· Built around the Debt review fees calculator
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Some money rules only matter when something is already going wrong - your retirement fund is told to sell, the debt is out of hand, or your employer announces cuts. This post works through three of them with real numbers: Regulation 28, which caps how your retirement fund may invest; the debt review fees a debt counsellor may charge; and section 189A of the Labour Relations Act, which decides when a retrenchment is large-scale.
Run your own numbers
The debt review fees calculator takes what you pay your creditors each month under the plan (the distributable amount), how long the plan runs, and whether your counsellor charges VAT.
Checked against a published example
- Debt review: a R3 200 distributable amount gives a R3 200 restructuring fee and R160 a month aftercare; R12 000 hits the caps of R8 000 (R9 000 joint) and R450 - the Debt Counsellors Association of South Africa (DCASA) fee rules. Debt Solutions 4U's example: a R5 000 instalment means a R5 000 restructuring fee. Our debt review fees calculator gives the same, before VAT.
- Section 189A: 712 employees, 40 to be cut plus 8 in the past year is 48 - under the threshold of 50; counting the 63 employees who got notices takes it over - the Labour Court case Solidarity v Die Humansdorpse Landbou Kooperasie, as set out by ENS (August 2023). Our s189A calculator gives "not large-scale" for 40 + 8 and "applies" for 63 + 8 = 71.
- Regulation 28: at most 75% in shares, 25% in property and 45% offshore - 10X Investments (November 2024) and Table 1 of Regulation 28 in Government Gazette 46649. Our Regulation 28 calculator shows R750 000 and R450 000 of an R1 000 000 RA as exactly at the limits, with R0 room.
One fix. DCASA lists the restructuring cap, the R450 aftercare cap and the R1 500 reckless lending fee as excluding VAT. Our calculator left VAT out, which understated the fees by up to 15% with a VAT-registered counsellor. It now asks whether your counsellor charges VAT (yes by default) and adds 15% to those three. On R6 000 a month for 60 months that moves the total from R24 250 to R26 860.
Debt review: what the fees add up to
- Upfront: R50 application and R300 administration, plus R500 if the plan goes to the National Consumer Tribunal (most need a Tribunal or court order).
- Restructuring fee: your whole first month's payment, capped at R8 000 (R9 000 married in community of property) before VAT - in month one your creditors get nothing.
- Aftercare: 5% of the monthly payment, capped at R450 before VAT, every month from month 3 to the end.
- R1 500 before VAT if the counsellor argues reckless lending. Attorney fees, the Tribunal filing fee and the payment distribution agent's fee come on top and are not in these sums.
Worked example 1: three debt review plans
- R3 200 a month for 54 months: R13 618 in fees - R850 upfront, R3 200 restructuring and 52 months x R184 aftercare. That is 7.88% of the R172 800 you pay in (debt review fees calculator).
- R6 000 a month for 60 months: R26 860 - R850, R6 000 and 58 x R345. About R448 a month on average.
- A couple married in community of property paying R12 000 for 72 months, with a reckless lending case: R49 150 - R2 575 upfront, R10 350 restructuring (R9 000 + VAT) and 70 x R517.50. That is 5.69% of R864 000.
- Compare before you sign: a single consolidation loan has no counsellor fees but needs a credit record that still qualifies - debt review exists because many people no longer do.
Regulation 28: how your retirement fund may invest
- Regulation 28 caps a retirement annuity, pension, provident or preservation fund at 75% shares, 25% property, 45% offshore, 15% private equity, 10% hedge funds and 10% commodities.
- Shares and property are counted local and foreign together; offshore is a separate test across everything held outside South Africa.
- A living annuity and a tax-free savings account are not bound by it.
Worked example 2: two retirement annuities
- R2 400 000 in a balanced fund at 65% shares, 10% property and 40% offshore is inside every limit - the tightest is offshore, with R120 000 of room (Regulation 28 calculator).
- R850 000 at 82% shares and 48% offshore breaks two limits: shares R697 000, R59 500 over 75%; offshore R408 000, R25 500 over 45%.
- Your fund or administrator checks this on the underlying holdings, so an RA invested in compliant unit trusts is normally fine - a breach usually shows up when you build your own mix.
- The tax break is why the limits come with it - see what SARS gives back on a contribution with the RA tax calculator, and project the fund with the retirement calculator.
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Section 189A: when a retrenchment is large-scale
- Only employers with more than 50 employees can fall under s189A.
- The threshold rises with size: 10 cuts (up to 200 employees), 20 (201-300), 30 (301-400), 40 (401-500), 50 (over 500).
- Retrenchments in the 12 months before the notice count too - an employer cannot split cuts into small rounds to stay under.
- Large-scale means a 60-day period from the s189(3) notice before termination notices if a CCMA facilitator is appointed; without one, 30 days before a dispute may be referred, then conciliation. Employees may also strike over the reason for the cuts.
Worked example 3: three employers
- 250 employees, 12 cuts now and 9 in the past year: 21 against a threshold of 20 - s189A applies, though 12 alone would not (s189A calculator).
- A notice dated 2 November 2026 with a facilitator means no termination notice before 1 January 2027 - 60 days.
- 180 employees cutting 9, none before: under the threshold of 10, so an ordinary s189 consultation with no fixed 60 days.
- 45 employees cutting 20: s189A never applies under 51 employees - but s189 still requires fair consultation and severance.
- Either way, severance is at least one week's pay per completed year of service - work out yours with the severance pay calculator.
Not verified from a primary source this run: whether the R50, R300 and R500 debt review fees are before or after VAT (DCASA does not say - left as listed); the NCR's own fee guideline was not opened - the caps are from the NCR's 2021 media release and DCASA. The 45% offshore limit comes from the Reserve Bank's Exchange Control Circular 10/2022, read through secondary sources. The 2014 amendments to s189A consultation periods were not re-read. None of this is legal or financial advice - see a registered debt counsellor, your fund's administrator, or a labour lawyer or the CCMA.
What to do this month
- Thinking about debt review? Ask the counsellor for every fee in writing, and whether they charge VAT, then check the total in the debt review fees calculator.
- Built your own RA mix? Put the percentages from your latest statement into the Regulation 28 calculator.
- Received a s189(3) notice? Count the cuts, including the past 12 months, in the s189A calculator, and keep the notice date.
Sources
- Debt counselling fee rules (restructuring R8 000 / R9 000, aftercare 5% up to R450, reckless lending R1 500, all excluding VAT; R50, R300, R500 NCT): DCASA, What fees can a debt counsellor ask during the debt review process, read 16 October 2026.
- National Credit Regulator, media release "Debt counselling offers new lease of life for over-indebted consumers" (August 2021): ncr.org.za, read 16 October 2026.
- Restructuring fee example (R5 000 instalment, R5 000 fee): Debt Solutions 4U, Debt counsellor fees in South Africa, read 16 October 2026.
- Pension Funds Act Regulation 28, Government Notice 2230, Government Gazette 46649 (1 July 2022), Table 1: gov.za, read 16 October 2026.
- Regulation 28 limits for RAs (75% equity, 25% property, 45% offshore): 10X Investments, 15 November 2024, read 16 October 2026.
- Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, s189A (inserted by s45 of the Labour Relations Amendment Act 12 of 2002): Department of Employment and Labour, read 16 October 2026. Thresholds and 12-month rule restated by CEOSA (24 June 2020).
- Solidarity v Die Humansdorpse Landbou Kooperasie (712 employees, 40 + 8 = 48, 63 notices): ENS via Mondaq, What does "employees likely to be affected" mean in retrenchments, 24 August 2023.
Calculators used in this post
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