This is not legal advice. The Debt Collectors Act, its regulations and the Council's code, the National Credit Act and its regulations, POPIA, the Consumer Protection Act and the Prescription Act were read for this guide on 12 October 2026. Have an attorney check your own arrangement.

IAMX delivers business process outsourcing through BPO partners: customer support, back-office work, collections and recoveries, and managed teams that scale with you. In collections, the collecting is done by partner agencies that are registered with the Council for Debt Collectors, and registration sits with the agency and the people who collect for it. IAMX is not itself a registered debt collector. Our part is the contact centre, technology, messaging and reporting around a registered agency. Tell us your X. We bring in the right specialists from a vetted network, and one accountable lead owns the outcome.

• What hours are debt collectors allowed to call people in South Africa?

  The Council's code of conduct bars calls demanding payment on a Sunday, or between nine in the evening and six in the morning on any other day, unless the debtor or the debtor's spouse asks for it. The code is binding on all debt collectors.

• If I outsource debt collection, am I still liable for how the agency treats my customers?

  In several ways, yes. Under POPIA you remain the responsible party and need a written operator agreement under section 21(1), and a customer can sue the responsible party for a breach whether or not there is intent or negligence, subject to the defences the Act allows. A credit agreement cannot exempt you from liability for a person acting on your behalf, and, where the Consumer Protection Act applies, its bar on harassment in collecting payment covers the supplier or an agent of the supplier.

• How do I choose a debt collection agency in South Africa?

  Check the company and its collectors on the Council's register, ask how its trust account works and for its latest audit, read its scripts, compare its fees and what it recovers from your customers, sign an operator agreement, and place a test batch first.

• What commission do debt collectors charge in South Africa?

  No neutral published survey exists that we found. The Council says collectors usually work for a fee, or for a percentage of the total amount collected. In public tenders, one municipality set 15% of amounts collected, excluding VAT, and one provincial department said no contract would go to a bidder asking a commission above 25%. Separately, the regulations let the collector recover from your customer a fee of 10% of the instalment received, subject to a maximum of R610.00.

• Does a debt collection agency have to be registered?

  Yes, if it collects debts owed to others for reward. Under section 8, the company, its directors and the officers concerned with collecting must be registered. Attorneys and their employees are excluded, but the Act's definition brings in the agents and employees who collect for a debt collector, other than purely administrative or clerical staff, and anyone who collects as an agent of an attorney.

• Can an agency collect a debt that has prescribed?

  For a credit agreement under the National Credit Act, section 126B bars selling a prescribed debt, and bars continuing to collect one where the consumer raises prescription or would reasonably have raised it. Under the Prescription Act, a debt with no longer period of its own prescribes after three years, generally counted from when it falls due.

• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development: Section 8(1) of the Debt Collectors Act provides that no person, other than an attorney or an attorney's employee, may act as a debt collector unless registered, and that a company's directors and officers concerned with debt collecting must also be registered. Checked 9 October 2026.
• Council for Debt Collectors (Code of Conduct, Government Notice R. 663 of 16 May 2003, consolidated): Paragraph 5(3)(j) of the Code of Conduct for Debt Collectors: a debt collector may not make telephone or personal calls to demand payment of a debt on a Sunday, or between nine o'clock in the evening and six o'clock in the morning on any other day, unless the debtor or the debtor's spouse requests it. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Council for Debt Collectors: The Council for Debt Collectors says debt collectors usually operate for a fee, or for a percentage of the total amount collected. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Debt Collectors Act 114 of 1998, as amended): Section 8(3) of the Debt Collectors Act: any agreement between a debt collector and its client, or its employee, that is incompatible with the registration requirement in section 8(1) is invalid to the extent of that incompatibility. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Debt Collectors Act 114 of 1998, as amended): Section 25 of the Debt Collectors Act: a person who contravenes section 8(1) is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Council for Debt Collectors: The Council for Debt Collectors' register can be searched for any registered debt collector by registration number, company name, surname or postal code. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development: Section 1 of the Debt Collectors Act defines a debt collector as, among others, a person, other than an attorney or an attorney's employee or a party to a factoring arrangement, who for reward collects debts owed to another on the latter's behalf. Checked 9 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Debt Collectors Act 114 of 1998, as amended): Section 1 of the Debt Collectors Act also defines as a debt collector a person who, other than a party to a factoring arrangement, in the course of regular business for reward takes over debts owed to another in order to collect them for its own benefit, and a person who collects as an agent or employee of a debt collector or as an agent of an attorney, excluding an employee whose duties are purely administrative, clerical or otherwise subservient to the actual occupation of debt collector. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Debt Collectors Act 114 of 1998, as amended): Section 1 of the Debt Collectors Act defines a factoring arrangement as one between a creditor and a financier in which claims are sold or offered as security, provided the claims are not bad or doubtful at the time, and no overdue debt or claim for which a demand has been made is part of it. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Council for Debt Collectors (Code of Conduct, Government Notice R. 663 of 16 May 2003, consolidated): The Code of Conduct for Debt Collectors, adopted under section 14 of the Debt Collectors Act, is binding on all debt collectors in the Republic, and a debt collector who contravenes it is guilty of improper conduct. Checked 12 October 2026.
• National Consumer Commission (Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008): Section 40(1) of the Consumer Protection Act: a supplier or an agent of the supplier must not use physical force, coercion, undue influence, pressure, duress or harassment, unfair tactics or similar conduct in connection with, among other things, any demand for, or collection of, payment for goods or services by a consumer. Checked 12 October 2026.
• National Consumer Commission (Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008): Section 5(2) of the Consumer Protection Act: the Act does not apply to any transaction in which the consumer is a juristic person whose asset value or annual turnover equals or exceeds the threshold value the Minister determines under section 6, or that constitutes a credit agreement under the National Credit Act, though the goods or services that are the subject of the credit agreement are not excluded from the Act. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Act 4 of 2013): POPIA section 69: direct marketing by any form of electronic communication, including automatic calling machines, fax, SMS or email, is prohibited unless the person has consented or is a customer; a customer's details may be used only if they were obtained in the context of a sale of a product or service, only to market the responsible party's own similar products or services, and only if the person was given a reasonable opportunity to object when the details were collected and in each marketing message. A person whose consent is needed, and who has not withheld it before, may be approached once to ask for it. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Act 4 of 2013): Section 1 of POPIA defines direct marketing as approaching a data subject, in person or by mail or electronic communication, for the direct or indirect purpose of promoting or offering to supply goods or services in the ordinary course of business, or requesting a donation. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Council for Debt Collectors (Code of Conduct, Government Notice R. 663 of 16 May 2003, consolidated): Paragraph 5(3) of the Code of Conduct for Debt Collectors bars, among other things, calls or written communications that may constitute excessive harassment of the debtor, spouse or family; contacting the employer before final judgment to exert pressure (verifying employment or earnings is allowed); communicating with an employer, friend, relative or neighbour unless they stand surety or to obtain the debtor's address or telephone number; demanding payment without the creditor's name, the balance and the identity and basis of the claim of the person demanding; and communicating with the debtor once the debtor's legal adviser has asked in writing to be contacted instead. Checked 12 October 2026.
• South African Government (gov.za): Section 1 of POPIA defines an operator as a person who processes personal information for a responsible party in terms of a contract or mandate, without coming under the direct authority of that party. Checked 9 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Act 4 of 2013): Section 8 of POPIA: the responsible party must ensure that the conditions for lawful processing, and the measures that give effect to them, are complied with when the purpose and means of processing are determined and during the processing itself. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Government of South Africa, Government Gazette: Section 21(1) of the Protection of Personal Information Act requires a responsible party, in terms of a written contract, to ensure that its operator establishes and maintains the section 19 security measures. Checked 9 October 2026.
