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SettleADebt C_ZA PASS-13 — South Africa

NCA agreement, applicability and debt-type classification gateway

Focused component: Reviewed P05 D11 — full product and debt-type coverage.

Fresh research access: 26 October 2026 PDT; 27 October 2026 UTC and SAST. Exact source-opening clock times were not logged and are unknown.

Mode and provenance: Regular Chat with public primary-source browsing. The coordinator-selected model family and power are not independently exposed here; no Pro, quota-reset, measured-ranking or independent-review claim is made. P06, P10 and P12 remain saved but unreviewed and are not adopted as premises.

Scope: This pass classifies agreements and parties under the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (NCA). It does not decide whether any actual agreement is valid, enforceable, reckless, in default, eligible for debt review, subject to prescription, lawfully collected, or offered by an authorised provider.

Principal disposition

An NCA classification should proceed in this order:

1. Party, nexus and arm’s-length gateway: Is the agreement made at arm’s length, within or having effect within South Africa, and not excluded because of the consumer’s status, the South African Reserve Bank, or an approved foreign-credit-provider transaction?
2. Agreement-type gateway: Does the arrangement actually satisfy the elements of a credit facility, credit transaction or credit guarantee under §8?
3. Monetary category: If it is a covered credit agreement, is it small, intermediate or large under §9?
4. Limited-application overlays: Is it incidental credit, or is the consumer a juristic person for whom only part of the NCA applies?
5. Separate regulatory questions: Does the provider need registration, and do debt-review, reckless-credit, disclosure, fee, enforcement or remedy provisions apply?

A transaction can fail at any earlier gateway regardless of its amount. For example, an agreement with a juristic consumer can be wholly outside the NCA because the consumer’s combined asset value or turnover is at least the statutory threshold; a below-threshold juristic consumer’s large agreement can also be excluded; and a deferred payment is not necessarily credit if no legally relevant charge, fee or interest is payable. DTIC+4

The monetary instruments established in this pass are:

• R1,000,000 — juristic-person asset-value or annual-turnover threshold under §7(1)(a);
• R15,000 — lower agreement-category threshold under §7(1)(b);
• R250,000 — higher agreement-category threshold under §7(1)(b).

They appear in Ministerial Notice 713 of 2006. Section 2(4) says a threshold continues until a successor takes effect. A November 2024 NCR presentation continued to use R1 million and R250,000, but did not independently restate the R15,000 lower threshold. The figures are therefore treated as the last gazetted thresholds established in this research, with the lower-threshold supersession chain still expressly held. South African Government+3

G1. Current NCA scope and definitions

G1.1 Source edition, amendment and commencement

The original NCA was enacted in March 2006. Chapter 1, including §§1–11, commenced on 1 June 2006. The government’s official legislative record identifies the staged commencement dates and Gazette 28824 of 11 May 2006. South African Government+1

The 2014 amendment changed the definitions of mortgage and mortgage agreement. The current enacted definition of a mortgage agreement requires registration of a mortgage bond by the Registrar of Deeds over immovable property. Act 19 of 2014 commenced under Proclamation R.10 of 2015 on 13 March 2015. South African Government+1

The dtic-hosted compilation used for integrated reading identifies amendments, but it also displays 2019 debt-intervention provisions as pending. It is therefore a useful dated consolidation rather than a certified October 2026 consolidation. Nothing in this pass treats the held 2019 module as operative. DTIC

G1.2 “Consumer,” natural persons and juristic persons

The NCA defines the consumer by role under the particular agreement. Depending on the category, the consumer may be:

• the party receiving goods or services under a discount, incidental-credit or instalment agreement;
• the person advanced money under a pawn transaction;
• the party to whom credit is extended under a facility;
• a mortgagor;
• a borrower under a secured loan;
• a lessee;
• a guarantor; or
• the party to whom credit is otherwise advanced. Justice+2

A juristic person includes a partnership, association or other corporate or unincorporated body, and certain trusts—specifically a trust with at least three individual trustees or with a juristic person as trustee. A stokvel is excluded from the juristic-person definition. The actual trust deed and trustee configuration therefore matter. DTIC+1

A natural person does not become a juristic person merely because credit was used for a business. A sole proprietor borrowing in their own legal capacity remains a natural person for this classification, subject to the actual contracting parties and all other exclusions. Business purpose can be material elsewhere, but it is not itself a juristic-person conversion rule.

