"I've long said capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell," chief executive Frank Borman reportedly quipped as his company, Eastern Airlines, filed for bankruptcy in the United States in 1989. "But it's hard to see any good news in this."
It seems many South Africans feel the same. Of the 18.84-million credit active people in the country, 46.7% of them have impaired records, the National Credit Regulator said in October 2011. Despite this, summonses for debt have decreased dramatically since 2009. Peaking in April 2009 at 140 000, they dipped to about 50 000 in December 2012. Nevertheless, the start of 2013 saw another uptick, with summonses passing the 60 000 mark once again.
Of the reasons for debt, borrowing money was the biggest cause of default. It accounted for 7 633 summonses in February 2013 – more than 30% of the all the summonses that month.