By Sabc

Copyright sabcnews

The National Credit Regulator (NCR) says it’s working closely with the South African Police Service to crack down on unregistered micro lenders across the country.

The NCR has raised a concern over the surge in illegal lenders, also known as mashonisas, who often offer quick loans without checking if the borrower can afford to repay and charge high interest rates.

According to the law, any money lender must be duly registered with the NCR, which is a prerequisite to monitor compliance in terms of the National Credit Act.

Lenders must be certified by the NCR, and the certificate must be clearly visible in their business premises.

Senior Legal Advisor at the NCR, Nthabiseng Sefudi says, “The various ways that we do in our provinces, we work closely with our stakeholders currently, which is the South African Police Service, together with the members of the community. So as the NCR, we do our monitoring in each and every province, but we also rely on the consumers as well to lodge their complaints and to bring such unscrupulous lenders to our attention in order for us to go and do investigations and have an impact.”