Today, we celebrate a hard-won victory. The Minister for Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr Parks Tau, has officially withdrawn the Draft National Credit Act Amendment Regulations. These regulations would have entrenched unemployment, deepened hardship, and compromised the futures of millions of fellow South Africans, in particular students, by subjecting them to unjust blacklisting and credit bureau reporting.
The Minister’s proposal is gone because we, the people, said NO, and we did not back down!
Almost 200,000 South Africans signed our petition rejecting the proposal. Students, parents, graduates, workers, and other citizens stood together and declared: Protect students from harm! We spoke with one voice, and we forced government to listen. This is proof, once again, that when we stand together, fighting for a just cause, we are powerful beyond measure and can achieve great things.
But this is not the end. Tau’s withdrawal is a step in the right direction, but the regulations as they stand right now are a still a danger to the futures of many. As has become evident, students remain at grave risk of being blacklisted and handed over to debt collectors. Indeed, many have confirmed they are currently living through this tyranny whilst simultaneously battling unemployment and underemployment.
Whilst we welcome today’s withdrawal, we must not stop fighting for a just, socio-economically transformative student finance model. Neither should we stop fighting for better solutions for the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, which the Minister informed us was his focus. We look forward to engaging the Minister, as interested stakeholders, as he considers what is to be done going forward.
Students, both past and present, as well as small businesspersons, deserve policies that enable their success, not barriers that deepen their struggle.
To everyone who signed the petition, shared it with friends and family, and used it to raised their voices, siyabonga. We must also acknowledge every organisation that stood on the right side of history. A special word of gratitude goes to the Economic Freedom Fighters (in particular Sihle Lonzi MP) and to Ms Zingisa Mase (@Call_her_ziggy on X/ Twitter), from whom many of us first learnt of this development. This victory belongs to all of us!
If anyone amongst us has ever doubted what difference we can make by working together, then this victory should be all you need to have an evolution in your thinking.
This beautiful country of ours will not come right until we take ourselves seriously and play our part in our small corners of the Republic. We do not all need to be politicians, but we do all need to be involved right from where we are. This is the power of collective action. No one is coming to save us. We must save ourselves or be finished.
To the Minister: we are waiting, watching, and will continue to demand better from you. Our fight for better is far from over. But today, we celebrate this huge victory.
Congratulations, Bahlali
Sabelo