G1.3 Territorial nexus

Section 4 generally applies to an arm’s-length credit agreement:

• made within South Africa; or
• having effect within South Africa,

subject to the section’s listed exclusions. Justice+1

The NCA can apply even if the credit provider is outside South Africa. Once the NCA applies to an agreement, it continues to apply even if a party later ceases residing or having its principal office in South Africa, and it applies to acts and omissions under that agreement occurring outside South Africa. DTIC+1

A separate exclusion exists for an agreement with a foreign credit provider where the Minister has approved the agreement on the consumer’s application in the prescribed manner. That is a fact- and instrument-specific approval route, not a general foreign-provider exemption. DTIC

G1.4 State, organs of state, the Reserve Bank and public providers

The NCA excludes an agreement where the consumer is:

• the State; or
• an organ of state.

It also excludes an agreement where the credit provider is the South African Reserve Bank. DTIC

Different treatment applies when the State, an organ of state, a State-controlled entity or the Land and Agricultural Development Bank acts as credit provider. Section 4(3) preserves NCA application in the stated provider-side circumstances. The actor’s side of the agreement therefore matters; “government-related” is not a single blanket exclusion. DTIC

G1.5 Arm’s-length requirement

The NCA applies only to credit agreements made at arm’s length. Section 4(2)(b) gives non-exhaustive examples of arrangements that are not at arm’s length:

• a shareholder loan by a person controlling a juristic consumer;
• credit from a juristic provider to a person who controls it;
• a family relationship where the parties are co-dependent or one depends on the other; and
• another arrangement in which the parties are not independent and do not necessarily strive for the utmost possible advantage, or which the law otherwise recognises as not arm’s length. DTIC

The shareholder example is not a general exclusion for every loan between a company and any shareholder. Control, direction of credit and party roles matter. Likewise, family status alone is not enough where the statutory dependence relationship is absent.

No blanket employment-loan exception was established. An employer–employee arrangement still requires an arm’s-length and §8 analysis; dependence, terms, charges and the actual legal relationship can be material.

G1.6 Juristic-person threshold

A credit agreement is outside the NCA where the consumer is a juristic person whose:

• asset value; or
• annual turnover,

together with the combined asset value or annual turnover of all related juristic persons, equals or exceeds the threshold at the time the agreement is made. DTIC+1

Juristic persons are related where one controls the other or both are controlled by the same person. DTIC

For this purpose, the value is the figure stated by the juristic person when applying for or entering into the agreement. That does not validate a false or mistaken declaration; it identifies the statutory measurement point. DTIC

The Ministerial threshold is R1,000,000. Equality therefore falls on the exclusion side:

R1,000,000 ≥ R1,000,000 → §4(1)(a)(i) exclusion applies, assuming the other predicates are satisfied. South African Government+1

G1.7 Large agreements with below-threshold juristic consumers

Even when a juristic consumer is below R1 million, the NCA does not apply to a large agreement with that juristic consumer. A mortgage agreement is large regardless of amount; another qualifying credit transaction is large where principal debt is at or above the higher threshold. DTIC+2

This exclusion concerns juristic consumers. A large agreement with a natural-person consumer is not excluded merely because it is large.

G1.8 Limited application where a juristic consumer remains covered

Where an agreement with a juristic consumer is not excluded by §4, the NCA can still apply only partially. Section 6 excludes:

• Chapter 4, Parts C and D;
• §89(2)(b);
• §90(2)(o); and
• Chapter 5, Part C.

Because Chapter 4 Part D contains over-indebtedness and debt review, an eligible juristic-person credit agreement is not thereby admitted to the individual statutory debt-review regime. Other NCA provisions can remain applicable. DTIC+1

G1.9 Incidental credit has limited, not absent, NCA coverage

Only the following NCA provisions apply to incidental credit:

• Chapters 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9;
• Chapter 3, §§54 and 59;
• Chapter 4, Parts A and B;
• Chapter 4, Part D, except reckless-credit provisions;
• Chapter 5, Part C, subject to §5(3)(a);
• Chapter 5, Parts D and E after the agreement is deemed made under §5(2); and
• Chapter 6, Parts A and C. DTIC+1

The incidental-credit agreement is deemed made 20 business days after:

• the supplier first charges a late-payment fee or interest; or
• the higher pre-determined settlement price first becomes applicable,

unless the lower settlement value was paid before then. DTIC+1

A statement that incidental credit is “outside the NCA” would therefore be incorrect. It is subject to a specifically limited statutory package.

