The Role of Regulatory Bodies and Other Role-Players in the Promotion of Financial Inclusion in South Africa

AuthorHoward Chitimira, Menelisi Ncube
PositionProfessor of Securities and Financial Markets Law, Faculty of Law, North-West University, South Africa/Doctor of Laws (LLD) Candidate, Faculty of Law, North West University
Pages7-20
JURIDICA
7
Studies and Articles
The Role of Regulatory Bodies and Other
Role-Players in the Promotion of Financial
Inclusion in South Africa1
Howard Chitimira2, Menelisi Ncube3
Abstract: The promotion of financial inclusion is vital for t he combating of financial exclusion in
many countries, including South Africa. Nonetheless, most of the poor and low-income earners are
still struggling to have access to basic financial products and financial services in South Africa. This
status quo has been, inter alia, caused by several factors such as the lack of a specific statute for
financial inclusion, the lack of a specific regulatory body t o enforce that statute and the adoption of
inadequate measures by the government and other role-players to effectively promote financial
inclusion for the poor and low-income earners in South Africa. It is against this background that this
article discusses the r ole of the government, regulatory bodies and other relevant role-players in the
promotion of financial inclusion in South Africa. In this regard, the role of the South African Reserve
Bank (SARB), t he Banking Association South Africa (BASA), the National Consumer Tribunal
(NCT), the National Credit Regulator (NCR), the National Treasury and the National Consumer
Financial Education Committee (NCFEC), the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and the
Prudential Authority (PA) is discussed. This is done to investigate whether these regulatory bodies
and role-players have adopted adequate measures to robustly and consistently combat financial
exclusion of the poor and low-income earners in South Africa.
Keywords: financial inclusion; financial exclusion; role-players; low-income earners; regulatory
bodies
1 This article was supported in part by t he National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF),
Grant Number: 109232. In this regard, the author wishes to thank the NRF for its valuable support.
2 Professor of Securities and Financial Markets Law, Faculty of Law, North-West University, South
Africa, Address: Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho, 2735, South Africa, Corresponding author:
howard.chitimira@nwu.ac.za.
3 Doctor of Laws (LLD) Candidate, Faculty of Law, North West University, Address: Private Bag
X2046, Mmabatho, 2735, South Africa, E-mail: ncubemenelisi04@gmail.com. This article was
influenced in part by Ncube’s Master of Laws (LLM) dissertation entitled: A Statutory Regulatory
Analysis of Financial Inclusion for the Poor and Low-income Earners in South Africa, pp. 56-62.
Consequently, he wishes to acknowledge the expert input of Prof H Chitimira.
AUDJ, Vol. 16, No. 1/2020, pp. 7-20

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