Borrowing and credit · South Africa
Borrowing and Credit in South Africa
Understand your borrowing options and the costs before you decide. Personal loans, credit cards, home loans, vehicle finance and credit-health guides sit here. WiT Money does not tell you that you should borrow.
WiT Money provides general financial information and comparison notes. We do not approve credit or provide personalised loan quotations. Final terms and eligibility are set by the credit provider.
Written by the WiT Money editorial team. No named specialist has reviewed this hub. Each guide keeps its own source date.
What would you like to do?
Compare a loan
Personal loans, short-term loans and emergency borrowing. The names overlap. Read the term and the total cost.
Finance a major purchase
Vehicle finance, home loans, renovations and other secured credit. Not every renovation loan is a bond.
Understand my credit
Credit scores, credit reports, affordability and credit cards. A score is not the decision.
Manage existing debt
Debt consolidation is a new loan. Debt review is a regulated process. They are not the same.
Explore borrowing comparisons
These four pages hold researched provider notes. They are not live rate boards, and they do not rank a cheapest lender.
Personal loans
Researched notes on published loan amounts, repayment periods and fees. Not a live rate and not an approval.OpenCredit cards
Researched card fees, published income figures, interest-free conditions and rewards. Not an application and not a promise that interest will be waived.OpenVehicle finance
Researched vehicle-finance notes: amounts, terms, and balloon wording where a provider mentions it. The calculator on that page is an illustration.OpenHome loans and bonds
Researched home-loan notes, plus an illustrative bond repayment. Transfer duty is calculated separately. This is not a bond quotation.OpenPersonal borrowing
These categories overlap. A short-term loan and an emergency loan can be the same product with different marketing. Affordability rules depend on the agreement. A weak credit record is not an approval.
Personal loans
Unsecured borrowing for a general expense. Read published amounts, terms and fees. The pages are researched notes, not live quotations.OpenShort-term loans
Credit repaid over a short term. The instalment is often high because the time is short.OpenEmergency loans
Borrowing aimed at an unexpected cost. The Act treats a defined emergency loan differently from ordinary credit. Check which one you are being offered.OpenLoans when a credit record is weak
What lenders may still ask for when a report shows arrears. A weak record does not guarantee an offer, and it does not remove the affordability test.OpenCredit cards
A card is a revolving limit. Interest, the monthly fee, the limit and any interest-free period are separate. Paying only the minimum usually leaves interest running. Rewards do not make the fee disappear.
Vehicle and property finance
Vehicle finance uses the car as security. A home loan is a bond. A further advance or readvance is still that bond. A renovation loan is sometimes unsecured, or paid to a retailer. Security is stated on each product, not assumed.
Vehicle finance
Instalment sale and similar vehicle credit, including deposits and where a balloon payment is mentioned.OpenHome loans and bonds
Mortgage bonds, deposits and the costs of buying, including transfer duty on a sale that is not subject to VAT.OpenHome improvement loans
Money for renovations. Some products are unsecured. Some are paid to a retailer. Some are a further advance on a bond.OpenSecured loans
Credit backed by an asset, including a readvance or further bond. The asset can be taken if you do not pay.OpenStudent finance
NSFAS is a government scheme with its own rules, which have included bursary conditions. A bank student loan is repayable credit. They are not the same product.
Understand your credit
A credit report is the file. A score is one model’s number. Eligibility is the lender’s look at income, costs, existing debt and that record. None of the three is an approval.
Credit scores
How a bureau score is built, and why there is no single South African scale.OpenCredit reports
What is on the file, the free inspection under section 72, and how to dispute an entry that is wrong.OpenLoan eligibility
Income, living costs, existing debt and the credit record. Includes a household budget illustration, not a lender’s assessment.OpenManage existing debt
Debt consolidation is a new loan, if a lender agrees. Debt review is the National Credit Act process for over-indebtedness. One does not cancel what you owe, and they are not interchangeable.
What borrowing can cost
The rate, the term, an initiation fee, a monthly service fee and credit life insurance, where it is required, all sit in the cost. A variable rate can move. Security means the asset can be taken if you do not pay. A missed instalment can add costs and a report to a credit bureau.
This illustration finances R20 000 at 22% a year, with no fees. It is not a lender’s price.
24 months
Instalment R1 037.56
Interest R4 901.51
60 months
Instalment R552.38
Interest R13 142.69
The longer term has the smaller instalment and the larger interest bill.
Plan before you borrow
Loan repayment calculator
An instalment from an amount, a rate and a term you type, plus any fees you enter.OpenBudget planner
Monthly income and the costs you already pay.OpenAffordability illustration
A household remainder on the loan eligibility page. It is not a pre-approval.OpenDebt payoff calculator
How long a balance lasts at the payment you can make. It does not assume a creditor has cut the interest.OpenVehicle finance calculator
An instalment and a balloon on a price you enter. Insurance and fuel are not included.OpenHome loan calculator
A bond instalment, with transfer duty shown separately on the home loans page.OpenNot sure where to start?
- I need to borrow for a general expensePersonal loans
- I need money for an unexpected expenseEmergency loans
- I want to buy a carVehicle finance
- I want to buy a homeHome loans
- I need to finance renovationsHome improvement loans
I want to understand my credit record
The report is the file. The score is one bureau’s number. Read both before you treat either as a decision.
I am struggling with repayments I already have
Start with the budget, not another application. Debt review is the regulated process if you are over-indebted. Consolidation is a new loan, and only if you can still afford credit.
Your rights when borrowing
The National Credit Act covers most consumer credit. A credit provider that must register with the National Credit Regulator is not the same thing as a bank, a comparison site, a debt counsellor or a credit bureau. NSFAS is a government scheme, not a commercial lender on this site.
Where section 81 applies, the credit provider must assess whether you can afford the credit. That duty does not apply in the same way to every agreement. Student loans, defined emergency loans and some other agreements are treated differently in section 78. This hub does not claim one expense table fits all of them.
You should receive the pre-agreement information the Act requires, including the cost of the credit. You can inspect your credit report and dispute an entry that is wrong. If agreements are already unaffordable, a registered debt counsellor is the route under section 86, not a promise that the debts disappear.
How these pages are researched
Provider notes come from the credit provider’s own pages and from published fees and ranges. A figure is left out when it was not found. Registration numbers that were not checked against the NCR register are not shown as verified. Nothing on this hub is monitored live, and no specialist is claimed as a reviewer. WiT Money may be paid if a commercial agreement exists. None of these links is an application.
Methodology · How we make money · Editorial guidelines · Corrections
Sources
Page updated 28 October 2026. A source date is the day WiT Money checked that page, not a promise the institution has not changed it since.
- National Credit Regulator
National Credit Regulator · checked 28 October 2026
- National Credit Act 34 of 2005
Parliament of the Republic of South Africa · checked 28 October 2026