G1.10 Cheques, third-party cards and continuous services

A dishonoured cheque or a third-party card charge rejected after the seller accepted it as full payment does not, by itself, create an NCA credit agreement between seller and buyer. DTIC

A merchant does not become the consumer’s credit provider merely because the consumer pays through a third-party credit facility. The card issuer’s facility and the merchant’s sale are separate relationships. DTIC

A utility or continuous-service agreement is not a credit facility merely because the supplier bills periodically, where no §103 charge is imposed unless the consumer remains unpaid for at least 30 days after delivery of the statement. The overdue amount then becomes incidental credit to the extent stated in §5. DTIC

G1.11 Classification is not provider permission

Finding that an agreement is an NCA credit agreement does not, by itself, establish:

• that the provider is registered or exempt from registration;
• that the agreement is valid or enforceable;
• that statutory debt review is available;
• that the credit was not reckless;
• that fees or interest were lawfully calculated; or
• that collection or enforcement steps were lawful.

Those are separate modules. Conversely, an agreement being outside the NCA does not automatically make it valid, lawful or enforceable under contract, company, consumer, professional or common law.

G2. Credit categories and monetary gateways

G2.1 Core agreement categories

G2.2 Express exclusions from “credit agreement”

Section 8(2) excludes:

• an insurance policy;
• credit extended by an insurer solely to maintain payment of insurance premiums;
• a lease of immovable property; and
• a transaction between a stokvel and its member in accordance with the stokvel’s rules. DTIC+1

These are agreement-type exclusions. They are distinct from the party/status exclusions in §4.

G2.3 Deferral alone is not necessarily credit

In Asmal v Essa, the Supreme Court of Appeal held that the relevant facility and “other credit transaction” provisions require a charge, fee or interest. Indeterminate profit shares that were not quantified and might never become payable did not satisfy that requirement; the loans were not NCA credit agreements where no qualifying charges attached. Supreme Court of Appeal+2

In Nel v Cilliers, the Supreme Court of Appeal held that deferral of a R30 million share-sale amount did not create an §8(4)(f) credit agreement because no charge, fee or interest was payable on the purchase price. Supreme Court of Appeal+1

These decisions do not establish that every interest-free arrangement is outside the NCA. Named categories such as a discount transaction or incidental credit may have their own statutory tests. The complete agreement must still be classified.

G2.4 Periodic payment is not automatically deferral

In ABSA Technology Finance Solutions v Michael’s Bid a House, the Supreme Court of Appeal held that monthly rent payable in advance was not a deferral of an existing payment obligation. The agreement was a common-law rental, not the NCA-defined lease, and there was no qualifying fee, charge or interest under §8(4)(f). Supreme Court of Appeal+3

A payment schedule therefore does not automatically make an agreement credit. The payment must actually be deferred from a time when it was otherwise owed, and the relevant statutory charge element must be present where required.

G2.5 Threshold instrument and continuing status

Notice 713 of 2006 sets:

The notice is on zero-based PDF page 0, printed Gazette page 3. South African Government

Section 2(4) says a threshold continues in effect until a subsequent threshold takes effect. Section 7(3) says a subsequent threshold takes effect six months after publication in the Gazette. DTIC+2

A November 2024 NCR presentation continued to state the R1 million juristic threshold and the R250,000 higher threshold. It discussed proposals for change, not a replacement Gazette notice. DTIC+1

Currentness qualification: No later official threshold instrument was established in the bounded search. That is not proof that none exists. P13 treats Notice 713 as the last operative instrument established, while retaining an explicit full-supersession hold—especially for the lower R15,000 threshold, which the 2024 presentation did not separately restate.

