In a strongly worded statement, the South African Communist Party (SACP) has called on government to grant amnesty to South Africans who have been blacklisted.

At the same time it has condemned criticism of the new National Credit Bill by the eleven South African Credit Bureaus.

It has rejected the Bureau's claims that the proposed new law is unrealistic or will damage credit bureau businesses.

In addition, it has called on the government to pass the Bill into law as soon as possible and to strengthen, not weaken, its provisions.

It has also called on government to grant amnesty to the millions of South Africans blacklisted by credit bureaus, stating that those who received amnesty after taking money offshore during the apartheid era are 'capitalist criminals'.

“The government gave amnesty to the rich who had billions of rands in wealth offshore, so why can't it do the same for the poor? “Poor communities can not benefit from government's planned interventions in stimulating the informal economy, or benefit from the low cost housing and other proposals of the Financial Sector Charter, because millions of poor people are blacklisted by credit bureaus,” it said.

The party claims that low-income earners pay more interest in loans and that, as a consequence, 10-million South Africans have been blacklisted when they were unable to pay back loans.

A special congress resolution last week agreed that the party's central committee would discuss action against the bureaus next month.