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The Office of Disclosure Board tasked with monitoring and promoting fair lending practices amongst financial institutions in terms of the Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure Act (HLAMDA) has been appointed.

In his budget speech in May this year, Sexwale announced that exchanges with the Banking Association of South Africa and the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors had already taken place around these issues.


The Office of Disclosure would help fulfill the mandate of the Department of Human Settlements especially when it came to dealing with what was normally referred to as a GAP market.


This market constitutes people who earn above R3 500, thus do not qualify for a fully subsidized house, yet earn below the bracket preferred by banks when they lend mortgage bonds to customers.


Members of the Office of Disclosure have been selected from various professional bodies and all have expertise and experience in matters related to banking, housing finance and investment.


The Board is headed by Thebi Moja, former acting CEO of the National Gambling Board and consists of:

·        Dr A Pillay (Deputy Chair)

·        Ms T Semane

·        Mr P Beck

·        Adv T Mpahlane

·        Mr HL de Kock

·        Mr WJ Hoefling

·        Mrs NG Jikazana



The Board is appointed for a period of three years and reports directly to the Minister. It is responsible for among others:  

·        Making available to the public, information that indicates whether or not financial institutions are serving the housing credit needs of their communities, and rating such institutions.


·        Requiring financial institutions to substantiate information disclosed in terms of the Act and where reasonable doubt may exist, whether or not the information disclosed is fully accurate or comprehensive.

The disclosed information should, amongst others, enable the Department of Human Settlements to establish whether there are any discriminatory lending patterns by financial institutions and to address these should they exist.
 
Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale said financial institutions had to assist the country’s citizens to access housing finance – while at the same calling upon people not to borrow irresponsibly.


“We believe that the Office of Disclosure working together with other stakeholders will bring balance to lending practices,” he said.