G2.6 Small, intermediate and large agreements

Small

A credit agreement is small if it is:

• any pawn transaction;
• a credit facility with a credit limit at or below R15,000; or
• another credit transaction, excluding a mortgage agreement or guarantee, with principal debt at or below R15,000. DTIC

Intermediate

A credit agreement is intermediate if it is:

• a credit facility with credit limit above R15,000; or
• another credit transaction, excluding pawn, mortgage and guarantee, whose principal debt falls between R15,000 and R250,000. DTIC

The natural reading of “between,” when read with the express equality rules in the small and large categories, is:

R15,000 < principal debt < R250,000.

Large

A credit agreement is large if it is:

• a mortgage agreement, regardless of principal amount; or
• another credit transaction, excluding pawn and guarantee, with principal debt at or above R250,000. DTIC

Credit facilities above R250,000

The literal §9 structure places a facility with a limit above the lower threshold in the intermediate category. The large-agreement limb applies to mortgage agreements and “other credit transactions,” not facilities. P13 does not rewrite that text merely because the facility limit exceeds R250,000.

Credit guarantees

Although §9(1) says every credit agreement is characterised as small, intermediate or large, each amount-based limb excludes credit guarantees. P13 therefore does not invent an independent guarantee category based on the guaranteed amount. Its primary classification follows §§4(2)(c) and 8(5), and the underlying facility or transaction. DTIC+2

G2.7 Principal debt versus total cost

For an ordinary transaction, the monetary category is based on principal debt, not the total amount that might ultimately be paid.

Section 101(1)(a) describes principal debt as:

• the amount deferred under the agreement; plus
• any item permitted to be included under §102.

Initiation fees, service fees, interest, insurance, default-administration charges and collection costs appear as separate cost-of-credit categories, although certain §102 items can be capitalised into principal debt for specified agreements. DTIC+3

For a credit facility, §7(2) says the relevant principal debt is the credit limit, not the balance currently drawn. DTIC+1

G2.8 Mortgage and secured-loan distinction

A mortgage agreement requires a registered mortgage bond over immovable property. South African Government

A secured loan concerns a pledge or cession of title to movable property or another thing of value, and excludes an instalment agreement. It is therefore wrong to classify every collateralised loan as a mortgage. DTIC+1

G2.9 Guarantee follows the underlying agreement

Section 4(2)(c) applies the NCA to a guarantee only to the extent that the Act applies to the underlying facility or transaction. Section 8(5) likewise defines a credit guarantee by reference to another consumer’s NCA-covered obligation. DTIC+1

In Da Silva v Slip Knot Investments, the SCA held that guarantees supporting large juristic-person mortgage/secured loans outside the NCA were themselves outside the NCA. The appeal was dismissed. Supreme Court of Appeal+2

A natural-person guarantor does not independently pull an excluded corporate underlying agreement into the NCA merely because the guarantor is natural.

G3. Bounded official precedent register and classification implications

These are generic published merits authorities. P13 did not conduct a full current citator, identify later treatment of every proposition, or search any private docket.

G4. Twelve fictional classification workflows

Each example is fictional. No actual borrower, provider, company, debt, property or agreement is being classified.

Workflow 1 — Immediate cash sale

Assumed facts

• Natural-person buyer.
• Goods cost R8,000.
• Entire price paid immediately.
• No deferred amount, later price, fee or interest.
• Parties are independent.

Classification: Ordinary cash sale, not a credit facility or transaction. There is no deferral or promise to advance credit. C_ZA-P13-C023, C039, C041.

Adverse branch: A dishonoured cheque accepted as full payment does not by itself transform the sale into an NCA agreement. C027.

Missing facts: None material to the fictional classification; any separate fraud or collection issue is outside scope.

Workflow 2 — Interest-bearing store card

Assumed facts

• Natural-person consumer can draw amounts from time to time.
• Provider bills monthly.
• Unpaid balances attract interest.
• Credit limit: R12,000.
• Arm’s-length South African agreement.

Classification: Credit facility under §8(3).

Category arithmetic

R12,000 ≤ R15,000 lower threshold → small agreement.

Adverse branch: If the merchant merely accepts a third-party bank card, the merchant is not the credit provider solely because of that payment. The bank facility must be analysed separately. C023, C027, C046, C053.

Workflow 3 — Overdraft above the lower threshold

Assumed facts

• Natural-person bank customer.
• Overdraft limit: R100,000.
• Amounts are available from time to time.
• Interest applies to amounts used.

