DebtSafe review

DebtSafe shows the NCR number NCRDC1078 in its website footer. The NCR register lists that number against Hendrik Christoffel Du Plessis, trading as Debtsafe, in Mokopane. A counsellor assesses whether you are over-indebted and, if you are, proposes reduced payments to your credit providers.

DebtSafe says it will not take you if your income is under R8,000 a month, and its quote form asks you to confirm that your debt is more than R30 000. Those limits are DebtSafe's own. Under the National Credit Act the test is whether you are over-indebted, which the NCR defines as income that is not enough to cover your living expenses and debt repayments. If DebtSafe cannot take you, another counsellor may.

Debt review does not cancel debt, and it is not debt consolidation, which the NCR describes as a single loan used to pay off all your debts.

• DebtSafe only takes applicants who earn R8,000 or more a month and owe more than R30 000 (quote form filter). (debtsafe.co.za)
• DebtSafe says it is unable to assist if your income is less than R8000. (debtsafe.co.za)
• DebtSafe says it has helped fix the debt of more than 50 000 over-indebted South Africans over more than a decade. (debtsafe.co.za)
• NCR number NCRDC1078 is shown in the site footer. (debtsafe.co.za)
• Existing clients use a Client Contact Request form and get a response within two business days. (debtsafe.co.za)
• DebtSafe's CreditGuard plan covers monthly debt repayments for 12 months on retrenchment. (debtsafe.co.za)
• DebtSafe pays creditors via DebiCheck reduced monthly payments. (debtsafe.co.za)
• DebtSafe offers a Transfers service for moving an existing debt review to DebtSafe. (debtsafe.co.za)

Fees as DebtSafe 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: debtsafe.co.za.

Checked on 30 September 2026 against DebtSafe'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: debtsafe.co.za, debtsafe.co.za.

DebtSafe offers a free, no-obligation assessment to see whether you qualify for its programme. The legal steps that follow are the same at any counsellor.

1. You apply to a counsellor on Form 16, with your salary slip, your outstanding balances and a list of your credit providers.
2. The counsellor assesses you. If you are not over-indebted, the counsellor must reject the application. If you are, the counsellor accepts it.
3. The counsellor tells your credit providers and the credit bureaus that you have applied, using Form 17.1, within five business days of accepting the application.
4. Within 30 business days of accepting it, the counsellor sends your credit providers a proposal to rearrange your payments.
5. If all of them accept, the counsellor refers the proposal to the National Consumer Tribunal (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.
6. The application, negotiation and referral should be finished within 60 business days of the date you applied. During that time you are protected against legal action such as repossession and default judgment, except on an agreement where the credit provider had already started enforcement steps before you applied.

If the counsellor rejects your application, you have 20 business days to apply to the Magistrate's Court yourself, on Form 18.

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.

DebtSafe says there are no upfront fees. It lists six fee types, paid from your instalments: a once-off application fee, a once-off debt counsellors fee, a once-off legal fee, a monthly payment distribution agency fee, a monthly aftercare fee and a once-off reckless credit check fee. It does not publish Rand amounts.

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.

Some of DebtSafe's names do not match the NCR list. The NCR list has no line called a debt counsellors fee, so ask whether it is the restructuring fee under another name. DebtSafe's list has no administration fee, which the NCR lists at R300 upfront, and it does have a monthly distribution agency fee, although the NCR does not make a PDA compulsory. Attorney fees are not fixed: the NCR says they are agreed with the attorney and given to you in writing when you apply. Ask DebtSafe in writing which of its six fees apply to you, the Rand amount of each and when each is due.

DebtSafe also says it charges a cancellation fee of 75% of the debt restructuring fee if you have not paid your first instalment and your repayment plan has been calculated. Under NCR rules you cannot voluntarily withdraw once you have applied, so ask DebtSafe when it treats you as having applied and what cancelling means before that point.

DebtSafe also lists a CreditGuard plan, which its FAQ says covers your monthly debt repayments for 12 months if you are retrenched. Ask for its terms and its cost in writing before you agree to it.

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.

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.

DebtSafe also lists a service for moving an existing debt review to it. If you are unhappy with your current counsellor, that is one reason to consider a transfer. 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.

DebtSafe's website does not say how long debt review takes, so ask your counsellor for the length of your own plan in writing.

• DebtSafe will not take you if your income is under R8,000 a month.
• 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.
• 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.
• Fees are paid from your instalments, and DebtSafe describes a cancellation fee in some cases.

The upside is legal protection while you keep paying as agreed, and one reduced payment.

DebtSafe lists a phone number, an email address and a free SMS number on its contact page, shown in the table above. It lists no WhatsApp number. Existing clients use a Client Contact Request form and DebtSafe says it will respond within two business days. Confirm the name and number of the counsellor who will handle your file. See how to verify an NCR-registered debt counsellor.

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.