• Government of South Africa, Government Gazette: Section 19 of the Protection of Personal Information Act requires a responsible party to take appropriate, reasonable technical and organisational measures to secure personal information against loss, damage and unlawful access. Checked 9 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Act 4 of 2013): Section 99(1) of POPIA: a data subject, or the Regulator at the data subject's request, may institute a civil action for damages against a responsible party for breach of any provision of the Act as referred to in section 73, whether or not there is intent or negligence on the part of the responsible party, subject to the defences in section 99(2). Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (National Credit Act 34 of 2005, as amended): Section 90(2)(g)(i) of the National Credit Act: a provision of a credit agreement is unlawful if it purports to exempt the credit provider from liability, or limit that liability, for any act, omission or representation by a person acting on behalf of the credit provider. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Debt Collectors Act 114 of 1998, as amended): Section 15(1) of the Debt Collectors Act: the Council may find a debt collector guilty of improper conduct for its own conduct or that of a person for whom it is vicariously liable, including breaching the code of conduct or the Act. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Debt Collectors Act 114 of 1998, as amended): Section 15(3) of the Debt Collectors Act: on a finding of improper conduct the Council may withdraw or suspend the collector's registration, impose a fine, reprimand it, recover its investigation costs, or order it to reimburse any person prejudiced by its conduct, or combine these. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Debt Collectors Act 114 of 1998, as amended): Section 19(1) of the Debt Collectors Act: a debt collector may not recover from a debtor any amount other than the capital amount of the debt, interest legally due on it, and necessary expenses and fees prescribed by the Minister in the Gazette after consultation with the Council. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Council for Debt Collectors (Regulations relating to Debt Collectors, 2003, Government Notice R. 185, consolidated): Regulation 13(b)(i) of the Regulations relating to Debt Collectors, 2003: a debt collector who recovers any money from a debtor in addition to the amounts prescribed in regulation 11 is guilty of an offence. The Council's consolidated copy predates 2026; Government Notice R. 7207 of 6 March 2026 (Gazette 54273) amended regulation 11 and replaced Annexure B, and did not amend regulation 13. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, Government Gazette No. 54273 (copy published by the Council for Debt Collectors): Government Notice R. 7207 of 6 March 2026 replaced Annexure B of the debt collectors' regulations: R25.00 for a necessary letter, registered letter, fax or email (plus registration costs); R3.50 for each other electronic communication, up to ten a month; R25.00 for each necessary phone call that is not a consultation; R16.00 for a necessary registered credit bureau search, up to four a month; R60.00 for a necessary consultation; on receipt of an instalment (one or more) in redemption of the debt, inclusive of instalments made directly to the client, a fee of 10% of the instalment received, subject to a maximum of R610.00; and the total recovered under items 1 to 7 may not exceed the capital amount of the debt or R1,225.00, whichever is less. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Council for Debt Collectors (Regulations relating to Debt Collectors, 2003, Government Notice R. 185, consolidated): Regulation 14 of the Regulations relating to Debt Collectors, 2003: no value added tax is included in the prescribed expenses and fees, and VAT may be added to those on which it is chargeable. The Council's consolidated copy predates 2026; Government Notice R. 7207 of 6 March 2026 (Gazette 54273) amended regulation 11 and replaced Annexure B, and did not amend regulation 14. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (National Credit Act 34 of 2005, as amended): Section 101(1)(g) of the National Credit Act: a credit agreement may require collection costs only up to the prescribed maximum for the category of agreement and only to the extent permitted by Part C of Chapter 6; section 1 defines collection costs as an amount a credit provider may charge for enforcing a consumer's monetary obligations, excluding a default administration charge. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Government Gazette No. 28864, Department of Trade and Industry (copy held by the Parliamentary Monitoring Group): Regulation 47 of the National Credit Regulations, 2006 (Government Notice R. 489 of 31 May 2006): for all categories of credit agreement, collection costs may not exceed the costs incurred by the credit provider in collecting the debt, to the extent limited by Part C of Chapter 6 of the Act and in terms of the Supreme Court Act, the Magistrates' Courts Act, the Attorneys Act or the Debt Collectors Act, whichever applies to the enforcement. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (National Credit Act 34 of 2005, as amended): Section 103(5) of the National Credit Act: the amounts in section 101(1)(b) to (g), collection costs included, that accrue while a consumer is in default may not, in aggregate, exceed the unpaid balance of the principal debt at the time the default occurs. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (National Credit Act 34 of 2005, as amended): Section 129(1)(b) of the National Credit Act: subject to section 130(2), a credit provider may not commence legal proceedings to enforce a credit agreement before first providing notice to the consumer as section 129(1)(a) or 86(10) contemplates and meeting any further requirements in section 130. Checked 12 October 2026.
• National Treasury eTender Publication Portal (bid document of Kgetlengrivier Local Municipality): Kgetlengrivier Local Municipality's bid KRLM/BTO/BID 01/2025-26, dated 20 January 2026, sought a collector for accounts 90 days and more in arrears on commission of 15% of amounts collected, excluding VAT, with payments made straight into the municipality's bank account and not into the service provider's trust account. Checked 12 October 2026.
• National Treasury eTender Publication Portal (bid document of the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development): The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development's bid RFP07/08/2024, closing 20 September 2024, sought collection on a commission basis for debtors aged 60 days and above, with no fee where nothing is collected, and stated that no contract would go to a bidder asking a commission above 25% of its collections. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Prescription Act 68 of 1969, as amended): Section 11 of the Prescription Act: a debt secured by mortgage bond or a judgment debt prescribes after thirty years, and, save where an Act of Parliament provides otherwise, any debt not covered by the longer periods prescribes after three years. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Prescription Act 68 of 1969, as amended): Section 12(1) of the Prescription Act: subject to subsections (2) to (4), prescription commences to run as soon as the debt is due; under section 12(2) it does not run until the creditor becomes aware of the debt if the debtor wilfully prevents the creditor from coming to know of it, and under section 12(3) a debt is not deemed due until the creditor has knowledge of the identity of the debtor and of the facts from which the debt arises, or could have acquired it by exercising reasonable care. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Prescription Act 68 of 1969, as amended): Section 14 of the Prescription Act: an express or tacit acknowledgement of liability by the debtor interrupts prescription, which then commences to run afresh from the day of the interruption. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (National Credit Act 34 of 2005, as amended): Section 126B of the National Credit Act: no person may sell a debt under a credit agreement that has been extinguished by prescription, or continue the collection of or reactivate such a debt where the consumer raises the defence of prescription, or would reasonably have raised it had the consumer been aware of it. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development: The Debt Collectors Act, its regulations as amended on 6 March 2026, the Council's code of conduct, the National Credit Act and its 2006 regulations, POPIA, the Consumer Protection Act and the Prescription Act were read for this guide on 12 October 2026. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (Debt Collectors Act 114 of 1998, as amended): Section 20 of the Debt Collectors Act: a debt collector practising for its own account must keep a separate trust account for money received on behalf of others, pay it over within a reasonable or agreed time with a settlement account at least once a month, and have its accounting records audited annually and report to the Council. Checked 12 October 2026.
• Government of South Africa, Government Gazette: Section 21(2) of the Protection of Personal Information Act requires the operator to notify the responsible party immediately where there are reasonable grounds to believe personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person. Checked 9 October 2026.