DebtBusters review

DebtBusters says its debt counselling is handled by NCR-registered debt counsellors. The NCR register lists each of the four numbers above as a named individual who trades as DebtBusters. That is how registration works: counsellors are registered as individuals, and they can trade under a company or brand name.

A counsellor looks at your income, expenses and debts to decide whether you are over-indebted. If you are, the counsellor proposes reduced payments to your credit providers. Debt review does not cancel what you owe. It lowers your payments from your disposable income so that you can repay without borrowing more.

Debt review is also different from debt consolidation. The NCR describes consolidation as a single loan used to pay off all your debts. There is more in debt review vs debt consolidation.

• DebtBusters's website shows four NCR debt counsellor registration numbers: NCRDC1801, NCRDC2374, NCRDC2499, NCRDC4172 (image alt text: 'Registered debt counsellor'). The NCR register lists each as a named individual with trading name DebtBusters at 4th Floor, Mutual Park, Jan Smuts Drive, Pinelands. (debtbusters.co.za)
• The group PAIA manual lists DebtBusters (Pty) Ltd with company registration number 2007/026552/07, under Confluent Holdings (Pty) Ltd. (debtbusters.co.za)
• DebtBusters says it has been a debt counselling business since 2007. (debtbusters.co.za)
• DebtBusters says it has helped more than a million South Africans in almost 20 years (company claim). (debtbusters.co.za)
• DebtBusters advertises a 4.5/5 Google rating from over 10,000 reviews (company claim, not checked independently). (debtbusters.co.za)
• DebtBusters says it was named Top National Debt Counsellor and is a 9-time winner at the Debt Review Awards. (debtbusters.co.za)
• DebtBusters says debt counselling usually takes between two and three years, and that you will be debt-free within 60 months or sooner. (debtbusters.co.za)
• DebtBusters says you will be debt-free within 60 months or sooner and then receive a clearance certificate. (debtbusters.co.za)
• DebtBusters says its negotiations can cut repayments by up to 50% (marketing claim, depends on the client). (debtbusters.co.za)
• DebtBusters says you may qualify if over 50% of your income goes on debt or your debt-to-income ratio is above 40%, and that there is no minimum credit score. (debtbusters.co.za)
• DebtBusters has a client platform where you can log in or register to get a free credit report. (debtbusters.co.za)
• Applying takes a call on 086 999 0606 or the free call-back form. (debtbusters.co.za)

Fees as DebtBusters states them on its own website on 30 September 2026. Debt counselling fees are capped by the National Credit Regulator's fee guideline, and the counsellor must give you the fees in writing before you sign.

Sources: debtbusters.co.za, debtbusters.co.za.

Checked on 30 September 2026 against DebtBusters's official website. Before you sign anything with a debt help firm, confirm the debt counsellor's registration with the National Credit Regulator, and never pay a "removal" or "clearance" fee to someone who contacts you out of the blue.

Sources: debtbusters.co.za, debtbusters.co.za.

DebtBusters says you can apply by calling 086 999 0606 or by filling in its free call-back form on its debt counselling page.

The legal steps are the same at every counsellor. You apply on Form 16 with documents such as your salary slip, your outstanding balances and a list of your credit providers. The counsellor must explain the process and its consequences before you sign, give you proof that your application was received, and disclose all fees in writing.

The counsellor then tells your credit providers and the credit bureaus that you have applied. The application, negotiation and referral to the Magistrate's Court or the National Consumer Tribunal (NCT) should be completed within 60 business days of the date you applied, and during that time you are protected against legal action such as repossession and default judgment. That protection does not reach a credit agreement where the credit provider had already started enforcement steps before you applied.

If all your credit providers accept the counsellor's proposal, it goes to the NCT for a consent order. If one or more decline, it goes to the Magistrate's Court, which holds a hearing and may reject the proposal or make an order restructuring your debts.

You can pay your credit providers directly or through a payment distribution agent (PDA) registered with the NCR, which the NCR does not make compulsory. Never give your counsellor money to pass on to your credit providers, because counsellors are not allowed to collect and distribute it.