Classification: Credit facility.

Category arithmetic

R100,000 > R15,000 → intermediate agreement.

The R250,000 higher threshold does not convert a facility into a large agreement under the literal §9 categories.

Adverse branch: A temporary unauthorised negative balance may involve different agreement and facility facts.

Missing facts: Facility contract, authorised limit and charge terms. C023, C047, C050.

Workflow 4 — Ordinary unsecured term loan with interest

Assumed facts

• Natural-person borrower receives R80,000.
• Repayment deferred for 24 months.
• Interest is payable.
• No movable pledge or mortgage bond.

Classification: “Other credit transaction” under §8(4)(f), assuming the agreement is arm’s length and no exclusion applies.

Category arithmetic

R15,000 < R80,000 < R250,000 → intermediate agreement.

Adverse branch: If no charge, fee or interest is payable, simple deferral may not satisfy §8(4)(f), as illustrated by Asmal and Nel. C039, C040, C047, C057–C058.

Workflow 5 — Movable-goods instalment agreement

Assumed facts

• Consumer buys equipment.
• Cash price deferred in 36 periodic payments.
• Consumer takes possession immediately.
• Ownership passes after final payment.
• Interest is charged.
• Principal debt: R120,000.

Classification: Instalment agreement because the property is movable, payment is deferred periodically, possession transfers, ownership transfers later and charges apply.

Category

R15,000 < R120,000 < R250,000 → intermediate.

Adverse branch: If ownership never passes, the arrangement may instead be a common-law rental or another category. C035, C047, C059.

Workflow 6 — Periodic movable-property payments with no charge

Assumed facts

• Movable item delivered.
• Price paid in equal monthly instalments.
• No interest, fee, higher later price or other charge.
• Ownership passes after final payment.

Classification: The arrangement does not satisfy the NCA’s defined instalment-agreement charge element. It also does not satisfy §8(4)(f) merely from deferral, because that limb requires a charge, fee or interest.

Adverse branch: If the agreement has a lower timely-settlement price and a higher later price, it might be a discount transaction. A hidden or separately stated fee could also change the result. C035, C039–C040, C057–C058.

Missing facts: Complete price terms and any repossession or finance charge.

Workflow 7 — Medical or municipal service arrears

Assumed facts A — medical account

• Service supplied and invoiced at R4,000.
• No fee or interest if paid on time.
• A disclosed late charge applies after default.

Classification: Potential incidental credit, subject to the definition and §5 timing.

Assumed facts B — utility statement

• Supplier bills periodically.
• No §103 charge applies unless the account remains unpaid for at least 30 days after statement delivery.

Classification: Not a credit facility merely because of billing; the overdue amount becomes incidental credit under §4(6)(b).

Adverse branch: An unpaid invoice with no late fee, interest or dual-price arrangement may not meet the incidental-credit definition merely because it remains unpaid. C028–C030.

Missing facts: Original disclosures, statement delivery, late-charge date and amount.

Workflow 8 — Residential rent versus NCA-defined lease

Assumed facts A

• Apartment rented monthly.
• Tenant never obtains ownership.
• Rent due monthly in advance.

Classification: Lease of immovable property, expressly excluded by §8(2)(b).

Assumed facts B

• Machine rented monthly.
• Ownership does not pass.
• Payments are due in advance.
• No fee, charge or interest for deferral.

Classification: Likely common-law movable rental, not the NCA-defined lease and not §8(4)(f), consistent with ABSA Technology.

Adverse branch: A movable-property arrangement under which ownership passes at the end and finance charges apply may satisfy the NCA lease definition. C025, C038–C040, C059.

Workflow 9 — Natural-person surety for excluded corporate loan

Assumed facts

• Corporate borrower is below R1 million threshold.
• Underlying principal debt is R600,000.
• Agreement is a secured loan or mortgage.
• Natural person signs a suretyship.

Underlying agreement

R600,000 ≥ R250,000 → large agreement.

Because the consumer is juristic, §4(1)(b) excludes the underlying large agreement.

Guarantee

The NCA follows the underlying agreement; the natural-person surety does not independently create coverage.

