SA Banks the nastiest in the World? ... Douglas Shaw

South Africans are 20 times more likely to have their homes repossessed than elsewhere in the world.

Imagine losing your home for an outstanding debt of less than R1000. It might sound outrageous, but South African law makes it possible for banks to foreclose to recoup even the smallest debt. Properties are then sold at a fraction of their market value while homeowners are forced to keep paying. Watch the Carte Blanche investigation here

"Do you have to use a sheriff's auction system?"

 - Douglas Shaw on the iStart2 Show

In 2015, an estimated 10 000 repossessed homes were sold on auction in South Africa. Most of these homes were sold at just a fraction of the market value, leaving struggling home owners seriously out of pocket.

How do we change these injustices? Is everyone at our banks bad or have they just got multiple personality disorder? Maybe just the leadership? What about the other collaborators like property auctioneers, curators and other parties benefitting from injustice? What do you do when the Sheriff comes knocking at your door? Does the Constitution still matter?

We chatted to Douglas Shaw, Advocate of the High Court of South Africa about bank repo and your rights on the iStart2 Show this week. To listen to the interview click play below:

Thought of the Day: Home Repo and your Human Rights

What the law says

According to the Constitution, “everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing” and “no one may be evicted from their home, or have their home demolished without an order of court made after considering all relevant circumstances”.

• However, this does not mean you can never be evicted from your home. The legal responsibility still lies with you to ensure you repay your bond each month.
• Should you not be able to pay the required amount, you are legally obliged to inform your bank in writing immediately.
• Banks can only apply for a foreclosure after three months of non-payment.
• The bank must apply for a forfeiture order at the High Court of Magistrate before any further steps against you may be taken.
• Once the order has been granted, a court-appointed sheriff will be instructed to deliver a summons to you. You have the right to ask the sheriff to show you his valid identification card and the official court order before allowing them onto your property.
• Only a sheriff is legally allowed to remove items from your home or take possession of property. No debt collector, tracer, bank representative or agent may remove a single item from your home.
• Should anyone besides a sheriff order you to hand over property, you have the right to refuse.
• If you are unsure, you can always contact the South African Board of Sheriffs.
  
  Read more about your rights here

For fast assistance or to make an appointment contact a banking law advisor at lesley@bankinglawadvisor.co.za

Sustainability Conversations ... Smash the System

The lazy person's guide to saving the world

End extreme poverty. Fight inequality and injustice. Fix climate change. Whoa. The Global Goals are important, world-changing objectives that will require cooperation among governments, international organizations and world leaders. It seems impossible that the average person can make an impact. Should you just give up? No!!

Who are you? Sofa Superstar, Household Hero or Neighbourhood Nice Guy?

Here are a few of the many things you can do to make an impact. Click here

Sustainability Heroes ... those people who have committed their lives and hearts to making the world a better place. Boyan Slat is one of them.

Boyan Slat

Boyan Slat (1994) is a Dutch inventor and entrepreneur who creates technologies to solve societal problems.

He is the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, which develops advanced technologies to rid world’s oceans of plastic.

Instead of going after the plastic, Boyan devised a system though which, driven by the ocean currents, the plastic would concentrate itself, reducing the theoretical cleanup time from millennia to mere years. In February 2013 he dropped out of his Aerospace Engineering study to start The Ocean Cleanup. The first prototype system is projected to be deployed in June 2016.

Boyan Slat has been recognized as one of the 20 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs Worldwide (Intel EYE50), and is the youngest-ever recipient of the UN’s highest environmental accolade; Champion of the Earth.
Read about his incredible ideas here

In 2015, an estimated 10 000 repossessed homes were sold on auction in South Africa. Most of these homes were sold at just a fraction of the market value, leaving struggling home owners seriously out of pocket. When the going gets tough ...

Read more about your rights here when a lender (such as a bank) repossess your home with the intention of selling it to cover any outstanding costs.

Join us on Thursday when we chat to Advocate Douglas Shaw as a follow-up on his Carte Blanche interview about home repo and your rights. Not to be missed!

 

Keitu Gwangwa & Pierre du Toit host the iStart2 Show on Thursdays at 17h30. Radio Today broadcasts on 1485 MW (AM) in greater Johannesburg and countrywide on ‪#‎DStv‬ audio channel 869. 

Radio Today also streams globally on www.1485.org.za.

Something to think about

I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous - if they aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds of men. Robert Green Ingersoll
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/crime_3.html

I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous - if they aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds of men. Robert Green Ingersoll
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/crime_3.html

I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous - if they aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds of men. Robert Green Ingersoll
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/robertgree170354.html?src=t_crime

I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous - if they aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds of men
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/robertgree170354.html?src=t_crime

I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous - if they aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds of men.
- Robert Green Ingersoll

I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous - if they aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds of men. Robert Green Ingersoll
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/robertgree170354.html?src=t_crime

San Superhero /Gasa ... Linda de Jager

"If you love something you will not hurt it," says Linda de Jager on the iStart2 Show this week. 

"iStart2 stand up and share what I have to say" - Linda de Jager

We chatted to Linda - television producer, director and editor (ie Carte Blanche and Kyknet)  - about her contribution to creating a more sustainable world and her latest animation project about a San man, /Gasa. She creates visual stories with integrity, passion and courage - stories that will move you.

San man /Gasa, Namibia's first animated Superhero tells the story of conservation and wisdom messages from the past for the present generation. With his friend Mr Gecko his message resonates throughout Namibia as he visits and shares traditional stories.

"The San people are inspiring. They show us a connectedness to the land and to protect what you love. They understand community and the meaning of together," says Linda. This is a story of Namibian pride in the landscape, the picture perfect quiver trees and the animals roaming this beautiful land.

Linda extends her gratitude to the First National Bank Foundation, the Pupkewitz Foundation and the Namibia Film Commission who made this groundbreaking series possible.

To listen to the show and a unique track, Hambanathi by !Gubi, Dudu Majola and Pops Mohamed, just click play:



Thought of the Day:

The world was made to be free in.
Give up all the other worlds except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn.
Anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.
  - From Sweet Darkness by David Whyte