Q3 2026 | July - September | With Historical Trends 2020-2026
Sibabalwe Samora Dakana
Managing Director & Principal Debt Counsellor
Published: 26 October 2026
Key findings from NDRC's debt review portfolio (March 2020 - September 2026)
The average debt-service ratio of NDRC debt review clients was 45.6% in our Q3 2026 snapshot, up from 44.4% in our Q2 report. The median client spends 43.3% of income on debt repayments, more than half (56.1%) spend over 40%, and more than a quarter (27.7%) spend over 60%.
The quarter opened with relief and closed with pressure. Fuel fell in July and inflation eased from 5.0% in June to 4.3% in July, but the SARB raised the repo rate to 7.25% on 23 September, unemployment rose to 33.6% and the economy contracted by 0.2% in Q2. Petrol and diesel rose again in September and October.
Restructuring is still the clearest gain for consumers. The average contract rate on unsecured credit was 21.55%; after restructuring it averaged 9.26%, a cut of 12.29 percentage points, and 77.8% of unsecured accounts received a lower rate.
From this quarter the debt mix is measured on the outstanding balance of accounts under restructuring. By rand value, home loans (35.1%) and vehicle finance (25.7%) make up most of the debt. By number of clients, unsecured credit dominates: 70.1% hold a personal loan and 51.5% a credit card, while 17.3% have a home loan.
Suspended matters rose to 35.2% of the portfolio (Q2 report: 33.0%) and clients actively paying fell to 9.3% (12.1%). The completion share was 28.8%. The 36-45 age band remains the largest group at 38.6% and, with clients aged 56 and over, carries the highest average debt-service ratio at 46.7%.
Avg Debt-Service Ratio
+1.2pp on the Q2 report (44.4%)
Suspended Matters
+2.2pp on the Q2 report (33%)
Completed
-0.7pp on the Q2 report (29.5%)
Active & Paying
-2.8pp on the Q2 report (12.1%)
Secured Share of Debt
Home loans and vehicle finance, by outstanding balance
Unsecured Rate Cut
21.55% contract rate to 9.26% restructured
This report is based on NDRC-managed matters across South Africa. It does not represent NCR-wide data, but provides national insights through real case analysis, consistent with industry standard reporting practices.
From Q3 2026 the debt mix is measured on the outstanding balance of accounts under restructuring, classed by each account's NCA type. Excluded and paid-up accounts are left out. This mix is not compared with earlier quarters. Time to relief is now measured to the court order date recorded on each file. Portfolio outcomes are shown as our case-system statuses, not as NCR status codes.
External pressures on household budgets during July to September 2026
On 23 July the SARB Monetary Policy Committee held the repo rate at 7.00% (four members for a hold, two for a 25bp increase). On 23 September it raised the rate by 25bp to 7.25%, effective 25 September, in a unanimous decision. Prime moved to 10.75%.
Source: SARB MPC statements, 23 July and 23 September 2026; Moneyweb, 23 September 2026 (prime)
June inflation reached 5.0% (released 22 July), with transport at 12.7%. July eased to 4.3% on food inflation of 0.9% and lower fuel and municipal tariff increases. August was 4.4% (released 23 September). September, released after quarter end, was 4.5%.
Source: Stats SA CPI releases P0141, June and August 2026; SAnews and EWN for July and September
Petrol fell by about R2 a litre on 1 July and a further 52c on 5 August, while diesel rose by up to R1.38 in August. On 2 September petrol rose R1.34 and diesel up to R3.15 a litre. On 7 October, after quarter end, petrol rose a further R3.12 to R3.33 a litre.
Source: Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources fuel adjustment statements (July, August, October); BusinessTech and Engineering News (September)
Stats SA's Q2 2026 Quarterly Labour Force Survey put official unemployment at 33.6%, up 0.9pp from 32.7% in Q1. The number of unemployed rose by 345,000 to 8.5 million, and employment fell by 16,000.
Source: Stats SA QLFS Q2 2026, reported by BusinessTech, 11 August 2026
Stats SA reported on 8 September that the economy shrank 0.2% in the second quarter, led by trade (down 1.9%), manufacturing (down 1.8%) and mining (down 3.0%). The SARB cut its 2026 growth forecast from 1.4% to 1.2%.
Source: Stats SA GDP Q2 2026 via SAnews, 8 September 2026; SARB MPC statement, 23 September 2026
Municipal electricity tariffs rose by an average of 9.01% from 1 July, following the 8.76% increase for Eskom's direct customers from 1 April. Several metros announced higher increases.
Source: Eskom statement on NERSA's FY2027 decision, 16 March 2026; EWN, 25 June 2026
The SARB Quarterly Bulletin (29 September) put household debt at 61.3% of disposable income in Q2 2026, down from 62.1%, and the household debt-service cost ratio at 9.4%, down from 9.5%. These are national averages for all households, not for consumers in debt review.
Source: SARB Quarterly Bulletin, September 2026
Issued in June, the guideline confirms that the 60 business days in section 86(10) do not restart on a transfer, that a transfer must be processed within 7 business days, and that a transfer may be refused only for missing documents or fees owed.
Source: NCR Guideline 004/2026, June 2026
In July the NCR warned debt counsellors about a fraudulent email made to look like it came from the Debt Help System.
Source: NCR Circular 03 of 2026, July 2026
The NCR asked for comment on revised codes of conduct for debt counsellors and for credit providers, and on a new code for payment distribution agents. Comments closed on 12 August.
Source: NCR Circular 04 of 2026, August 2026
In August the NCR amended its guideline on submitting credit information so that buy-now-pay-later accounts are reported to the bureaus.
Source: NCR Guideline 006/2026 and Circular 05 of 2026, August 2026
On 15 September the National Consumer Tribunal, on a referral by the NCR, cancelled a debt counsellor's registration and imposed a R1 million fine.