DebtBusters says there are no upfront fees to get started, and it does not publish Rand amounts. Its own guide says your first and second payments usually settle the restructure, application, administration and reckless lending fees. From the third month, it says, your payment covers your creditors plus aftercare and payment distribution agency fees.

The NCR debt counselling fee guideline lists these fees, before VAT. The application fee of R50 and the administration fee of R300 are paid upfront and in full. The restructuring fee is the distributable amount or R8,000, whichever is lower (R9,000 if you are married in community of property), and is a once-off payment due in month one. The after-care fee is 5% of the distributable amount, up to R450, paid monthly after month two. The distributable amount is the amount payable to your credit providers under the initial plan. The NCR has also listed a reckless lending fee of R1,500, but it gave notice in 2018 that it intended to withdraw that category, so ask why it would apply to you.

The timing in the NCR guideline is not the same as the way DebtBusters describes it, and we cannot tell from its website how the upfront R50 and R300 are handled in practice. Before you sign, ask DebtBusters in writing which fees you will pay, the Rand amount of each and when each is due.

Debt counselling is not free, although the NCR says you should not have to borrow money to pay for it. Ask for a receipt for anything you pay, and get every fee, its Rand amount and its due date in writing before you sign. See also debt review fees and costs.

DebtBusters says you will be debt-free within 60 months or sooner and will then receive a clearance certificate. Here is how leaving works in law.

Once you have applied for debt review you cannot withdraw from it. Since the Van Vuuren v Roets judgment in 2019 and the NCR Withdrawal Guidelines that took effect on 7 March 2022, there is no voluntary withdrawal after you apply, and no court can rescind a debt review order. Your counsellor cannot withdraw you either. A counsellor can only stop or suspend their own services.

The way out is a section 71 clearance certificate. You qualify when all the debts in your plan are paid, or when all your short-term debts (including vehicle finance and store cards) are paid and only a home loan remains, up to date under the order. Your counsellor must issue the certificate within seven days after that. If the counsellor refuses or fails to issue it, you can apply to the National Consumer Tribunal to review the decision.

There are a few narrow exceptions. Before an order is made, you can put extra facts to the Magistrate's Court, and if the court finds that you are not over-indebted, the debt review ends. If you say you never applied, you can complain to the NCR, and if it finds the correct process was not followed, the review ends. A sequestration or liquidation order also ends it. You can transfer to another counsellor at any stage, without giving a reason and without the current counsellor's consent.

See how to cancel debt review and the clearance certificate for more.

Be careful with anyone who offers to "remove" debt review for a fee. NCR Circular 2 of 2025 explains that under section 126A(3) a person offering to remove information from a credit bureau or improve a credit record may not be paid until the service has been performed.

Debt review has real costs whichever firm you use.

• You cannot apply for more credit while you are under debt review. From the day you apply you must not take on new credit agreements, other than a consolidation agreement.
• Debt review does not cancel debt. The NCR says it lowers your payments from your disposable income, so the repayment period may become longer, and you keep your legal protection only while you keep paying as agreed.
• There is no payment holiday. You must pay as advised from the start of the process.
• Your credit providers must keep reporting your payment history to the credit bureaus, so keep paying as agreed. The NCR says the debt review flag is not a negative listing or blacklisting. It is an indicator that you are under debt counselling.
• If you default on your payments, a credit provider may terminate the application on that agreement and take legal steps.
• DebtBusters says its negotiations can cut repayments by up to 50%. That is a marketing claim and it depends on the client, so ask what it would mean for your own debts, in writing.

These come from the law, not from DebtBusters. The upside is legal protection while you keep paying as agreed, and one reduced payment.

Before you sign, check the name and NCR registration number of the counsellor who will handle your file. DebtBusters shows four numbers, and the NCR register lists each one against a named individual.

Complaints about a debt counsellor go to the NCR: [email protected] or 0860 627 627. Complaints about a credit provider or a credit bureau listing go to the National Financial Ombud (NFO), which took over the Credit Ombud on 1 March 2024. The NFO is free and can help once you have complained to the provider or bureau first. Its number is 0860 800 900. The NFO does not list debt counsellors as participants, so counsellor complaints belong with the NCR.

The NCR holds no personal information about consumers and will never phone you to discuss your debt review status. Report anyone who says they are calling from the NCR.