Chairperson, let me start by thanking all the members of this House who have generally supported this important piece of legislation.
I also would like to add my voice to those who have wished the hon McIntosh well in his life after Parliament, which awaits all of us at some point or another.
I also would like to comment on one or two matters. First of all, in response to the hon McIntosh, I think Mr Swanepoel gave us a very good indication just now of what the removal exercise is about.
I would just add one more consideration. I think that if Mr X is sitting there and he cannot get his name cleared at the credit bureau or can't get the removal of these labels unless he goes to court and pays a fortune, why should Mr X bother to settle the debt in the first place? So it can have a perverse effect of that sort.
I think that we are going into a much more rigorous but also a sensitive process of dealing with this important matter. I just want to say to him that the regulations that we published yesterday were done in terms of the existing National Credit Act and were not dependent on the amendments.
However, they are regulations that are in line with the spirit of the amending Bill, so we thought that the timing of signing them off and bringing them in at this time was appropriate. Nonetheless, I should just say they were certainly not in any way rushed through.
We held consultations at great length with the select committee, and the proposed notice was put out for consultation on 30 September 2013. So there has been a lot of thought and a lot of effort that has gone into it.
In response to one of the remarks of the hon Marais, I should say that we had a lot of engagement with the credit bureaus; we listened to what they had to say and understood their administrative processes. That is why, although they will not be able to use that adverse information and supply it to anybody after 1 April 2014, they will have a further two months to remove it from their records so that it is compatible with their administrative processes.
In response to the hon Nkomo, I would say that the proposal that came from the hon Oriani-Ambrosini was moving in the right direction, but I think what we understood here is that the interest charges, which are already regulated, are but one part of the whole picture.
There are a series of other charges and some of those fees are not subject to regulation. In particular, one of those we included was the life assurance provisions related to credit. I think what we have said is that there will be a review of all those charges and that new regulations will be issued within a period of six months.
I want to say that the hon Hill-Lewis is of course correct that the whole issue of implementation and enforcement is quite critical. I don't know about the particular case he mentioned. He has handed it over to the credit regulator.
Of course, what we do want to see is enforcement. I don't think enforcement is simply a matter of expecting regulators, police and people like that to do all our work for us. If we get to know that there are illegally operating micro lenders in our constituencies, I think we should transmit that information to the NCR. I will ask them about the case that the hon member mentioned because, of course, what we want to see is that there is a prompt response where information is provided.
Let me just say by way of conclusion that I think we have a series of messages. We are saying to credit providers in this country that we expect them to engage in responsible and not reckless credit-lending, and that requires of them to conduct a proper affordability assessment.
Secondly, we are saying to consumers that we are not excusing them of the debts that they have incurred, but we will make it easier and simpler for them to rehabilitate themselves by removing all these impairments that have been hanging around their necks and that are at the moment very costly to remove. Those are the adverse credit records and the fact that even if they have paid off everything that is owed, their names are still stuck at the credit bureau for ages and ages.
I think that we have a good story to tell everybody. I would like to thank the DDG, the NCR and the portfolio committee for all the work that has been done on this Bill. I am pleased to see that at this stage of the parliamentary calendar, we are able to agree on something that is an important step forward for the people of this country. Thank you very much. [Applause.] Debate concluded.
Bill read a second time.