In the face of economic uncertainty, nonexistent growth and record unemployment, already overindebted consumers are struggling to meet their debt commitments. According to TransUnion’s Q4 2019 CCI report, which measures consumer credit health, 908,000 of the country ’s 58-million active consumer accounts are in arrears by three months.

Statistics released in 2019 by the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service revealed a rise in identity fraud using both real (99%) and fabricated (48%) identity documents compared to 2018.