Source: NCR media release, September 2026
The NCR's Consumer Credit Market Report for Q2 2026 recorded R165.25 billion of new credit granted (down 0.53% on Q1) and a credit application rejection rate of 67.73%.
Source: NCR Consumer Credit Market Report, Q2 2026
Net monthly income and the share of it that goes to debt repayments
Monthly income on clients' debt review budgets
Monthly debt repayments as a share of monthly income
New Q2 applicants measured the same way: 47.4% / 46.8%. Quarterly intake samples are small, so treat the intake move as indicative.
Key Insight: The R10k-R20k band is 39.5% of our clients. More than half of all clients (56.1%) spend over 40% of income on debt repayments, and 27.7% spend over 60%.
What clients owe on accounts under restructuring, by rand value and by how many clients hold each type
Percentage of total debt under restructuring
Percentage of clients with at least one such account
| Debt type | Share of balance | Clients holding |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Loans | 19.2% | 70.1% |
| Credit Cards | 6.9% | 51.5% |
| Retail Credit | 2.4% | 50.5% |
| Vehicle Finance | 25.7% | 40.2% |
| Other Credit | 2.8% | 37.6% |
| Micro-loans | 4.4% | 31.6% |
| Home Loans | 35.1% | 17.3% |
| Overdrafts | 1.4% | 16.8% |
| Collections | 2.2% | 15.1% |
60.8% / 39.2%
Secured / Unsecured by balance
Home loans and vehicle finance carry most of the rand value, but they sit on fewer files. Unsecured credit is spread across most clients.
31.6%
Clients with a micro-loan
Micro-loans are only 4.4% of the balance, but almost a third of clients have one.
Shares of balance may not add to 100% because of rounding.
Average contract rate against the rate agreed in restructuring, on accounts with both rates recorded
| Credit type | Contract rate | Restructured rate | Reduction | Accounts with a lower rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unsecured credit | 21.55% | 9.26% | 12.29pp | 77.8% |
| Vehicle finance | 12.86% | 9.44% | 3.42pp | 69.9% |
| Home loans | 9.93% | 8.55% | 1.38pp | 71% |
| All accounts | 20.23% | 9.25% | 10.98pp | - |
From application to the date the debt review court order was granted
220 days
Median (about 7 months)
148 days
Fastest quarter of matters took up to
331 days
Three quarters of matters were done within
Matters with both an application date and a court order date on file, March 2020 to September 2026.
Status of every NDRC debt review client in our case system, as at 26 October 2026
28.8%
Completed
9.3%
Active & paying
35.2%
Suspended
26%
Cancelled
0.7%
Other
Suspended splits into 19.6% in arrears and 15.6% not paying at all. "Other" is matters waiting on fees or returned to the client.
Where each year's applicants stand today
| Year | Completed | Active | Cancelled | Suspended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 7% | 0% | 41.9% | 51.2% |
| 2021 | 9% | 8.4% | 20.6% | 61.9% |
| 2022 | 11.2% | 8.2% | 37.8% | 42.9% |
| 2023 | 40.2% | 11.2% | 27% | 21.6% |
| 2024 | 48.6% | 8.6% | 17.6% | 25.2% |
| 2025 | 44.7% | 6.5% | 20.5% | 28.4% |
| 2026 (Jan-Sep) | 20.8% | 22.9% | 18.1% | 32.6% |
Recent years show more active matters because those clients are still paying. Rows may not add to 100% because a small share of matters are waiting on fees or were returned.
Age, gender and marital status, with the debt-service ratio for each age band
Share of clients by age at 30 September 2026
53.3%
Male
46.7%
Female
Average share of income going to debt repayments
| Age band | Share of clients | Avg debt-service ratio |
|---|---|---|
| 18-25 | 1.1% | 42.1% |
| 26-35 | 27.2% | 43.8% |
| 36-45 | 38.6% | 46.7% |
| 46-55 | 20.9% | 45.3% |
| 56+ | 12.2% | 46.7% |
Every age band averages above 40%. The highest ratio, 46.7%, is shared by the 36-45 and 56+ bands.
The average debt-service ratio rose 1.2 points to 45.6%. September's repo increase to 7.25% lifts the cost of prime-linked credit, and fuel increases in September and October take more from the same income.
Home loans and vehicle finance are 60.8% of the outstanding balance. Seven in ten clients have a personal loan, half have a credit card and half have retail credit. Micro-loans are only 4.4% of the balance but appear on 31.6% of files.
Unsecured accounts fell from an average of 21.55% to 9.26%. Vehicle finance fell 3.42 points and home loans 1.38 points; their contract rates start much lower.
Suspended matters are 35.2% of the portfolio, with 15.6% marked as not paying at all. Rising unemployment (33.6%) and a contracting economy make payment breaks more likely in Q4.
With the repo rate at 7.25%, September inflation at 4.5% and a large October fuel increase, we expect debt-service ratios to stay above 45% in Q4. The R10k-R20k band, 39.5% of our clients, is where most of that pressure will land.
All data is anonymised and aggregated. No personally identifiable information is disclosed. This report complies with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
This report is based on anonymised data derived from debt review and debt review removal matters managed by The National Debt Review Center across South Africa. The data reflects operational outcomes within the NDRC client base and is not presented as a comprehensive reflection of all debt review matters nationally.
Percentages, averages, and timeframes reflect observed patterns within the reporting period and may vary depending on creditor behaviour, court scheduling, and consumer compliance. Where approximations are used, they are clearly indicated and applied conservatively.
The National Debt Review Center is a registered debt counselling practice operating in terms of the National Credit Act. All observations are presented for educational and policy discussion purposes and do not constitute legal advice.