Adverse branch: If the later agreement is genuinely a new principal obligation rather than an accessory guarantee, it requires fresh classification. C013, C022, C048–C049, C056, C060.

Workflow 10 — Below-threshold corporate consumer, non-large agreement

Assumed facts

• Juristic consumer’s stated asset value: R600,000.
• Annual turnover: R800,000.
• No related juristic persons.
• Unsecured term loan principal: R100,000.
• Arm’s-length transaction with interest.

Party threshold

Both measures are below R1 million.

Agreement category

R15,000 < R100,000 < R250,000 → intermediate.

Classification: NCA can apply, but §6 removes specified provisions, including Chapter 4 Parts C and D and Chapter 5 Part C.

Adverse branch: If related entities push combined asset value or turnover to R1 million, the whole agreement is excluded under §4(1)(a)(i). C009–C14, C031–C032, C047.

Workflow 11 — Corporate consumer exactly at R1 million

Assumed facts

• Juristic consumer’s annual turnover stated at agreement date: R1,000,000.
• Asset value is lower.
• Agreement principal: R10,000.
• Otherwise arm’s length.

Threshold arithmetic

R1,000,000 = R1,000,000 threshold.

Because the statutory language is equals or exceeds, the agreement is excluded under §4(1)(a)(i), regardless of the small principal amount.

Adverse branch: If the correct stated turnover were R999,999 and no related persons existed, the threshold exclusion would not apply; the agreement and limited-application rules would still require classification. C009–C012, C055.

Workflow 12 — Principal below higher threshold, total payments above it

Assumed facts

• Natural-person borrower.
• Amount deferred: R240,000.
• No §102 item is capitalised into principal.
• Separately payable initiation fee: R5,000.
• Expected interest over term: R40,000.
• Total expected payments: R285,000.

Principal calculation

Principal debt = R240,000.

R15,000 < R240,000 < R250,000 → intermediate agreement.

The separate fee and expected interest do not, on these stipulated facts, turn principal into R285,000.

Adverse branch: If a permitted §102 item is validly included in principal and takes principal to R250,000, the large-agreement boundary is reached. C047, C051–C054.

Workflow 13 — Small mortgage

Assumed facts

• Registered mortgage bond over immovable property.
• Principal debt: R50,000.
• Natural-person mortgagor.

Classification: Mortgage agreement and therefore a large agreement regardless of amount.

R50,000 < R250,000, but the mortgage-specific rule controls.

Adverse branch: If there is no registered mortgage bond and only movable collateral is pledged, the arrangement may be a secured loan rather than a mortgage. C036–C037, C049.

Four reproducible threshold-boundary calculations

Example A — juristic threshold equality

Inputs

• Juristic consumer annual turnover: R1,000,000
• Related-person amount: R0
• Threshold: R1,000,000

Calculation

R1,000,000 + R0 = R1,000,000

R1,000,000 ≥ R1,000,000

Result: §4(1)(a)(i) exclusion is triggered, subject to the accuracy and relevance of the input at the agreement date.

Alternative

R999,999 + R0 < R1,000,000

The threshold exclusion is not triggered, but a large agreement may still be excluded. DTIC+1

Example B — lower boundary for a facility

Inputs

• Facility limit A: R15,000
• Facility limit B: R15,000.01
• Lower threshold: R15,000

Calculations

R15,000 ≤ R15,000 → small

R15,000.01 > R15,000 → intermediate

No rounding rule was established. The one-cent variation is used only to show the statutory equality boundary. South African Government+1

Example C — upper boundary for an ordinary credit transaction

Inputs

• Principal A: R249,999.99
• Principal B: R250,000
• Higher threshold: R250,000
• Agreement is not pawn, mortgage or guarantee.

