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Minister of Trade, Industry & Competition, Parks Tau.
The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, has announced the withdrawal of the National Credit Act amendment regulations after more than 20 000 submissions opposing the amendment were received before yesterdays deadline.
The proposed regulation, which would have allowed educational institutions to submit student debt information to credit bureaus, has been met with strong public opposition.
The draft amendments, published in the Government Gazette in August, triggered widespread fear that student debt could negatively affect graduates’ ability to access credit.
The department says the vast majority of these responses were opposing the regulations.
Minister Tau has committed to a revised process with focus on protecting students while also working to improve access to finance for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises – this to address the existing credit funding gap.
X POST | Formal statement from DTIC
Minister Tau withdraws the National Credit Act amendment regulations pic.twitter.com/DFF9QsCYzr
— the dtic (@the_dtic) September 11, 2025
The Economic Freedom Fighters(EFF) says that government’s decision to withdraw the draft credit regulations on student debt listing with credit bureaus was prompted by strong opposition from the party.
“Instead of coming up with progressive policies to say how do we grow our economy, how do we create jobs for young people, he opts to say let us blacklist students, majority of whom are already unemployed, majority of whom already don’t have their degrees and certificates because they owe institutions of higher learning money. So of course, we pushed back against it and I think the ministry could see that we are beginning to rally society against this regressive proposal – and I think it’s a victory for all youth and students in South Africa,”says EFF MP, Sihle Lonzi.
