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Editors Notes Sept 2012

Here is a taste of what lies inside the September 2012 issue of Debtfree DIGI. Our Editor: Zak King speaks about Spring, the NDMA and more:

Spring has sprung! Summer is just around the corner. It is a great time of year as we push towards December and all that brings. The change of season gets us thinking about the fact that the end of the year is suddenly so much closer than we realised and that we better get ready to squeeze our winter bodies into our swimming costumes. I think mine must have shrunk in the wash or something!

Well, if you are under debt review a diet (if that’s what you call just eating less) is a great way to cut down on the crazy raising food costs and exercise is a great form of entertainment that can be achieved for minimal costs. Prices are shooting up left, right and center; with fuel costs being a big factor and add to that issues in other parts of the world to do with wheat costs and it is a recipe for a very skinny December after all.

If however we put all that aside for a moment and think about what has been happening in SA with regard to debt review and the debt counselling industry there have been some interesting developments. The NCR have shown their teeth over the Voluntary Debt Mediation Solution (VDMS) which they decided was seemingly an unregulated form of debt review which undermines the statutory process that hundreds of thousands of South Africans are making use of. This issue you can read more about the rise and fall of the VDMS system. More than that you can read about how the NCR have now withheld the carrot they were offering to the NDMA in the form of taking over the job of registering consumers under debt review with the various credit bureaus. It has not been a great month for the NDMA!

We feature articles from the Dark Sith Lord of debt review Debt Vader and legal opinions that will have you giggling but thinking about new ways of looking at things. It is great to see the regulator pushing credit providers to put their money where their mouth is and show increased support for the debt review process. Lets hope they take the advice to heart and that consumers under review will see increased co operation from their creditors. This would be a great weight off their backs …now if only we could get the weight off our bellies we could actually hit the beach.

So keep up the good work and don’t lose momentum now. Start to plan for the end of the year right now and keep taking another step towards being debt free.