I wrote about Ezekiel a few weeks ago, his other name is Lehlabiwa. Please listen to his story https://soundcloud.com/user-768186920/heart-to-heart-25-mar-my-6-year-journey-under-debt-review as he speaks to Radio Pulpit about his debt review experience. As I listen to him and many other young professionals who find themselves so heavily indebted that they have to go under debt review, I keep asking myself what else I could do to help young people to avoid getting into so much debt. I wrote the book From Debt to Riches a while back but many do not read & by the time they read the book, it is already too late. I am sharing his story with you with the hope that you will share it with others and hopefully we will help people to avoid debt. For 6 years, he could not buy his family a home & all he did was pay, pay, pay as he said in his own words. He is lucky that his family is still intact because sometimes financial problems result in marital problems too.

Ezekiel paid ~R74 850 in upfront and monthly costs for debt review

Upfront costs
There are one-off upfront costs that people who go under debt review pay and these are legal costs and rehabilitation costs. For the first 3 months, Ezekiel’s debt review instalments of R9 350 per month went into paying the costs. R9 350 x 3 = R28 050

Monthly costs
Of the R9 350 that he paid monthly, R650 were for the debt counsellor and the national payments distribution agency. R650 x 12 x6 = R46 800

Total costs = Upfront + Monthly =  R74 850

In this interview, he talks about the following;

• What happened when a gentleman arrived at his workplace to repossess his car
• Why he couldn’t manage his finances even though he is highly educated
• His regrets
• What he learned
• How debt review has changed the way he manages his money and lots more

ThuthukaSA Debt Cancellation program

At ThuthukaSA, we now help people to get rid of their debt but due to the amount of time it involves, we charge a fee. Not everyone qualifies to go under our debt cancellation program because amongst other factors, I want to be certain that the person approaching us did not get into debt recklessly and is willing and prepared to get out of debt. Far too many people approach us for help and the reality is that not everyone who has debt is ready to get rid of it. Some still want to continue to get into more debt and even though they have the budget capacity to get out of debt, they are not willing to let go of their debt