Hon Chairperson, hon members and fellow South Africans, this process started with the noble idea to draft a Bill that will protect poor South Africans against reckless and illegal lending and those who have no or little hope to ever repay their unsecured debt due to unemployment or not having any assets.
A further aim of the Bill was to develop mechanisms that will allow people on low income levels to access debt counseling services and appropriate legislation to protect them.
The DA was in favour of the objectives of the Bill and submitted a comprehensive document outlining its proposals during the National Assembly stage. This final Bill, that we are considering now, does not meet the objectives and is not in the best interest of the partaking parties. The banks, microlenders and retailers have warned us that this Bill, in its current form, will not yield the desired results.
The passing of this Bill in this House today will create massive unrealistic expectations before the elections. The result is in nobody's interest because it will certainly drive up the cost of credit and further restrict the poorest of the poor to access credit, let alone their protection against reckless lending.
Unlike the ANC, the Western Cape provincial government and the DA have a moral obligation to protect our citizens and can therefore not support this Bill. I thank you.