Loans under debt review: when you can borrow again

Short answer: no, not a normal loan. Section 88 of the National Credit Act says that a consumer who has applied for debt review must not take on any further credit agreement, other than a consolidation agreement, and must not incur further charges on a credit facility such as a card or overdraft, until the review ends one of three ways (next section). The ban starts when the application is filed, not when it is approved.

The rule also covers the lender. A lender that gives credit to someone in debt review risks the agreement being declared reckless, and you carry the other half of the risk: if you take credit contrary to the rule, the protections of the reckless-lending part of the Act no longer apply to that agreement (section 88(5)). Two practical results:

• A lender that offers a loan “for debt review clients” without asking about your review is not following the rules, or is not a lender at all.
• Applying anyway rarely helps. A registered lender must run an affordability check that reads your bureau profile, where the review status is recorded.

Emergencies still happen. If you need money now, talk to your debt counsellor first: the counsellor can tell you what the review allows, whether a consolidation agreement is an option, and whether the creditors can re-arrange the payments.

Review ending soon? Compare lenders for when your review ends: amounts, terms and documents side by side, with the source and date.

Section 88(1) lists the events that lift the ban. The steps of the process itself are in how debt review works; for borrowing, three events matter:

1. The counsellor rejects your application and the time to apply directly to the court has passed without you doing so.
2. A court decides that you are not over-indebted, or rejects the counsellor’s proposal or your application.
3. The re-arrangement is fulfilled. A court order or an agreement with your creditors re-arranges your payments, and every obligation under the re-arranged agreements is paid up. If you fulfilled them through a consolidation agreement, the ban continues until that agreement is paid.

The clearance certificate. When the obligations under the re-arrangement are paid up, the debt counsellor must issue it within seven days and file a certified copy with the national register and the bureaus, and a bureau that receives it must remove the debt-review record and the defaults that led to the review (section 71). If the counsellor does not issue it, you can ask the National Consumer Tribunal to review the decision.

There is no fixed waiting period in the Act after the certificate. What counts is what a lender sees: check your report at each bureau and confirm the entry is gone before you apply. How to check your credit score has the steps and how to dispute an entry that is still there.

When the review is over, compare lenders on what they ask for, not on the promise in the advert: the amount you really need, the term you can carry, the documents, the total repayable in rand and the NCR registration number. A smaller amount for a shorter term is easier to get and cheaper in fees. Applying to many lenders at once leaves many enquiries on your report, so compare first and apply once.

The table in the section below shows what seven lenders on our list state on their sites.

People in debt review are a target. The National Credit Regulator has warned about fake providers that use slogans such as “blacklisted” or “debt review clients welcome”, and its advice is that the Act does not allow a credit provider to ask for an upfront payment to release a loan. Walk away from any “lender” that:

• asks for a fee, “insurance”, a “deposit” or a “release payment” before the money arrives, whatever it is called;
• promises a loan to everyone under review, or a yes before it has looked at your income;
• works only through WhatsApp or social media, with no company registration and no NCR number;
• wants your ID, bank card or PIN as security. Holding them is not allowed under the Act;
• offers to “remove” the debt-review record for a fee. The route is the clearance certificate from your counsellor, and a bureau must remove the record when it receives the certificate (section 71); no paid service is needed.

Check any lender in the NCR register of credit providers before you send documents. How to check a lender is registered: every lender page on Tasamira shows its NCRCP number and the date we checked the register.

Lenders do not publish a separate rule for people who have just left debt review. What they publish is the documents and the checks, so those are what to prepare. Seven lenders on our list, ordered by the longest term stated; Kredio, whose term is set in the quotation, comes last. Kredio and Cashgist from their websites (27 Oct 2026), the others from our cards (25 Oct 2026). It is not a ranking.

“No” means the lender’s site does not mention debt review (read 27 Oct 2026). It does not mean the lender will ignore it: the assessment reads your bureau profile, and a clearance certificate is what removes the record. Creditbar and Kredio say a lower score does not automatically disqualify an applicant.

Longest stated term on the list: Century: up to 180 days, per its site, with fees and interest published on its page.

Only in a narrow case. During a review the Act allows a consolidation agreement, because it replaces debts rather than adding them, but ask your counsellor before you sign anything. A consolidation loan is a product you buy and repay yourself; debt review is a legal process. The full comparison, with a worked example and a checklist, is in debt consolidation loans.