Calculations

R15,000 < R249,999.99 < R250,000 → intermediate

R250,000 ≥ R250,000 → large

No interest or separately payable service fee is added to principal unless the NCA’s principal-debt rules permit it. South African Government+2

Example D — amount deferred versus total cost

Inputs

• Amount deferred: R240,000
• Separately payable fee: R5,000
• Expected interest: R40,000
• No §102 item capitalised
• Higher threshold: R250,000

Calculation

Principal debt = R240,000

Total expected payments = R240,000 + R5,000 + R40,000 = R285,000

R240,000 < R250,000 → intermediate, not large

Alternative

If R10,000 in qualifying §102 items were validly included:

Principal debt = R240,000 + R10,000 = R250,000

R250,000 ≥ R250,000 → large. DTIC+2

Example E — mortgage overrides amount

Inputs

• Principal debt: R50,000
• Registered mortgage bond: yes

Calculation

Mortgage agreement → large agreement

No comparison to R250,000 changes that category. South African Government+1

G5. Reviewed P05 D11 disposition

Full source register — C_ZA-P13-S001 onward

All fresh accesses occurred on 26 October 2026 PDT / 27 October 2026 UTC. Exact source-specific clock times are unknown.

Complete atomic claim register — C_ZA-P13-C001 onward

All claims are national and bounded. A066, A097 and A098 remain unaccepted.

Complete granular coverage register

G1 — Scope, parties, nexus and exceptions

G2 — Agreement types and thresholds

G3 — Published merits authorities

G4 — Fictional workflows and arithmetic

G5 — Reviewed gap and scope

Explicitly deferred legal families

Provincial and local register

The NCA is national legislation, but P13 did not examine province-specific courts, consumer bodies, local service rules, customary arrangements or venue questions.

Evidence-backed article, checklist and conditional-tool opportunities

Search and read audit

Official sources used:

• South African Government and Department of Justice for the NCA, amendment Act, commencement metadata and threshold notice.
• dtic and NCR for an integrated NCA compilation and 2024 application presentation.
• Supreme Court of Appeal for four bounded published merits judgments.

Representative searches included:

• site:gov.za National Credit Act 34 of 2005 sections 4 8 9
• site:gov.za National Credit Act threshold Notice 713
• site:thedtic.gov.za National Credit Act threshold R1 000 000 R250 000
• site:supremecourtofappeal.org.za NCA section 8 charge fee interest
• site:supremecourtofappeal.org.za NCA lease deferred rental
• site:supremecourtofappeal.org.za credit guarantee juristic large agreement

Material limits:

1. The integrated dtic Act contains pending 2019 text; original and amending bodies were used for material definitions.
2. No complete post-2006 threshold Gazette register was available. Notice 713, §2(4) and 2024 NCR usage support the stated position, but no permanent nonexistence claim is made.
3. The R15,000 lower threshold was not independently restated in the 2024 presentation.
4. The selected cases resolve narrow classification questions; no complete current citator was run.
5. No actual party, contract, account, property, company, provider, licence or private case record was searched.
6. No contact, filing, complaint, record request, payment, account change, purchase or publication occurred.

Researcher self-check and displayed counts

Consistency self-check

• Party and arm’s-length gates precede monetary classification.
• R1 million equality is treated as “equals or exceeds.”
• R15,000 equality is small.
• R250,000 equality is large for an eligible credit transaction.
• A mortgage is large regardless of amount.
• A high-limit facility is not silently recategorised as large.
• Principal debt is separated from expected total payments.
• §102 capitalisation remains a qualified alternative.
• Deferral alone is not called credit.
• Periodic payments alone are not called credit.
• Residential rent is not treated as an NCA lease.
• Secured loan and mortgage are separated.
• Natural-person surety status does not override an excluded underlying corporate agreement.
• Incidental credit is not called wholly outside the NCA.
• Covered juristic agreements are recognised as partially regulated under §6.
• No debt-review, provider-registration, validity or enforcement result is inferred.
• P06, P10 and P12 are not adopted.
• The 2019 debt-intervention hold remains.
• No province, locality, A066, A097, A098 or country component is accepted.

Exact next primary-source question

For a specified agreement, who is the legal consumer and credit provider; are they at arm’s length; what asset, turnover and related-person values applied on the agreement date; what amount was actually deferred; what charges or interest were contractually payable; what property and security were involved; and do those facts place the agreement within a particular §8 type and §9 monetary category or an exclusion under §§4, 5, 6 or 8(2)?

Final P13 disposition: P05 D11 moves from wholly deferred to partial substantive national coverage. The NCA applicability, agreement-type and monetary-category gateway is established, but every actual contract, current-threshold supersession issue, provider permission, debt-review effect, enforcement consequence, provincial/local issue and A066/A097/A098 acceptance remains held.

END C_ZA PASS-13